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DOE provides targeted technical assistance for manufacturers pursuing energy and resource efficiency
Contributed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is committed to providing the industrial sector with resources and funding to support the development of innovative new technologies and processes.
Previously, DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office was the front door of the department for many manufacturers.1 This office focused on two main missions: driving innovation in manufacturing technologies, and reducing energy and emissions related to manufacturing. These missions complemented each other in many ways, but as attention in these areas grew, so too did the need for specialization.
In October 2022, the Advanced Manufacturing Office was reorganized into two new offices:2 the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) and the Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO). For emissions-heavy industries, such as ceramics and glass, the latter office provides research and development funding, technical assistance, and demonstration support to help manufacturers along their journey to reduce emissions and increase resource efficiency.
This article overviews the portfolio of resources applicable to ceramic and glass manufacturers through IEDO,3 including programs that were portioned into this office during the split and new offerings that were added since then. These programs and resources include energy management support, technology-specific guidance, and in-plant technical assistance (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Overview of DOE’s programs and resources that support manufacturers in improving energy performance and reducing GHG emissions.
Credit: DOE IEDO
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Better Plants Program
The Better Plants Program is a longstanding initiative that encourages and supports U.S. manufacturing companies to pursue aggressive energy efficiency and sustainability goals. The program continues to work with industrial partners who are committed to reducing their company-wide energy intensity by approximately 25% over 10 years.
As of 2022, more than 280 partners had cumulatively saved more than $11.7 billion in energy costs since 2009 at more than 3,500 nationwide facilities, representing 13.8% of the U.S. manufacturing energy footprint.4 These savings come from technical assistance, industry networking, and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing.
In-Plant Trainings are one component of the Better Plants Program. These expert-led, multiday workshops—which are offered through both in-person and virtual platforms—train participants to identify, implement, and replicate energy efficiency projects. To date, In-Plant Trainings have been delivered to more than 4,400 participants, which helped them identify more than $66 million in energy efficiency opportunities.
The Better Climate Challenge, another component of the Better Plants Program, encourages partner organizations to commit to reduce portfolio-wide greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% within 10 years, with energy-intensive industries committing to a 25% reduction.
Finally, the Better Plants Program regularly offers energy and carbon bootcamps tailored specifically for individuals who are relatively new to energy and carbon management. These three- to four-day workshops use extensive hands-on activities to educate attendees on the fundamentals of energy and carbon management while also covering the key aspects of energy efficiency and carbon accounting. Since the bootcamps started in 2022, more than 400 participants from industry have attended these trainings.
Learn more about the Better Plants Program and its various offerings:
Collaboration with EPA
IEDO also collaborates with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR program to provide new technical assistance opportunities to energy intensive industries. ENERGY STAR works with companies to develop energy management programs by offering instructive partnership programs, energy management guidance, energy program resources, benchmarking and tracking tools, and much more.
EPA’s benchmarking tools for industrial plants measure a plant’s energy performance and compare it to that of similar plants nationwide, generating an ENERGY STAR score on a scale of 1 to 100. Additional subsectors are included in the program periodically, and tools currently exist for both the container and flat glass manufacturing industries.
Learn more about EPA’s approach to benchmarking industrial energy performance.
Energy management programs
IEDO encourages a comprehensive company-wide approach to address energy efficiency and emissions reductions. The establishment of an energy management system that is easily understood and implemented across all facilities in a company’s portfolio is central to this approach. IEDO helps companies establish such a system through the 50001 Ready and Superior Energy Performance 50001 programs.
50001 Ready
The 50001 Ready program is designed to aid companies in preparing for ISO certification, facilitating the development of an energy management infrastructure that fosters continuous improvement and cost savings. To date, DOE has recognized more than 200 organizations for completion of the 50001 Ready program. This program includes virtual cohorts that benefit from 6–12 months of expert support in 50001 Ready implementation and continues to welcome new industrial members.
Learn more about the 50001 Ready program. Apply to be a part of the program by emailing 50001Ready@lbl.gov.
Superior Energy Performance 50001
Once a company has adopted an energy management system into their standard routine, they can pursue full ISO certification and then receive advanced recognition for their efforts through the Superior Energy Performance (SEP) 50001 program. This program validates success through a third-party assessor and provides a tiered platform for recognizing outstanding energy efficiency improvement.
Learn more about the Superior Energy Performance 50001 program.
SIDEBAR
Industrial Assessment Centers: Tracking the transition to a decarbonized future
DOE’s Industrial Assessment Centers (IACs) work with small- and medium-sized manufacturers to increase their energy efficiency and ease their transition to a decarbonized future. The program used to live within DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, but in 2022, it transitioned to the newly established Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains.
IACs now number 37 institutions across the U.S., and several new Centers of Excellence were established in the past several years to develop enhanced capabilities for serving partners. These Centers are located at universities to serve as both a resource to manufacturers and a training ground for the next generation of energy engineers.
To date, IACs have conducted more than 21,000 assessments, which resulted in more than 158,000 recommendations with average annual savings of $139,905.5 All these activities and more are tracked in a publicly available IAC Database. Learn more about IACs and apply for an assessment.
Figure 2. Map of DOE’s Industrial Assessment Centers.
Credit: Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains
Onsite Energy Program
IEDO provides technical assistance, market analysis, and best practices to help industrial facilities and other large energy users increase the adoption of onsite clean energy technologies. Previously, these resources were offered through the Combined Heat and Power program, but starting in January 2024, this program evolved to become the new Onsite Energy Program. This program, which is overseen by IEDO, includes additional national lab resources and expanded expertise into new generation technologies.
A central pillar of the Onsite Energy Program is the Technical Assistance Partnerships (TAPs), or 10 regional centers that provide unbiased, fact-based engineering support and technical assistance to industrial and commercial facilities that can benefit from deploying onsite energy technologies. TAPs help identify opportunities for plants, support project planning, and conduct economic payback analyses.
The technologies covered by the Onsite Energy Program include battery storage, geothermal, solar thermal, combined heat and power, industrial heat pumps, renewable fuels, waste heat to power, fuel cells, solar photovoltaics, wind power, and more.
Learn more about the program.
Software tools
IEDO provides support for a range of free open-source software and tools designed to help manufacturers and water treatment plants improve energy efficiency and advance decarbonization efforts. See a full list of these tools. Tools most relevant to the ceramic and glass industries are described below.
Utility tracking and analysis
Resource utilization can be difficult to track, and many companies have their own unique system for managing utilities and calculating the resulting emissions. Released in early 2023, the VERIFI dashboard tool allows for tracking and analyzing of utility data within companies. This no-cost, open-source software provides a common data input platform for utility bills, visual representations of performance, regression analysis, and report-out capabilities at the site and company levels. The software is available online and on desktop and is updated regularly with new features developed from industry experience and feedback from users.
Download the open-source VERIFI dashboard tool on the IEDO Github page or access the web version. If you are interested in a demonstration of the tool or desire training on the software, contact BetterPlants@ee.doe.gov.
REopt Web Tool
The Renewable Energy Integration & Optimization (REopt®) web-based tool allows users to evaluate the economic viability of various onsite energy technologies, such as distributed photovoltaics, wind, battery storage, combined heat and power, geothermal heat pumps, and thermal energy storage. It also allows users to estimate how long a system can sustain critical load during a grid outage, as well as identify system sizes and dispatch strategies to minimize energy costs while meeting clean energy goals.
Learn more about the REopt Web Tool.
Financial Navigator
New financing opportunities can arise through different DOE programs and partnerships with financial institutions. The Financial Navigator tool provides a consolidated portal for learning more about these options that may be applicable for companies or specific projects.
Learn more about Financial Navigator.
Case study
IEDO has seen continued success from the ceramics and glass manufacturers that partner with our programs.
Saint-Gobain
Saint-Gobain, an ACerS Diamond Corporate Partner and active Better Plants Partner, continues to improve energy efficiency in their manufacturing facilities. Saint-Gobain was awarded the Better Plants’ 2024 Better Project Award for installing more than 180 energy meters integrated with a smart energy management system at its gypsum wallboard plant. Within three months, the system helped identify several opportunities to reduce energy usage and enabled the plant team to scope process changes and projects to address them.
Saint-Gobain was also awarded the 2022 Better Project Award for piloting and installing a new recycling technology that grinds and then captures waste gypsum and paper for reuse, reducing annual landfill waste by 15,000 tons and annual costs by more than $384,000.
Innovation focus
IEDO is leading initiatives in the following areas to help support the growth and sustainability of the U.S. manufacturing ecosystem:
Validation of innovative technology
The Industrial Technology Validation pilot continues to work with both vendors of innovative technologies and manufacturing companies that are interested in deploying these technologies. New case studies are published as the validation process is completed. These studies can be found along with the application to participate in the program at this link.
Education and workforce development
U.S. manufacturers benefit from strong training programs for current and future employees. IEDO is committed to furthering the work being done in this field and will have new announcements on this front coming in the second half of 2024. Learn more about workforce development resources from IEDO.
Focus on energy-intensive industries
DOE offers a wide array of technical assistance resources including energy and decarbonization assessments, specialized trainings on industrial systems and energy-related topics, and onsite energy assistance. To request technical assistance, please reach out to Robert Lung or Zach Amigone.
In addition to resources that help manufacturers adopt existing technologies, IEDO also invests in research and development (R&D) to accelerate the next generation of energy-efficient and industrial decarbonization technologies in the highest emitting sectors. For example, IEDO supports the R&D of technologies that reduce emissions attributed to various aspects of glass manufacturing, including the use of alternative glass feedstocks; overcoming challenges related to electrification and adoption of alternative fuels for process heating; and technologies enabling expanded cullet use.
For more information about IEDO’s R&D opportunities, please visit the IEDO website and subscribe to the monthly newsletter.
Acknowledgments:
The author expresses gratitude to John Mauro, Vladimir Fokin, Eduardo Bellini Ferreira, and Vladimir Sigaev for their valuable resources and insightful discussions.
About the author:
Maziar Montazerian is assistant research professor of materials science and engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. Contact Montazerian.