Living Earthright™ at Delta Controls

Here at Delta Controls, we live our Earthright™ vision everyday! We know that it’s just as important to walk the walk, as it is to talk the talk. We believe that to care for this planet means to incorporate sustainable practices into our everyday lives. It’s what our customers demand. It’s the example we live by.

Check out some of the following ways we’ve incorporated smart living through our Partner organization and here at Delta Controls. We think it’s a good start to making our buildings and planet a better place for all of us to live.

Delta Controls has started a Green Environmental Initiative Team within Head Office. The purpose is to understand the attitudes and beliefs of Delta employees and to build a culture of sustainability and environmental awareness by doing the following:

Raise awareness - about stewardship and sustainability, the challenges and opportunities.

Educate - inform people about opportunities to make a difference in their work lives and at home.

Bring green ideas from all employees, to the company, to improve everyday business functions.

The goals of the Green Team are to:

• Foster a waste/energy reduction ethic through information, education and communication programs.
• Improve energy performance and to reduce our use of resources (energy/paper/water) through education and communication.

Delta Controls has already had some early success stories, including setting up a Ride-Share program for employees and making the switch to 100% PCW recycled paper in January 2008. By making the switch to using only recycled paper in the office, Delta Controls is saving an estimated 84 trees per year from being cut down.

Delta Controls strives to have the highest percentage of CEM's, LEEDS and Energy engineers in the industry in corporate and in associated partners:

To help clients manage their buildings better, a through understanding of current energy conservation and management methods, practices and philosophies is needed. Delta Controls and its independent dealer partner organization are committed to having the largest number of CEM and LEEDS certified employees in the industry. The process has started and Delta is facilitating the needs of Delta Partners to have on staff CEM and/or LEEDS certified personnel to help owners achieve more efficient buildings.

Delta Controls has been building additional office/factory space adjacent to our Head Office in Vancouver BC. The new building has incorporated many environmentally sustainable features that will allow us to reduce our carbon footprint within our local surroundings. Some of these many features include:

• Employing the use of Geothermal technology for HVAC through Ground Source Heat Pump Loop: 84 wells, 220 ft. deep connected in 6 loops with an estimated 84 tons of cooling capacity.
• HVAC Ventilation & Exhaust: operable windows provide natural ventilation, skylights have relief dampers & motion sensors in washrooms used to turn on/off exhaust fans as well as lights.
• Building Interior: Open concept in manufacturing reduced interior walls, increases natural light levels, effectiveness of natural ventilation and flexibility of product flow. In areas where interior walls are needed for noise reduction and air filtration, glass partitions allow natural light.
• Building Exterior: Landscaping designed to reduce water consumption and increase natural vegetation.
• Skylights: North-facing to increase interior natural light levels without increasing solar load, skylights carried through 2nd floor to first floor.
• Windows: Double-paned, high reflectance, low E coating.
• Window Treatments: Aluminum sunscreens to reduce solar load.
• Roof: Upgraded to 6” of insulation (R20)
• Plumbing: On-demand hot water heaters, low flow showerheads, “dual-flush” option toilets.
• Access/Security/CCTV: motion sensors used to provide occupancy indication & window contacts used to control temperature setpoints.
• Interior Lighting: Production – T5HO fixtures with diffusers, switching and dimming based on occupancy, window areas dimming based on analog photocell.
• Interior Lighting: Office space – combination of CFL pots and T8, switching and dimming controls.
• Exterior Lights: LED perimeter lights – 33% savings over CFL.
• Gym & Court Area: recycled rubber used on gym floor and as underlay in court area.

Delta employees have come up with innovative ways to reduce waste in packaging:

Delta Controls manufactures its products in its own factory as opposed to just performing final major assembly of components made by others. What are the Environmental advantages to this? Raw materials are received directly and transformed into finished goods under one roof as opposed to passing raw materials thru multiple sub assemblers, then reshipping sub assemblies requiring multiple shipping and transport events. This reduces transportation, packaging and utility impact on environment.

As Delta Controls develops new product, we look for innovative ways to properly design product shipping methods and containers to eliminate damaged goods as well as use less materials, which would normally be discarded.

Delta Controls also has the ability to repair and recertify legacy products in-house, which have been sent back from the field by clients. By performing a potentially economical repair as opposed to embracing a ditch and dump philosophy, Delta Controls helps owners maintain their investment longer, as well as being sensitive to land fill issues.

Delta Controls is one of the founding members of the NewEnergy Alliance:

The NewEnergy Alliance is a group committed to driving innovation in the building automation industry that will create smarter, more energy responsive buildings. The NewEnergy Alliance has been formed in response to a growing commitment to sustainability and to reducing the carbon footprint of the established building environment.

Delta Partners like DCC who are converting their fleets to Hybrid cars:

Delta Controls Chicago owner Charlie McLauchlan is transforming his company fleet from standard gas powered to Hybrid powered cars. Currently he has replaced 2 standard gas vehicles with electric hybrids and as others need replaced will look for the best hybrid replacement to meet their needs. He has adopted one of the hybrid cars as his personal vehicle.

Another Delta Partner; Tri-Tech Inc., has a fleet of Hybrids and recently purchased eco-friendly recycled green cubicles for their entire office:

Tri-Tech Inc. located in Latham, New York currently has a fleet of 4 Hybrids for the Project Managers and Technicians to use according to job requirements. And when it came time to upgrade their office furniture, instead of purchasing brand new, they went with recycled eco-friendly green cubicles to reduce the harmful impacts on the environment.