SC Johnson HQ Testing Wind Energy

SC Johnson has started a pilot wind energy program at its headquarters in Racine, Wis.

With three wind turbines, the company says it aims to show that renewable energy can work at office buildings in urban settings. The turbines will set atop one of seven buildings at the SC Johnson campus.

The use of renewable energy is essential to”conducting business in a responsible way,” said Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson, in a press release.

The turbines should be functional by the end of January, reports AZOCleantech.

While the turbines will generate just a small portion of electricity required by the campus, SC Johnson sees the pilot as a means of proving whether similar installations can be made at its other worldwide offices, Johnson said.

“We expect to have clear, consistent results within a year,” said Johnson.

In 2008, SC Johnson began powering 46 percent of its second largest North American manufacturing plant in Bay City, Michigan with wind energy.

The company powers its largest global manufacturing plant with cogeneration turbines that run on natural gas and waste methane from a public landfill.

According to the firm’s most recent sustainability report, it cut greenhouse gas emissions at its worldwide factories by 27 percent during the last eight years, including all its United States operations by 17 percent since 2005.

The company is using purchased renewable energy for 34 percent of its energy needs.