Iowa industries are interested in energy efficiency for two very good reasons — production costs and environmental stewardship. So Iowa State University Extension’s Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS) connects them with energy efficiency resources and best practices.
One industry, Gerdau Ameristeel of Wilton, recently received the Steel Manufacturers Association 2005 Annual Distinguished Recycler Award for its energy efficiency efforts, put in place as a result of the mini-mill’s plant-wide energy assessment. A team that included CIRAS specialists, Gerdau Ameristeel personnel, the Iowa Energy Center and the U.S. Department of Energy Industrial Technologies Program conducted the assessment.
“The assessment took 14 months to complete,” said Jack Skelley, Gerdau Ameristeel environmental manager. “We implemented two major projects that saved us money before the study was even completed. Following the study, we changed pumps and motors according to the plan and have increased our energy efficiency even more. We believe that conducting the assessment and implementing the plan demonstrates our company’s forward thinking and a sensible approach to energy use in production and operations.”
Iowa’s food industry and chemical industry will be benefactors of two CIRAS projects receiving Iowa Energy Center funding — “Energy Related Best Practices” manuals that CIRAS specialists Alex Kisslinger, Tim Sullivan and Rudy Pruszko are writing. “These manuals will give Iowa’s two largest manufacturing sectors a single source for learning about common opportunities where significant energy efficiencies can be made,” said Bill Haman, IEC industrial program manager. “The manuals will identify opportunities and best practices that reduce energy and increase productivity while lowering production costs.”
CIRAS staff recently worked in cooperation with Alliant Energy-Interstate Power and Light Company and the Iowa Energy Center on a project studying the potential for using premium efficiency motors in Iowa industries, and assessing the familiarity manufacturers have with these motors.
CIRAS’s Kisslinger frequently is called on to be a team member for the Industrial Assessment Center’s energy savings assessments funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Through partnerships such as these, CIRAS provides manufacturing and processing firms with the technical and management information they need to be energy efficient.
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