AUSTIN, Texas – The United States Department of Energy is partnering with The University of Texas at Austin to pilot an energy-efficiency certification program for manufacturing plants.
Through October 2009, energy experts will be working with staff from five manufacturing plants in Texas to test the components of a proposed national plant energy-efficiency certification program. This program includes assessments of significant plant energy systems in accordance with proposed American National Standards Institute energy assessment standards; training plant staff to implement an energy management system that complies with Management System for Energy (MSE) 2000:2008; coaching by energy management system experts during plant energy management system implementation; and monitoring and verification of energy savings.
The project’s goal is to verify that the processes, standards, and performance criteria considered for application to a plant under the certification program are practical and achievable, provide benefit to participating plants, and reliably identify plants that meet the proposed certification criteria.
Companies participating in the project will be contributing to the development of this important national program. The five Texas plants are: Cook Composites and Polymers Co. Houston plant; Freescale Semiconductor Inc. Oak Hill plant; Frito-Lay San Antonio plant; Owens Corning Waxahachie plant; and Union Carbide’s Texas City Operations (a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company.)
The project is funded by the United States Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and the Texas State Energy Conservation Office. The Texas Industries of the Future program, located at The University of Texas at Austin, is coordinating the project in Texas.
Other supporting organizations working under contract to the Department of Energy include Oak Ridge National Lab, Lawrence Berkley National Lab and Georgia Tech, which is providing assistance on implementation of the MSE 2000:2008. The Superior Energy Performance partnership is also providing oversight, support and guidance to the project.
