The ULIAC offers no-cost energy-efficiency assessments to qualifying manufacturing companies and wastewater treatment plants in an industrial region spanning parts of five states—including Kentucky, southwest Ohio, southern Indiana, southeast Illinois and north central Tennessee.

 

The five-year, $1.75M grant to establish the ULIAC was awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy to W. Mark McGinley, PhD, PE, FASTM, FTMS, Endowed Chair for Infrastructure Research and Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering in the J.B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville.

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What is an industrial assessment?

An industrial assessment is a technical assessment of a plant site, including facilities, processes and operations. The ULIAC conducts assessments within our region to identify potential savings that result from:

• energy efficiency improvements

• waste minimization and pollution prevention

• productivity improvement

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The Center will generate independent assessments of facility needs that are not biased by the desire to generate sales or consulting opportunities.

Your assessment will include:

• our team: faculty, professional staff and trained students;

• a one-day visit to your facility by our team; and

• recommendations for reducing energy, waste and production costs in a personalized report for your facility.

 

Program History

Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC), formerly known as  Energy Analysis and Diagnostic Centers, were created by the Department of Commerce in 1976 in response to the oil embargo and rising energy costs. The program was specifically focused on helping small- and medium-sized manufacturing facilities cut back on unnecessary costs from inefficient energy use.

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Today, the IAC Program is administered through the Advanced Manufacturing Office under the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy.  

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The ULIAC was funded in 2021. It is a collaborative assessment and educational effort between faculty and staff within the J.B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville at the Kentucky Pollution Prevention Center, Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research, Center for Infrastructure Research, and Departments of Chemical Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Computer Science & Engineering .

 

Who is eligible?

Manufacturing plants located within 150 miles of University of Louisville's Belknap campus in downtown Louisville with:

• gross annual sales below $250 million

• fewer than 500 employees 

• annual utility bills totaling more than $100,000 but less than $3.5 million

• no in-house professional staff to perform the assessment

• within Standard Industrial Codes (SIC) 20 - 39

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How can students get involved?

Academic and co-op experiences are designed to prepare students to assess and solve energy/water conservation challenges of small and medium manufacturing entities (SMEs), while at the same time fostering research and innovation in energy/water use assessment and conservation.

• Contact Eunice Salazar at Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research for more information.

• Work through the Office of Cooperative Education and Career Services or the Graduate School's MS in MESE program.   

• Formalized certification tracks for undergraduate, graduate students, and professionals in energy engineering and management are offered. 

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