A.O. Smith Corporation aims to save 40 million gallons of water each year by 2030, according to a report from the Milwaukee-based water technology company.
The business recently released its latest corporate sustainability report for 2024, which marks A.O. Smith’s 150th anniversary. Headquartered in Milwaukee, the business has grown to about 12,000 employees after starting as a manufacturer of baby carriage and bicycle parts in 1874.
The company reported about $3.9 billion in revenue for 2023, with about 32% of that coming from “green products” such as water heaters and boilers meeting federal efficiency standards. That has grown from 30.5% in 2019, the report shows.
“We are a water technology leader focused on a culture of innovation, and this report further demonstrates our commitment to providing our customers with water and energy-efficient solutions,” Chairman and CEO Kevin Wheeler said in a statement.
The newly established water savings goal is linked to the company’s participation in the Milwaukee-based Water Council’s WAVE Water Stewardship program since 2022, which includes a framework for gauging water uses and risks. The company says efforts to reduce water usage will include administrative controls, process optimization and water recycling technologies.
The report highlights a number of improvements on climate goals, such as reducing its greenhouse gas emissions intensity over the four-year period covered in the report.
The company’s metric tons of CO2 emitted per millions of dollars in revenue has fallen from 54.22 in 2019 to 39.24 last year. And total greenhouse gas emissions have decreased from 162,270 metric tons of CO2 to 143,109 metric tons over the same period. A release notes A.O. Smith has surpassed its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal by 17%.
At the same time, total natural gas usage has risen from 373,071 megawatt-hours — a unit of measurement for energy — to 388,389 MWh. Total electricity usage has fallen from 191,052 MWh to 179,316 MWh, while total water usage has gone from about 362 million gallons to 358 million gallons.
Meanwhile, the company is touting an increase in greenhouse gas avoidance from its water heaters and boilers, rising from 487,383 metric tons of CO2 to 562,243 metric tons of CO2.
But at the same time, the report also shows the company’s share of female employees among its full-time global workforce has fallen from 42% in 2019 to 30% in 2023. The company says this decline is due to the gender makeup of acquisitions and outsourcing of in-store sales positions.
The company’s latest acquisition was a company called Pureit, a Unilever business that was launched in 2004 in India. At the start of November, A.O. Smith announced it had completed the $120 million acquisition.
The report also shows A.O. Smith had an increase in its “total recordable incident rate,” which captures significant work-related injuries or illnesses beyond first aid. Based on an OSHA formula that tracks incidents as a ratio of total hours worked, the TRIR rose from 0.94 to 1.38.
“TRIR increased since the COVID-19 pandemic due to elevated employee turnover and acquisitions,” report authors wrote. “Targeted safety improvement plans are implemented at each facility to address this increase.”
The report also notes its performance “still compares favorably to our industry benchmark,” with the current rate remaining 50% better than the average.
