Products
Whirlpool Corporation is committed to reducing our environmental impacts and achieving our science-based targets consistent with reductions required to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.
Our approved Science-Based Targets highlight our commitment to reduce our environmental impacts. We continue to improve our Greenhouse Gas Emissions Management Systems (GEMS), launched in 2018, to monitor our global emissions footprint for products in use. GEMS uses the energy consumption of products to calculate lifetime product emissions and was developed according to the standards of the GHG Protocol. To accurately convert energy consumption to emissions, GEMS considers the International Energy Agency (IEA)-provided emissions factors and an average product lifetime of 10 years.
We are currently on track to achieve our emissions reduction targets and will continue to drive energy efficiency in our products, across all pricing levels, through our Design for Environment program.
Driving ecosystem development across our products and the home, for today and for future generations, is equally important to us. Our long-lasting partnership with Purdue University and our work with the Retrofitted Net-zero Energy, Water and Waste (ReNEWW) House at Purdue continue to provide valuable insights for the next generation of home and appliance ecosystems.
Our research is focused on the development of ultra-efficient technologies and implementation of home ecosystem optimizations that increase core performance and consumer value while decreasing environmental impact and home operating costs.
Plants and Operations
We invest in driving continuous improvement in energy efficiency by developing and utilizing local renewable energy generation or procurement, while investing in off-site renewable energy options. In 2020, we entered into a VPPA that is expected to cover 15% of our global Scope 2 emissions through investments in wind energy in the U.S. This is a major milestone for our renewable energy program and was achieved by collaborating with a cross-functional team of internal and external partners, helping us to continue on our path to carbon neutrality.
Since 2019, Whirlpool Corporation has been a member of EPA’s Green Power Partners by helping support the development of new renewable generation capacity in the U.S. while also helping protect the environment.
In India, our Faridabad site added 1,200 KW to its solar capacity. The total solar capacity for the plant is now 2,000 KW of generation, which meets about 13% of the plant’s daily energy demand. Our Pune plant in India also added 2,200 KW of solar capacity, bringing its total to 3,200 KW, which meets about 15% of the plant’s daily demand.
We have also been working to reduce emissions in our products and operations to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius by finding opportunities across our value chain. The early and voluntary transition to advanced formulation blowing agents with lower global warming potential in our manufacturing processes resulted in carbon offsets that can be certified for voluntary carbon markets by the American Carbon Registry (ACR). ACR is a leading carbon offset program that has developed environmentally rigorous, science-based offset methodologies for years. Our carbon credits registered by ACR are sold to external buyers, which creates funds that are used by our product development teams to invest in innovative and sustainable products to help us achieve our emission reduction goals.
Pune, India