Since 2020, an aggressive CO2 reduction effort has been underway at the Acuña, Mexico, manufacturing campus of Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC (Bendix). Now, after major efficiency enhancements, including upgraded HVAC systems, modernized building envelopes, submetering and building management systems, and the addition of solar energy, the location is on track to reduce its emissions by about 3,820 tons while saving close to $805,000 a year in energy costs.

Bendix, together with its parent company, Munich, Germany-based Knorr-Bremse, approved climate action projects for the Acuña campus, which opened in 1988. The projects support a larger climate action plan set toward reaching Knorr-Bremse’s Science-Based Environmental Targets that are themselves modeled after strategies in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for SDG 13 Climate Action.

All told, the efforts should result in reduced greenhouse gas emissions in line with the company’s long-term sustainability goals. Key among them is the commitment by Bendix and Knorr-Bremse to cut scope 1 and scope 2 CO2 emissions in half by 2030.

Bendix is the North American leader in the design, development and manufacture of active safety, air management and braking solutions for commercial vehicles. Knorr-Bremse is the global market leader of braking systems for rail and commercial vehicles.

The Acuña campus’ aggressive CO2 Reduction Program spans investments at multiple buildings on the growing campus, with a total commitment of more than $3,800,000 to support reduced energy use, improved energy efficiency, and better oversight and control of energy consumption. This includes a $1 million project to install solar arrays at two Bendix Acuña manufacturing sites. The solar arrays are expected to supply around 10% of the energy needed for the bustling campus. 

The solar projects are expected to save the campus around 2 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity during 2023, which is about the same amount of energy needed to power 100 homes for a full year. Together with the energy efficiency projects, the combined total efforts over the three-year period (2020-2022) are expected to cut CO2 emissions by 3,821 tons a year. 

“Among our North American locations, Bendix Acuña stands out for having pursued more aggressive sustainability and CO2 reduction measures that are leading the way for our entire organization,” said Maria Gutierrez, Bendix senior director of environmental, social, and governance (ESG). “What started out 15 years ago with a focus on energy reduction and reduced costs has advanced, and we’ve taken on a much larger challenge. The team in Acuña is driving to ensure that no matter how much the operation grows, we remain committed to achieving absolute reductions in our overall carbon footprint – effectively decoupling growth from environmental impact.”