DOE selects five higher ed institutions as industrial assessment centers, expands program to community colleges, trade schools and union training

Allocating a total of $72 million into the Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) program last week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced five new higher education institutions for the program and a funding opportunity to expand it to community colleges, trade schools, and union trading programs alike.

IACs are training programs that allow engineering faculty to survey, analyze and make clean energy recommendations for various facilities. The funding for these efforts came from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and includes $18.7 million for the newest centers and another $54 million funding opportunity for the expansion effort. According to the Biden administration, both efforts should help streamline workforce growth for clean energy jobs.

“Strengthening and diversifying the pipeline for high-quality manufacturing and building efficiency jobs is part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to create an economy that will allow our nation to reach its clean energy future,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said. “This is a direct investment in the next generation of American workers that will help ensure America’s global leadership in advanced manufacturing and green building technologies.”

The IAC program has conducted more than 20,000 assessments at small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs). DOE-supported IACs exist at 37 universities across 28 states. The latest selectees include the Great Plains Center of Excellence at Oklahoma State University, the Southeastern Center of Excellence at Georgia Tech University, the Mid-Atlantic Center of Excellence at Lehigh University, the Gulf Coast Center of Excellence at Texas A&M University, and the Western Center of Excellence at San Francisco State University.

The new centers’ focus will include everything from decarbonization efforts to waste and water management. Each will operate as a regional hub for the IAC program and pit participants with government, nonprofit, labor, and industry efforts to train clean energy workers and support manufacturers.

As to expansion efforts, new IATCs and Building Training and Assessment Centers (BTACs) will be created to draw from the strengths, geographic reach, and faculty/student composition of trade schools, community colleges, union trade programs, and other institutes of higher education. Their focus will be skilled trades jobs, from electricians to renewable energy work and advanced manufacturing, focusing on small and medium manufacturers. The BTAC side, in particular, would expand its reach to commercial and institutional buildings, with an eye on lowering utility costs and training engineers, architects, building scientists, building energy permitting and enforcement officials, and building technicians in energy-efficient building design and operation.

Concept papers for participation will be due by May 25, 2023, followed by full applications on July 31, 2023.