The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected five institutions of higher education to serve as centers of excellence for its Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) program, which will receive a combined funding of 18 .7 million dollars from the bipartisan Infrastructure Act.
Separately, DOE announced a $54 million funding opportunity from the Act to expand the IAC program to community colleges, trade schools and union training programs, and create new training and assessment centers of buildings (BTAC) in higher education institutions.
“Strengthening and diversifying the pipeline for high-quality manufacturing and construction efficiency jobs is part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to create an economy that enables our nation to achieve the its clean energy future. This is a direct investment in the next generation of American workers that will help ensure America’s global leadership in advanced manufacturing technologies and green construction,” said Energy Secretary of the United States, Jennifer M. Granholm.
Over more than four decades, the IAC Program has provided more than 20,000 assessments to small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs), which represent more than 90 percent of the nation’s manufacturing base, DOE said in its statement.
IACs typically identify more than $130,000 in potential annual savings opportunities for each manufacturer evaluated, according to the organization. DOE-supported IACs currently exist at 37 universities in 28 states across the country. Seventeen of those institutions have participated in a pilot test to offer similar assessments to small and medium-sized commercial buildings, according to the release.
The new Regional Centers of Excellence will enhance and expand the IAC Program by serving as regional centers for the program that collaborate and coordinate with government, non-profit, labor and industry actors to train energy workers clean and support small and medium manufacturers in each respective region, the DOE noted. Two of the five selected, and seven of the associated institutions, are institutions serving minorities, he emphasized.
The new IACs and BTACs to be created with this funding will build on the demonstrated success of existing IACs’ applied learning environments and hands-on training approaches, DOE said.
According to DOE, IACs will also be based on the unique strengths, geographic reach, and faculty/student composition of trade schools, community colleges, union training programs, and other institutions of higher education.
The new IACs will focus on career paths for high-quality skilled trades in fields such as industrial electrician, energy management, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing, while providing hands-on support to small and medium-sized manufacturers, the statement said.
The new BTACs will extend these benefits to commercial and institutional buildings to help reduce utility costs and allow businesses to reinvest in businesses, employees and community services, the DOE noted.
The DOE said the BTACs will train engineers, architects, building scientists, building energy enforcement and permitting officials, and construction technicians in the design and operation of energy-efficient buildings. According to the organization, the IAC and BTAC programs will provide services to historically underserved communities and support DOE’s work to honor the President’s Justice40 initiative.
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