The U.S. Department of Energy announced the first industrial plants in the country to be certified under the Superior Energy Performance program–a new, market-based industrial energy efficiency program.
Cook Composites and Polymers Co., Freescale
Semiconductor Inc. (NYSE: FSL), and Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) received awards during the World Energy Engineering Congress in
Washington, DC, recognizing their successful completion of the
certification program.
The energy management certification program is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is meant to serve as a roadmap for industrial facilities to help continually improve their efficiency and maintain market competitiveness.
The newly certified plants participated in the Superior Energy
Performance program’s pilot. The pilot program began in May 2008 as a
partnership between DOE and Texas Industries of the Future. A series of additional
Energy Management Demonstration projects are now underway in other
regions around the country to further test the Superior Energy
Performance program.
Along with support from DOE, the U.S. Council for Energy Efficient
Manufacturing (U.S. CEEM) is leading the development of Superior Energy
Performance to help make it possible for companies to conform to the
upcoming International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 50001
energy management system standard.
ISO, the world’s largest developer
and publisher of international standards, identified energy management
as a priority due to the significant potential to save energy and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Based on broad applicability across
national economic sectors, the ISO 50001 standard could eventually
influence up to 60% of the world’s energy demand.
DOE said the Superior
Energy Performance will be well positioned to provide a transparent,
globally accepted system for validating energy intensity performance
improvement and management practices. Consistent with this goal, the
program is already serving as the basis for the Global Superior Energy
Performance initiative, a multi-country effort to create
nationally accredited energy performance certification programs.
The industrial and manufacturing sectors, which account for roughly one-third of energy use in the United States, include significant opportunities to improve the overall efficiency of their operations. By reducing the energy necessary for their industrial processes, companies can save money, save energy, and help create new clean energy jobs.
"This program is helping to lay the groundwork for broad improvements
in industrial efficiency in the U.S. and internationally," said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "By implementing the latest energy management practices
and technologies as part of the Superior Energy Performance
certification program, these U.S. companies are saving money, reducing
carbon pollution and making their businesses more competitive in the
global marketplace."
Read more about the Superior Energy Performance program at the link below.
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