After Helping Others Go Green, Westborough's Emseal Does It Too
The products Westborough-based Emseal Joint Systems Ltd. manufactures make buildings more energy efficient.
In 2008, Emseal won a bid to reseal all 6,514 windows in the Empire State Building in New York City in a project that resulted in LEED Gold certification for the massive structure.
Sustainability has long been a part of the corporate pitch for Emseal, which also makes expansion joints for the construction industry, said CEO Lester Hensley.
But not long ago, Hensley realized he had not fully instilled the idea into his company's culture.
"As is often the case, as we've been focused on growing our business, we've sort of lost out focus on really living it as a company," Hensley said. "As a leader of the company, I hadn't really made it an explicit tenet of the culture."
What helped the company rekindle that focus, he said, is the Sustainable Business Leader Program (SBLP), which is based in Boston and has a Worcester operation run by a collaboration of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston, Worcester Local First and Clark University.
SBLP offers subsidized energy audit and green assessment services to small businesses.
For Emseal, Hensley said the project began with talking to employees about sustainability, from the drinking water cups they use to the cars they drive.
Then the company turned its attention to its 28,000-square-foot building on Bridle Lane, where it has about 35 employees.
Emseal purchased more efficient lighting ballasts and fixtures, the cost of which will be partially offset by energy programs run by its utility company. The payback will be about one year, Hensley said.
And the company signed up for single-stream recycling with its waste hauler. That has allowed them to recycle more materials – they used to just sort paper, which Hensley called a "half-hearted attempt" – and it has reduced the number of waste pickups, which has resulted in a net savings.
"This notion that you have to choose between sustainability and profitability is one we've proven for ourselves is a fallacy," he said.
Adapting To New Markets
With its operation more energy and cost efficient, Emseal is focusing on staying agile. The company is in the construction business, which has been hit hard since the 2008 recession.
But Hensley said Emseal has found ways to alleviate that by developing new products and getting into new areas.
Besides sealants, Emseal's major business line is building expansion joints for buildings and bridges. The company developed a fire-rated structural expansion joint in 2010 that Hensley called "disruptive" to the market.
With seismic codes getting stricter, newer buildings increasingly contain expansion joints that bisect the structure, which creates a potential path for a fire to follow, Hensley said. That means the joint, which also has acoustic dampening properties, is in demand.
Emseal has also pursed retrofit construction projects, which are a nice substitute when not much new construction is happening.
"We've focused on the retrofit market and casting a wider net, going after broader geographies," Hensley said. "There's work out there to be had, it's just a matter of positioning yourself."
Image credit: freedigitalphotos.net
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