From the Mines Newsroom: Mines, in partnership with Red Rocks Community College, is now offering free energy system assessments for local manufacturers, with the goal of helping them improve their facilities’ energy efficiency and reduce their carbon emissions.
Funded as part of a $60 million investment by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Rocky Mountain Industrial Assessment Center (RMIAC) supports paid internships for students from Mines and Red Rocks to gain hands-on experience in improving energy efficiency in the building and manufacturing industry. Mines is one of 37 universities nationwide that are administering IACs in various industry sectors, and one of only nine that are doing assessments for commercial buildings.
Small- and medium-sized manufacturers can greatly benefit from the IAC assessments, because their focus is on topics that can greatly reduce operational costs, increase energy efficiency, reduce waste and carbon emissions and increase cyber security, said Paulo Tabares-Velasco, RMIAC assistant director and associate professor of mechanical engineering.
“Companies can see us extension engineering support that would allow them to analyze ideas they have thought, but don’t have time to properly assess. Our Rocky Mountain IAC also allows us to attract and train the next generation of energy engineers. I personally was part of an IAC when I was a graduate student. I now hope to do the same for our students and companies.“