Energy efficiency tools

Feb. 13, 2017
The U.S. Dept. of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and Emerson Process Management, among others, offer a series of white papers, guides and other resources.
  • The U.S. Dept. of Energy (DoE), along with its Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) program and Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO)/Industrial Technologies program, offer numerous resources. These include DoE's Better Plants program and challenge; Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) program; and AMO Energy Resources Center such as Plant Energy Profiler.
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) and DoE's Energy Star strategies for commercial buildings and plants includes many guidelines, calculators, benchmarks and other tools, such as Energy Star's PortfolioManager online energy management and tracking application. They're available here
  • The ISO 50001 energy management standard helps users save money as well as conserve resources and tackle climate change. ISO 50001 supports organizations in all sectors to use energy more efficiently by developing an energy management system (EMS). It's located here.
  • Emerson Process Experts blog has a link to its downloadable, 132-page "Sustainable Energy Efficiency User Guide." It covers core operations, energy management information systems, target setting and performance reviews, auditing and improvement projects, measuring and controlling energy streams, and common energy tools and techniques. The post and link are here.
  • "Energy Management and Efficiency for the Process Industries," edited by Alan Rossitter and Beth Jones, is a new, 400-page book that details all the current issues, technologies and methods for achieving efficiency in the process field. A 28-page preview is availabe here. Also, Rossiter presents many of his concepts in a 10-minute AIChE Academy video, "Industrial Energy Management and Efficiency." 
  • "Energy Efficiency in Water and Wastewater Facilities: A Guide to Developing and Implementing Greenhouse Gas Reduction Programs" is a 56-page white paper that's part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Local Government Climate and Energy Strategy Series. 
  • A 90-page look at process control through the eyes of the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DoE) is contained in "Assessment Study on Sensors and Automation in the Industries of the Future: Reports on Industrial Controls, Information Processing, Automation and Robotics," submitted in November 2004 to DoE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program. It's found here.
  • The National Association of Manufacturers and the Manufacturing Institute's 37-page "Efficiency and Innovation in U.S. Manufacturing Energy Use" white paper covers economic trends and case studies. 
  • A good summary of U.S. energy efficiency history is part of physicist and California Energy Commission member Arthur Rosenfeld's obituary.
  • "Energy Efficiency Improvement and Cost-Saving Opportunities for the Baking Industry" is a 111-page Energy Star guide for plant and energy managers from the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. 

For the full story, read our February 2016 cover story, "Power control joins process control to aid energy efficiency."