«Fall 2011

Duncan Aviation Pursues Green Policies

Taking Environmental Responsibility Seriously

any companies are taking environmental responsibility seriously, developing eco-friendly practices and demanding them from vendors and partners. Duncan Aviation, which has an official “Green Team” to monitor and address environmental issues, is no exception. “Duncan Aviation believes that our business practices should make good business sense and be socially responsible. Toward these ends, we launched the Duncan Aviation Green Team to promote green practices,” saysJeannine Falter, Vice President of Business Development.

Members of the Green Team represent a variety of departments from Duncan Aviation’s three main facilities in Lincoln, Nebraska, Battle Creek, Michigan and Provo, Utah. Jeannine says all members care deeply about Duncan Aviation and want to help the company succeed while continuing its quest to always do the right thing. The team is focused on how our business potentially affects the environment and how to best address concerns. The team’s goal is to establish green policies to include curbing the unnecessary consumption of resources, using what we have more efficiently and recycling everything we possibly can. The team is also responsible for communicating with other employees and customers about what actions the company is taking and how we can all implement “green” policies at work and at home.

“The benefits of making ‘green’ decisions are good for us and for those who will follow us,” Jeannine says. “In our business lives, we can often make even bigger strides in reducing our negative effects on the environment. And those changes can help customers by decreasing costs and making work more efficient.”

The Paint Challenge

While being customer focused, all of the Duncan Aviation production departments have contributed to the goal of making the company more “green.” The Paint department presented the most significant opportunity to reduce hazardous materials. Chrome, also known as chromate or hexavalent chromium, has been in the news for years and its threats to the environment and human health are well-known. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have adjusted tolerance levels downward in recent years, which compelled the business aviation industry to make some significant changes to its paint processes as well.

Even prior to the new regulations, however, Duncan Aviation was committed to safeguarding the health and welfare of its customers and team members, so research on chrome-free paint began many years ago.

In 2010, Duncan Aviation received FAA approval for its new, low-chromate paint process. Duncan Aviation now uses PreKote as a pretreatment alternative to the etch and alodine methods previously used and a new Sherwin-Williams primer, which replaces the traditional zinc chromate primer. For more information about chrome free paint process, you can download a field guide called “The Truth About Chrome Free Paint Systems,” written by several Duncan Aviation paint experts at www.DuncanAviation.aero/fieldguides.

Companywide Differences

Most of the changes put in place by the Green Team are subtle yet significant, Jeannine says, and were identified by having small groups of people around the company question current practices. She says Duncan Aviation has made great strides. Following are some additional ways our greener policies are making a difference.

Lighting. Throughout many facilities, teams have replaced old, energy-hogging light fixtures with more energy-efficient lighting. Estimates on savings range from $14-15,000 per year. We are also working to safely dispose of light bulbs and tubes. In 2009, the Lincoln facility recycled 1,857 fluorescent light tubes. By 2010, that number was up to 3,695 tubes. Battle Creek prevented 1,398 fluorescent tubes from going to a landfill in 2010 by recycling them.
Energy Use. Duncan Aviation has looked at many ways to decrease energy consumption. Occupancy sensors to automatically turn off lights when no one is present have been installed in low-traffic areas. Placards that remind team members to turn off lights when they’re the last person out of an area were installed in all restrooms, conference rooms, and lunch rooms. Many hangar fan motors have been replaced with variable frequency drives (VFDs) to control the fan motor speeds so they’re not operating at full speed all day, every day. And programmable thermostats that were installed in offices and hangars have gone a long way to reduce overall energy consumption throughout the company.
Recycling. In a push for greater awareness, more recycling bins have been placed in offices, hangars, shops, lunchrooms and conference rooms. Battle Creek recycled a whooping 27 tons of cardboard and office paper in 2010, and Lincoln recycled 33 tons. Metal recycling has also seen a push. The Battle Creek and Lincoln facilities now have bins in shops and on hangar floors so technicians can recycle smallmetal waste like nuts, bolts, screws, brackets and bearings. And in an effort to encourage the responsible disposal of used electronic devices (such as batteries, vacuum cleaners, DVD players, cell phones, digital cameras, radios, lamps and cordless phones) the Lincoln facility invited a local electronics recycling company to collect unwanted electronic/electric junk. On a frigid December day, team members stepped up and loaded hundreds of pounds of used electronics onto the truck!
Electronic “Printing.” Duncan Aviation transitioned its payroll from paper checks and pay stubs to paperless, electronic data. All checks are now deposited directly for team members, and pay stubs are available online for viewing or printing when necessary. In addition, in lieu of faxing our Duncan Intelligence newsletter to companies around the world, we now e-mail it to subscribers once a month. These two major changes have cut down considerably on paper use required by our customers and used by our team members.

An Ongoing Process

More efforts are underway to ensure that the products and services we offer are environmentally safe and responsible. The Duncan Aviation Green Team will continue to find ways to help the company do what’s responsible for the environment and is best for our health and well-being.

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