LED lighting retrofit is organic for
ecoresponsible food producer
WhiteWave rides the crest of future high-bay lighting
As plant engineer of WhiteWave Foods’ Virginia plant, Toby Duveneck runs the facility
with a focus on capital improvement projects. He implemented a 650-fixture high-bay
LED lighting retrofit throughout the plant
that saves the company $15,000 per month
in electricity, eliminates most of the maintenance required to change out fixtures, and
reduces the cold-storage chiller energy consumption by a third. He expects the warehouse LEDs to last about 12 years.
Figure 1
White Wave’s Silk® soy milk, Horizon Organic®
milk, International Delight® creamers and
iced coffees, and LAND O’ LAKES® creamers and whipped aerosol products must be
stored at 37 degrees F.
WhiteWave Foods’ Mount Craw- ford, Va., manufacturing plant dwells in the lowlands beneath the Blue Ridge Mountains. In
fact, the mountains are visible from the
employee cafeteria.
It is a beautiful site for making and
packaging the food processor’s Horizon
Organic® milk, Silk® soy milk, International Delight® creamers and iced coffees, and LAND O’LAKES® creamers
in pursuit of its corporate mission “to
become the earth’s favorite food company.” (See Figure 1.)
On its Web site, the company pro-
claims that it is transforming not just
the business of food, but business in
general (See Figure 2.) “How we do
business is as important as being in
business,” said Sara Loveday, cor-
porate communications. “WhiteWave
creates healthy, responsibly produced
foods that are welcome at everyone’s
table. We’re always focused on mini-
mizing our environmental footprint.”
Three key goals comprise the manu-
facturer’s sustainability program, which
is part of its strategic growth plan and
a companywide approach to environ-
mental stewardship and corporate re-
sponsibility. To help ensure White Wave
products are produced responsibly and
with respect for the earth’s natural re-
sources, Loveday said the goals are to:
• Reduce greenhouse gas emis-
sions by 25 percent by 2013.
•;Reduce;landfill;waste;by;30;per-
cent by 2013.
•;Reduce;noningredient;water;use
by 15 percent by 2013.
WhiteWave employs about 1,500
people nationwide in its plants, sales
offices, corporate-owned farms, and
headquar ters.
Lighting Retrofit a Good Fit
One of the company’s sustainability
projects that stemmed from its environmental goals—and operating cost
goals—was;a;high-bay;lighting;retrofit,
said Toby Duveneck, plant engineer.
The;potential;financial;benefit;of;a
lighting;retrofit;was;as;much;a;factor;as
the;environmental;benefits,;Duveneck
said. The company had been adversely
affected by the economy in 2009. “That
particular year, our volume was not going to be as strong as we had projected
it to be. We’re a cost center, so we worry about our budget, what our cost per
gallon;is.;So;we;were;trying;to;find;ways
to cut costs,” he said.
Duveneck and his team have been
working on several projects over the
last three years to cut costs through
green initiatives, he said. “In an older
facility, especially, there is a lot of low-hanging fruit, because over the years,
energy costs go up, water costs go
up … but the plant was designed 20
years ago when the mindset was that
air doesn’t cost anything, water doesn’t
cost anything, and electricity is cheap,”
Duveneck said. He had experienced
substantial cost savings with a lighting
retrofit;at;another;plant;previously.;“So
lighting;was;one;of;the;first;capital;im-provements I looked at here.”
