3M to be honored with sustainability award

3M receives Environmental Resilience Award

Posted

BROOKINGS – 3M will be awarded the Environmental Resilience Award from the Brookings Sustainability Award at the Mayor’s Awards Reception on Thursday. 

The Environmental Resilience Award recognizes businesses or individuals that focus on innovative projects that use sustainable practices to enhance environmental infrastructure, conservation or resource management. 

The Brookings Sustainability Council believes that the 3M Brookings reuse of water is a prime example of a sustainable activity based on the environmental principles, economic stability and social policies.

3M Brookings was recognized at the 2017 Environmental Leader Product and Project Awards Conference for its water usage reduction project. The following is an excerpt from the July 18, 2017, Brookings Register:

“To conserve water, 3M employees used innovative thinking to design a closed loop system that could leverage recirculated water at Brookings site.

“Historically, the plant utilized a vacuum pump system that required continuous flow of water through the pumps to run production equipment and maintain equipment temperatures.  Water cooled the system and maintained a water ring seal to create the vacuum.  Water was supplied for a single pass and then sent to the sewer or used to supplement water lost in facility cooling towers.  The continuous water usage averaged over 20 million gallons annually.

“With the new system, 3M Brookings decreased annual water consumption for the vacuum system by over 18 million gallons.  

“One judge (from the Environmental Leader Product and Project Awards Conference) said of this project, ‘3M is really showing great initiative in this project to drastically reduce water use at their facility. To go from 20 million gallons of water per year to 2 million is absolutely incredible, and this could be a great example for other facilities around the world.’”

The decrease in annual water consumption for the vacuum system by over 18 million gallons is a huge benefit for the City of Brookings, said a press release from the city. According to the Brookings Municipal Utilities, the average Brookings household uses approximately 42,187 gallons per year. This water-saving project is enough to supply water to 426 homes each year.  

The Brookings Mayor’s Sustainability Awards recognize excellence in sustainable practices demonstrated by local businesses, organizations, and individuals, while promoting a culture of resiliency. Award winners contribute to a more sustainable city by embracing and promoting an approach to business and daily living that balances environmental responsibility, economic prosperity and community equity.

Other winners of this year’s Sustainability Awards – Kool Beans Coffee and Roasterie, SDSU Department of Architecture’s Passive House, and Pheasant Restaurant and Lounge – will be honored alongside 3M at the Mayor’s Awards presentation, which also recognizes the Butler Human Rights Award, Human Rights Commission’s Youth Ally Awards, ABLE Awards, Mayor’s Awards for Historic Preservation and the Mayor’s Generational Leadership Award. The event will be held from 5-7 p.m. Thursday at the McCrory Gardens Education & Visitors Center, 631 22nd Ave., with the program beginning at 6 p.m. The public is invited to attend. Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served.

Courtesy photo