Sustainability Award

Louis Liu

Rehlko

Louis Liu is a Sustainability Project Engineer at Rehlko where he focuses on product sustainability and innovation, sustainability education and communication, and the development and implementation of greenhouse gas reduction strategies and compliance reporting. He also contributes to industry-wide sustainability efforts, including the U.S. Green Building Council’s Wisconsin Market Leadership Advisory Board, and he is a member of the iMasons Climate Accord Equipment Working Group.

At Rehlko, Louis leads the Design for Environment program for new product development, which includes Rehlko’s data center backup power solutions. Key accomplishments include driving engineering teams in North America, EMEA, and China to integrate sustainability into the early stages of product design and development as part of a broader goal to reduce the lifecycle carbon footprint of products. Under his leadership, more than 80% of North American new product projects and 50% of global projects now incorporate the DfE program’s principles, up from a handful a few years ago.

Louis also conducts Scope 3 emissions analysis and ESG reporting at Rehlko and is creating a greenhouse gas reduction strategy for the data center backup generator business. This includes official sanctioning of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) as an alternative fuel for backup generators that reduces lifecycle carbon emissions by 90% compared to fossil fuels, and pilot projects for hydrogen fuel cell powered backup generators, which reduce emissions by 100% at point of use. In addition, Louis leads the Power Systems Sustainability Committee at Rehlko, which fosters a culture of sustainability through internal communication, education, and events.