Feb. 14, 2012: DOE’s Superior Energy Performance Program to Aid Industrial Facilities
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced up to $3 million to help American manufacturers leverage energy efficiency as a path to increased competitiveness. Provided by the Advanced Manufacturing Office and the Building Technologies Program, the funding will support a program administrator whose role will be to promote and operate the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-accredited Superior Energy Performance (SEP) program. Once launched, SEP will provide a roadmap to help industrial and commercial facilities achieve improvements in energy efficiency. The program also promises to tackle a potential barrier to cost-effective efficiency investments by providing a transparent, globally accepted system for companies to validate improvements in their energy performance.
DOE said the SEP program, expected to be launched toward the end of this year, is a key component of its efforts to foster a culture of energy efficiency throughout American manufacturing. The SEP program administrator (SEP-PA) will be responsible for launching and overseeing the program during its initial stages with primary responsibility for developing a business model that will allow SEP to become a fee-based, self-sufficient program within three years of the award so it can operate without the need for financial assistance from the federal government.