Flex Your Power Case Study: Cypress Semiconductor

In 2002, Cypress moved its headquarters into a newly constructed 111,000 sq. ft. building located at its corporate campus. Facilities Manager Kevin Kassekert analyzed costs across the corporate campus, and found that energy was number one. Cypress contracted Ferreira Services, Inc. (FSI), a provider of energy engineering services, to conduct an investment grade energy audit at Building #6, focusing on the HVAC system. The trend- and data-logging resulted in more than 70 recommendations to improve energy efficiency, none of which required major equipment investment. Kassekert and facility staff evaluated the recommendations based on Cypress' internal investment criteria, then worked with FSI to implement those strategies that made financial sense. The results were astounding.

The goal of this program is to improve energy efficiency at Cypress Semiconductor.

Cypress secured a grant from PG&E under its Standard Performance Contract program that covered 43 percent ($114,621) of the $262,015 implementation costs. Cypress then advanced FSI the amount of the grant and arranged to pay the remainder of the fee in three quarterly payments using money saved on energy costs. As such, Cypress used no capital investment funds for this project; savings on operational expenses paid for the audit in less than a year. Through this innovative financing structure, Cypress was able to reduce electricity use in Building 6 by 55 percent (881,552 kWh) and reduce its natural gas use by 85 percent (73,590 therms).

Based on the incredible results at Building #6, Cypress asked FSI to audit the remaining four buildings on campus. Recently completed, Cypress expects to save approximately 6,728,938 kWh annually from the campus-wide energy audit, saving Cypress $1,076,714 on energy costs each year.