Appliance manufacturer recognized for reductions in energy, water usage

• Switching to GE metal preparation process saves money, water, reduces CO2 emissions for Roper Corporation

TREVOSE, PA, Nov. 7, 2007 -- GE Water & Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company today presented Roper Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Electric that manufactures cooking appliances, with a 2007 ecomagination leadership award for achieving substantial reductions in water and energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, and nutrient levels in wastewater effluent. By switching to GE's ecomagination-certified Permatreat Enhanced Performance Pretreatment (EPP) Program to prepare metal parts for painting, Roper Corporation has reduced its annual water consumption by more than 360,000 gallons, lowered greenhouse gas emissions by 13.9 million ft³, and saved approximately U.S. $100,000 in energy costs. Phosphate levels in plant wastewater have also declined by 45 percent as a result of the EPP Program.

"Every GE business is committed to leveraging our extensive portfolio of ecomagination technologies to drive growth and financial returns while also tackling society's pressing environmental challenges," said Jeff Garwood, president and CEO, GE Water & Process Technologies. "Roper Corporation's success shows our customers, investors, and employees that GE is leading by example and that environmental responsibility can be economically sustained."

"Roper Corporation's team members pride themselves on being responsible environmental stewards" said Scott Ossewaarde, president, Roper Corporation. "We are constantly looking for ways to improve energy efficiencies in all areas of our operations"

Pretreatment of metal parts with conversion coatings is an important first step in the painting process, providing paint adhesion and corrosion resistance. Until recently, Roper Corporation used an iron phosphate conversion coating that required a bath of 125 to 140ºF (52 to 60ºC) and a post-treatment rinse stage.

GE's EPP Program, an industry-unique method for metal surface preparation, enabled Roper Corporation to perform pretreatment at ambient temperature, eliminate the need for a boiler to heat the bath, and also remove a post-treatment rinse. Roper Corporation was able to incorporate the EPP process in its existing tanks without major adjustments.

This simple change to a common manufacturing process can have significant environmental benefits. If only 25% of the world's manufacturing plants using iron phosphate conversion coatings switched to Permatreat EPP technology, they would collectively reduce energy consumption by 1.4 million MWh per year, or enough to heat 800,000 U.S. homes. They would also reduce CO2 emissions by 250,000 tons per year, or the amount emitted by 49,000 U.S. passenger cars.

Other energy conservation measures at Roper Corporation include relamping the 1.1 million square foot Lafayette, Georgia facility with GE's super efficient fluorescent T-8 fixtures in 2006. This project and other electrical energy conservation measures over the past year have resulted in an estimated annual reduction of about 4.8 million kWh in electricity demand. Other projects in 2007 have been aimed at reducing natural gas usage. By improving equipment efficiencies and rearranging schedules and usage patterns, the plant has reduced its annual natural gas usage by more than 15 million BTUs. All totaled, the facility estimates its energy saving efforts over the past two years have resulted in the avoidance of more than 900 metric tons of carbon emissions annually."

GE Water & Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company, provides industrial, agricultural, potable water, and wastewater solutions that lessen the overall dependence on our world's fresh water sources.

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