(CLOSED) DOE Industrial Assessment Centers (DE-FOA-0002452)

Sponsor Name: 
DOE
Description of the Award: 

This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is being issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO). The U.S. manufacturing sector uses 25% of the nation’s energy and has an annual energy bill of more than $150 billion. Efficiency improvements in manufacturing not only benefit the manufacturing sector, but also impact the energy efficiency of products used throughout the economy.

AMO's technical partnerships support the development, deployment and validation of technologies and practices including increasing the productivity and competitiveness of American manufacturers and other large energy-using facilities and continuing the education and development of the US workforce of energy professionals.

The Federal Government has been funding the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC)1 program, formerly called the Energy Analysis and Diagnostic Center program, since 1976. The goal of the IAC program is twofold: first, to help US manufacturing competitiveness by providing assessments and recommendations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on energy efficiency, productivity, sustainability and competitiveness – including measuring the impacts of these recommendations on reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and second, to address a growing shortage of engineering professionals with applied energy and manufacturing-related skills by training a diverse cross-section of engineering students through hands-on involvement in these assessments.

Institution of higher education-based industrial research and assessment centers. The Secretary shall provide funding to institution of higher education-based industrial research and assessment centers, whose purpose shall be—

  1. to identify opportunities for optimizing energy efficiency and environmental performance;
  2. to promote applications of emerging concepts and technologies in small- and medium-sized manufacturers;
  3. to promote research and development for the use of alternative energy sources to supply heat, power, and new feedstocks for energy-intensive industries;
  4. to coordinate with appropriate Federal and State research offices, and provide a clearinghouse for industrial process and energy efficiency technical assistance resources; and
  5. to coordinate with State-accredited technical training centers and community colleges, while ensuring appropriate services to all regions of the United States.

In accordance with this direction, this FOA seeks to train the future clean energy and manufacturing workforce by providing hands-on experience for engineering students who will conduct energy assessments at SMEs, often located in rural communities. The IAC program advances the Biden Administration’s plan to reach net-zero emissions no later than 2050 and ensure the communities who have suffered the most from pollution are first to benefit.

Applications are accepted in two topic areas:

  • Topic Area 1: Manufacturing Technical Assistance and Energy Engineering Workforce Development
  • Topic Area 2: Commercial Building Efficiency Workforce Development Pilot Project [Optional Topic]

 

Institutional Limit:
EERE will only consider one Full Application per institution of higher education. For example, EERE will only consider one Full Application per university (not one submission per each college or school under the university). If an entity submits more than one Full Application, EERE will request a determination from the applicant’s authorizing representative as to which application should be reviewed. If an applicant is seeking to apply for funding under both topic areas, the applicant must submit only one full application that addresses both topic areas.

Sponsor LOI Deadline: 
Apr 01, 2021
Sponsor Final Deadline: 
Apr 22, 2021
OSVPR Application or NOI Instructions: 

Interested applicants should upload the following documents in sequence in one PDF file (File name: Last name_DE-FOA-0002452.pdf) no later than 4:00 p.m. on the internal submission deadline:

1. Cover Letter (1 page, pdf):

  • Descriptive title of proposed activity
  • PI name, departmental affiliations(s) and contact information
  • Co-PI's names and departmental affiliation(s)
  • Names of other key personnel
  • Participating institution(s)
  • Number and title of this funding opportunity

2. Project Description (no more than two pages, pdf) identifying the project scope that addresses the key aspects and elements of the sponsor's solicitation, principal investigators, collaborators, and partner organizations.

3. 2-page CV's of Investigators

To be considered as a Penn State institutional nominee, please submit a notice of intent by the date provided directly below.
This limited submission is in downselect: 
Penn State may only submit a specific number of proposals to this funding opportunity. The number of NOIs received require that an internal competition take place, thus, a downselect process has commenced. No Penn State researchers may apply to this opportunity outside of this downselect process. To apply for this limited submission, please use this link:
OSVPR Downselect Deadline: 
Wednesday, March 31, 2021 - 4:00pm
Notes: 
No Appplicants