North American Environmental Committee

SUBARU Group organizes the North American Environmental Committee (NAEC), involving the four manufacturing and sales subsidiary companies in North America, SIA, SOA, SCI and SRD which have a particularly high environmental impact among our overseas subsidiaries. This committee meets twice yearly (or as needed) to share and spread successful cases with member companies, promoting efficient and streamlined environmental activities.
    In FY2012, the NAEC held meetings in June and November. NAEC member companies reported their CSR and environmental activities to the Committee, and we also reported our environmental activities being undertaken in Japan. We are encouraging this Committee to further share SUBARU related information across the world.

Establishing an Environmental Management System

All members of the North American Environmental Committee, that is, SIA, SOA, SCI, and SRD, had already acquired ISO 14001 Environmental Management System certification by December 2006 and have retained this certification since then. SIA, SOA, and SRD received integrated certification in FY2010. They are working on pollution prevention and reduction of environmental burdens through educational training, on-site legal compliance programs, internal auditing, and other measures..
    On June 4, 2012, SIA received ISO 50001 Certification from an international ISO certification body, DEKRA Certification, Inc., becoming the first car manufacturing plant in the U.S. to achieve this internationally recognized accreditation.
    ISO 50001 details the requirements for energy management systems (EnMS), announced in 2011 as the international standard that provides organizations with management strategies to increase energy efficiency, reduce costs, and improve energy performance. SIA's accreditation demonstrates the company's commitment to continual improvement in the area of energy conservation and its environmental leadership within the auto industry. SIA was also the first U.S. car manufacturing plant to achieve ISO 9001 Quality Management Certification and ISO 14001 Environmental Management Certification.

Achievements in FY2012

To counter the serious issue of global warming, each of our North American companies is working hard to reduce total CO₂ emissions through various measures. The amount of CO₂ emitted by the four companies in North America in FY2012 totaled 137,293 tons-CO₂, a decrease of about 2.1% compared with 140,303 tons-CO₂ in FY2010. .
    In order to reduce CO₂ emissions when production volumes are increasing, our North American companies are gradually replacing their lighting systems with low-energy consumption models. .
    SCI replaced 293 metal halogen lights in its warehouse and the Technical Training Center with T8 LED tubes, and installed 188 motion sensors in the warehouse to eliminate needless lighting when no staff are present. Within the first year of the installation, energy usage was reduced by 22.5%..
    In SIA, 44 compressor motors for air conditioning systems were replaced with Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs). This successfully reduced annual CO₂ emissions by 4,638 tons-CO₂.

■ CO₂Emissions

Earth Day 2011

The four companies in North America participated in the Earth Day and Earth Hour to raise environmental awareness among employees and help sustain energy resources.
    In April 2011, SOA employees volunteered at Saddler's Woods near their office, to help clear trails, remove invasive plant species, and collect trash and debris. Also, a group of Western Region employees participated in a cleanup at the Bluff Lake Nature Center to remove invasive plants.