Reducing consumption through energy recovery projects
Published on 9/4/2025
SILAB is taking several concrete steps to recover and recycle the energy used on its site. Between 2020 and 2022, a €3 million energy saving program was rolled out, illustrating the company's commitment to taking concrete action to limit its environmental impact by improving the energy performance of its industrial facilities.
Energy recovery from refrigeration units
SILAB is expanding, building extensions are springing up, new equipment is appearing, and refrigeration facilities are multiplying. In this context, an ambitious recovery project has been carried out to adapt utilities to the integration of new technologies.
The aim is to replace the chilled water production units with a single, more efficient unit equipped with an innovative heat recovery system.
Thanks to this specific system:
- the calories generated by the cooling unit are recovered;
- the hot and softened water from the three production workshops is preheated.
This project also includes replacing refrigerants with a low-environmental-impact fluid, thereby reducing the carbon footprint of the facilities.
In 2022, the implementation of these facilities resulted in savings of:
This initiative is explained in a video by Pierre Forman, SILAB’s environment manager: Actively Caring - focus on an energy initiative - YouTube
Optimization of the compressed air station
Since 2021, targeted actions have been taken on the compressed air system. Compressed air, a form of stored energy used to power machines, equipment, and industrial processes, accounts for a significant portion of energy consumption.
Among the improvements implemented:
- replacement of a compressed air distributor;
- reduction of network pressure;
- detection and repair of leaks using an ultrasonic detector.
In 2022, these actions resulted in a 3% reduction in the site's electricity consumption and 30,000 m³ of air saved by preventing leaks.