NOTICE OF INTENT TO ISSUE A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY FOR EXTENDING INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTERS TO UNDERSERVED AREAS
Funding Number: DE-FOA-0001704
Funding Amount: $4,080,000 - subject to appropriations
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Extending Industrial Assessment Centers to Underserved Areas.”
The goal of extending IACs to underserved areas is to encourage a broader and more diverse set of performers and further expand the geographic reach of the IAC program to areas that are less likely to be adequately serviced because of their distance from the current 28 IACs.
The Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) program has two main goals: first, to assist small and medium-sized manufacturers currently defined as having gross annual sales below $100 million, fewer than 500 employees, and annual energy bills between $100,000 and $2.5 million, to increase their energy efficiency, productivity, sustainability and competitiveness; and second, to help address a growing shortage of energy engineering professionals with applied energy efficiency-related skills.
Led by faculty and staff, the higher education institutions selected will perform assessments for manufacturers, mostly in their geographic region, which will result in energy and water savings, waste reduction, potential enhancements to cyber security, opportunities for smart manufacturing, and sustainability and productivity improvements for the manufacturers. Each Extension IAC will provide training for undergraduate and graduate energy engineering students in industrial processes, energy assessment procedures, and energy management systems.
In addition to these services, DOE is looking for new and innovative ways to accomplish its programmatic goals for manufacturers, and encourages applicants to propose creative approaches to deliver services that coincide with AMO priorities. These priorities are projected to include smart manufacturing, cyber security, energy management systems and wastewater and water facilities.
EERE envisions awarding 3-6 financial assistance awards in the form of cooperative agreements. The estimated period of performance for each award will be four years. Eligible minority-serving institutions are encouraged to apply as Extension IACs.
EERE plans to issue the FOA in January 2017 via the EERE Exchange website.
View the full Notice of Intent.
This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of EERE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. EERE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOA has been released, EERE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.