Over the last 18 years, Supa Doors Inc. has delivered thousands of custom doors to commercial and residential customers all over the world.

The company strives to deliver their patented product, Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) doors, at a competitive price.

One way the company stays competitive is to manage the company’s multi-acre manufacturing facility in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

That’s why it made good business sense for Supa Doors to take advantage of CPS Energy’s High-Efficiency Lighting Equipment rebate.   

Supa Doors CEO Dave Fisher and Geary Travis, facility manager, worked closely with Ken Furman, CPS Energy Business Account Manager, and Bob Nelson, Staff Engineer, to identify potential energy savings of a lighting retrofit project.

After conducting an energy audit of the manufacturing plant, Nelson determined that replacing interior lighting in the facility, which would cost $30,000, would make Supa Doors eligible for a CPS Energy rebate worth more than $20,000. 

Not only that, but estimates showed the company could save more than $1,100 a month in energy costs.

This meant that Supa Doors could totally recover costs of the project within 8 months of installing the new lighting.

“When I found out how much the rebate was going to be, it was a no-brainer to take advantage of the savings,” Geary said. “Anything that can help our bottom line is good for business.”

Travis said that during the current economic hardship, CPS Energy has made it easy for Supa Doors to make a decision to invest in energy efficiency.  

“This is right in the middle of a time when it’s tough to do business, but you’ve got to look at the big picture,” Travis said. “If you don’t, you can miss a great opportunity like [the rebate program].”

 Kim Turner, Development Services director for the City of Universal City, said residential and commercial growth has slowed down in the past year, but existing businesses are persevering.

“The number of new businesses opening is down from previous years, but not drastically down,” Turner said. “Given the overarching negativity of the perceived economic health of the country, Universal City continues to thrive.”

Turner said manufacturing companies in the city have been hit the hardest by the economic decline.

She said that’s why it’s especially important to take advantage of CPS Energy’s rebates.

“All businesses seek to reduce expenditures during tough times, local government officials included,” Turner said. “The rate of return on energy efficiency projects is outstanding and one that all businesses should consider.”

In 2008, The City of Universal City received a High-Efficiency Lighting Equipment rebate worth more than $4,500.

After experiencing the benefits of the rebate, Turner referred Supa Doors to CPS Energy to give the manufacturer an opportunity to benefit from CPS Energy’s free service.

“Certainly, using the CPS Energy staff’s expertise to conduct the energy audit worked well for Supa Doors and the City of Universal City,” Turner said. “I would encourage all businesses to utilize this free service to determine if there are ways for them to cut their costs.”

In addition to the rebate program, CPS Energy offers commercial customers other tools and programs to help companies save energy.

Travis said CPS Energy’s LoadTracker software has proved to be a great tool that he uses on a daily basis to monitor energy use at Supa Doors.

Before using LoadTracker, Travis had no way to monitor energy consumption even though he could monitor other important factors such as labor, material and consumable costs. 

“By using this system, I can monitor power usage and start and stop times [of equipment],” Travis said. “We can also develop a schedule of powering up the plant and see real-time effects of our changes. As I use this system, I’m learning more about how and when we consume power.”

Commercial customers can sign up for LoadTracker at www.cpsenergy.com.

This past summer, Supa Doors also participated in CPS Energy’s Demand Response Program, a new program that provides incentives for companies to voluntarily lower their energy consumption when called upon by CPS Energy.

The program, which took place from June 1 to Sept. 30, recruited 19 companies to voluntarily reduce energy demand during “peak energy events” -- times when energy use is high and expected to break records.

Supa Doors participated in 10 peak energy events, saving an average of 120 kilowatts (KW) per event.

By participating in the program, the company became eligible for a $5,900 incentive payment.

The Demand Response Program, part of CPS Energy’s Save for Tomorrow Energy Plan (STEP), has a goal of reducing 225 MW of customer demand.

STEP’s overall goal is to reduce growth in demand by 771 megawatts (MW) – the equivalent of a large electrical generating unit – by 2020.

STEP fits into one of CPS Energy’s Strategic Energy Plan objectives – increase energy efficiency and conservation efforts.

All over the world, thousands of companies have adopted green business practices to benefit the environment.

Supa Doors CEO Dave Fisher said he’s seen the trend and has made it a top priority for his company to be more environmentally responsible.

Along with its energy efficiency measure, the company is recycling wood waste and is in the process of extracting 15,000 gallons of water from water-based paints through a filtering system.

Supa Doors recently received approval from the City of Universal City to use the recycled water for irrigation purposes on the landscape surrounding the manufacturing plant.

Fisher said 100 percent of saw dust is collected and sent to businesses in the garden industry that mix it into mulch. The dust is also sent to turkey farms and placed in stalls for bedding.

Supa Doors has plans to recycle its 200 tons of solid waste in a local partnership plan, which will soon be finalized.

The company also recycles doors that can’t be used for production by donating them to Habitat for Humanity.

“This is the time to go green,” Fisher said. “It simply feels good to undertake these initiatives. Plus, the perfection of these disposal methods could save us a good deal of money each year by not paying extra to dump it all or have it transported to the dump.”
 
Just like Supa Doors, CPS Energy has prioritized environmental responsibility.

One of CPS Energy’s Strategic Energy Plan objectives is to maintain its strong environmental commitments.

To address pollution concerns, CPS Energy is reducing air emissions and maintaining air quality by investing more than three-quarters of a billion dollars in state-of-the-art emissions-control equipment for new and existing power plants.

CPS Energy is also preserving drinking water by recycling water from Braunig and Calaveras Lakes to cool its power stations.

To protect wildlife species unique to the South Texas region, CPS Energy takes measures to avoid disrupting habitat and plants thousands of trees each year in the community.