CEERE's Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) has been supported by US DOE Industrial Technologies Program since 1984. This program provides energy, productivity and waste minimization assessments for small to medium sized manufacturing facilities in the Northeast Region. Assessments are available to facilities with gross annual sales below $100 million, fewer than 500 employees at the plant site, annual energy costs less than $2,000,000, and that have no on-site energy staff. The IAC assessments are delivered at no-cost, and are conducted by a team of engineering faculty and students from UMass. The goals of the center are to: reduce industrial energy use, reduce waste and prevent pollution in manufacturing operations, raise productivity, improve product quality, lower operating costs, increase profitability, and provide professional training for students. The product from the assessment is a report with recommendations, including simple payback and energy savings. The Assessment reports are fuel neutral.

The record of the IAC's success speaks for itself. This summer the UMass IAC received an achievement award at the ACEEE summer meeting held in Rye , New York . Typical assessment reports include more than a dozen recommendations with average payback less than 2 years. Average annual savings for measures recommended this past year exceeded $240,000 per plant and range from $50,000 to $3,000,000. Return on investment for IAC audits from DOE has the potential to return from $10 to $20 for each audit dollar.

Currently, the IAC has an implementation rate of 50% (corresponding to a 10:1 ROI). It is the objective of MAEEP to enhance the implementation rate by supporting the IACs in delivering additional service through, referrals, follow-on visits and other best practices training. Specific IAC integration activities will include:

MAEEP Works with the IAC at UMass in the following areas:

Development of a referral process with utility parties, account representatives and energy service providers. Opportunities to deliver targeted training and integration of Best Practices Training Tools. Post audit meetings with end user and coordination with utility parties. Follow-on technical support for implementation activities with utility parties or energy service providers. Coordination with DOER to identify resources for studies, expanded assessments, and implementation.