MU’s College of Engineering launches regional center to focus on energy efficiency

A national center promoting industrial energy efficiency has opened at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Funded by grant funds of about $1 million, including a five-year, $900,000 commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy, the MU College of Engineering Industrial Assessment Center will help small- and medium-sized businesses improve their energy efficiency and productivity, minimize waste and prevent pollution.

The MU center, which opened this month, will offer free energy audits for businesses and perform outreach, education and research activities, said Bin Wu, director of the MU center and a professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering. To qualify for a free energy audit, businesses can have no more than 500 employees. Medium-sized manufacturers are defined as those that pay between $100,000 and $2.5 million a year for energy.

Although it often works in tandem with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Energy Center to provide energy audits, the MU center is not affiliated with state government and former DNR programs that used to provide similar services, Wu said. He said the MU center will audit at least 15 manufacturing plants a year.

“We have been working very closely in particular with the department’s Energy Center to develop this proposal, so we worked together to get this opportunity, and we thank them for their help,” Wu said. “We will be working very closely together with the state energy managers and engineers under the department itself to carry out the center’s future activities.”

The federal IAC program also trains young engineers in the use of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in manufacturing and industrial processes, so the centers are based at universities. One of 26 such centers funded by the federal energy department at universities in 23 states, the MU center is the only site in Missouri to win such a grant. The University of Missouri-Rolla also has an Industrial Assessment Center, but it was not chosen to receive the funding, said Tom Welch, public affairs specialist for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Wu stressed that his organization has no regulatory function — its function is to promote best practices in energy efficiency.

“We are here to provide free surveys,” he said. “According to historical statistical data gathered by the Department of Energy, the average savings per year as a result of such audits will be in the region of $55,000 to $60,000 a year.”

Businesses interested in the center’s services should contact Wu at (573) 882-5540 or [email protected]. Although the free audits are only available to small- and medium-sized businesses, Wu said any business with an energy concern should feel free to contact the center for advice.