Industrial Energy Efficiency – The Other Green Job

By Alliance Intern Kyle Haas

Today's jobs in energy efficiency consulting require new skills and expertise in energy management. For a leg up on those jobs, industrial professionals are getting certified by the Superior Energy Performance (SEP) program.

Because the program requires skilled auditors and energy efficiency professionals to help  make U.S. plants more energy efficient, SEP expects to train 500  technical professionals – called “Certified Practitioners” – to join the U.S. workforce across 2012 and thousands more by 2017.

Industry’s Increased Demand for Energy Efficiency Experts

Volatile energy costs and an anticipated shift toward less carbon-intensive manufacturing has made energy efficiency a priority for many U.S. manufacturers. Industrial plant managers understand how energy efficiency can reduce energy costs, mitigate energy price volatility, and improve operational performance and competitiveness.

As industrial systems become more sophisticated and energy management becomes more crucial, manufacturers require equipment operators, managers, engineers and consultants who have a firm foundational knowledge of energy efficiency principles. This demand creates a pathway for energy efficiency to contribute to greater employment through workforce development. One such opportunity comes with the creation of a corps of Certified Practitioners who will enable U.S. industry to achieve certification under the Superior Energy Performance (SEP) program, which is anticipated to launch in 2012.

The SEP Certified Practitioner

With the introduction of SEP, commercial, industrial and government facility managers will be able to participate in a nationally recognized, ANSI-accredited system to independently verify implementation of best practices and performance improvements in energy efficiency. Achieving this voluntary certification will require plants and facilities to elevate energy efficiency into management processes and improve energy intensity. As conformance with the ISO 50001 Energy Management Standard is a major component of this certification, training and accrediting professionals to validate conformance with ISO 50001 will be necessary. In addition, energy efficiency professionals will need to be trained to apply the system assessment standards developed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and to validate the energy intensity performance improvements that plants will seek to achieve to meet their respective certification goals.  

Certified Practitioners will be needed to help plants apply ISO 50001 and the ASME standards as well as to validate the energy intensity improvement efforts undertaken by the plants seeking SEP certification. These professionals will focus on the implementation of energy management systems, and how to prepare for an external energy assessment. In addition to energy management, certified practitioners in compressed air, process heating, pumping and steam systems also will be trained to perform energy assessments that comply with ASME system assessment standards. These Certified Practitioners will enable plant personnel to understand what data should be collected, how to interpret information from the assessment(s) and to identify efficiency improvements that will optimize system energy performance.

In addition to focusing on energy management, Certified Practitioners will serve as SEP Lead Auditors and SEP Performance Validators. These Certified Practitioners will undergo similar training and act as third-party auditors to verify whether a facility has complied with ISO 50001 and improved their energy performance.  The Performance Validators will focus on applying the SEP measurement and verification protocol and ensuring energy intensity performance criteria is reached. Lead Auditors will use the ISO 50001 and SEP requirements to perform the audits.

Employment Impact

By the end of 2012, it is expected that 500 Certified Practitioners will be trained and added to the American workforce. These Certified Practitioners will be well-educated, technical professionals who possess highly sought-after skills. By the year 2017 it is expected that 3,000 Certified Practitioners will complete the training and be actively engaged in making U.S. plants more energy efficient and competitive in the global marketplace.

To learn more about SEP Certified Practitioners, visit the Superior Energy Performance website.