Can We Help You?

We want to help you reduce energy costs and waste, and to improve productivity. Our services are completely funded through DOE, and their guidelines must be followed in our selection of clients.

We can assist manufacturing facilities which meet the following criteria:

Only three of the last four requirements must be met.

Even if you are not sure if you qualify, please contact us. We want to hear from you. We may be able to offer assistance through one of our other services.

Required Information From the Client

Once qualified, we need to receive photocopies of the following original bills for a recent 12-month period. This period can either be the previous 12 months or the last fiscal year. Please copy the backside of at least one bill if it contains an explanation of billing charges.

Please send this information to our office.

Objectives of the Alabama IAC

There are two main objectives of the IAC program at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa:

General information about the manufacturing facility is gathered prior to the on-site visit. This information includes utility bills, an overview of the manufacturing process, and areas of potential savings as identified by the facility manager. Once this information has been analyzed, a date is set for the on-site visit.

An IAC assessment team conducts an on-site visit. The team consists of engineering students and faculty who have been trained in performing the assessments and who have had industrial safety training for general plant operations. The one-day visit involves an orientation meeting with plant personnel, a plant tour to observe key processes, data collection, and a wrap-up meeting.

A detailed engineering report is provided to the facility manager within 60 days of the on-site visit data. The following items are included for each recommendation:

An important component of the IAC program is to gather implementation data from the facility manager regarding the recommendations suggested in the IAC report. This information is requested from 6 to 9 months following the issuance of the report. The plant is under no obligation to implement any of the recommendations given in the report. However, we hope that the made recommendations will show sufficient payback to warrant careful consideration by plant management. 

Some of the things we analyze include:

Confidentiality

The IAC strives to maintain the confidentiality of the client and any proprietary processes. The IAC program recognizes that the confidentiality of the proprietary information obtained during an assessment is an important issue to many of our clients. You should know that, great care is taken with data and other information gathered during the assessment process. A copy of the report resulting from this assessment will be sent to our program manager only after any reference to your company name and exact location are removed. The assessment report does not include the name of the plant and plant personnel are encouraged not to discuss any operations that are proprietary.

IAC Database

You should know, however, that other data from the report, which does not identify a company, will be entered into a nationwide database for use by government agencies, scholars, and other interested parties to study the energy assessment process. This information is included in a database maintained by Rutgers University and is available for downloading through their internet site http://caes.rutgers.edu/ . We are also required to annually submit a list of clients served to the Department of Energy, under separate cover, for their reporting requirements.

All clients must be asked to allow the program to develop materials such as case studies, and to use the firm's name in order to promote industrial efficiency. We will need to obtain written permission from clients for such permission. All proprietary manufacturing information will be strictly protected and all clients will be given an opportunity to review materials that contain information that identifies their plant prior to the dissemination of the material.