2017 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry

Advancing Industrial Energy Efficiency through Collaboration

Industrial energy efficiency has always been about people. The latest technologies often get the most attention, but it’s the people who manage the plant, find the opportunities, develop the solutions, and make the decisions – large and small – that determine the efficiency of today’s facilities. It’s more challenging than ever to go it alone and that is why in 2017, we focused on developing the community of people involved in industrial energy efficiency.

As in years past, we explored the latest thinking on managing plant energy use, national energy policy, and program administration. This year, we included events that helped attendees take what they learned and turn it into action.

Participants Included: Energy efficiency program administrators, evaluators, and contractors; public utility commission and consumer counselor staff members, corporate energy managers and government relations professionals; professionals in the utility sector with responsibilities for efficiency programs, resource planning, regulatory compliance and government relations; energy efficiency solution providers; state energy office officials; energy management firms; and energy efficiency advocacy organizations.

Axel Johnson has been a team member at the Coors Brewing Company, Molson Coors and MillerCoors Brewing over the past 32 years. Presently, he has responsibility for providing utilities for the brewing, packaging, shipping and malting operations. He also oversees a sanitary waste treatment plant, process waste treatment plant and a potable water system as well as environmental oversight for the brewery.  The heritage, history and traditions of brewing has made these experiences for him crucial to lead the Brewery through changing footprint reduction focus to meet customer expectations. He has spent the majority of his career in Golden, Colorado in the Coors Brewery where the miners enabled a young immigrant from Germany to come to the United States and build one of the world's premier brewing institutions.

Panel 1 – Programs 
Panel Leaders: Martin Lott, Cascade Energy and Peter Therkelsen, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Download the proceedings to see a list of accepted papers/authors in this panel.

Panel 2 – Technology/Analytics
Panel Leaders: Anna Chittum, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and Jon Feldman, Independent Electricity System Operator
Download the proceedings to see a list of accepted papers/authors in this panel.

Panel 3 – People/Policy 
Panel Leaders: Jess Burgess, Consortium for Energy Efficiency and Nick Dalziel, Nick DL Consulting
Download the proceedings to see a list of accepted papers/authors in this panel.

Informal Sessions are designed to allow the conference attendee an opportunity to discuss topics related to the conference theme that may have not been discussed during the formal presentations or to continue discussions from the formal presentations.

Thank you for participating in the 2017 Summer Study of Energy Efficiency in Industry this past August. In this event, we included Action Sessions for the first time. You might remember that these informal sessions gave everyone an opportunity to discuss topics covered in the formal sessions and share additional insights. You likely met people with similar interests, identified opportunities to collaborate, and may even have committed to future actions.

Programs

Industrial energy efficiency programs continue to evolve in connection with the changing energy and utility landscape. The Programs Action Sessions will explore the current challenges and opportunities for advancing industrial energy efficiency across North America and will dig deeper into participant-refined topics including:

Marketing and industrial customer engagement to improve industrial energy management
How do Strategic Energy Management programs need to evolve and what are the key market drivers?
Industrial Program Best Practices: Participants can suggest and select discussion groups from a menu of concepts, in order to share ideas and translate success stories to your own program.
Other topics suggested by conference participants.
Action Session Leaders: Nick Leritz, NEEA; Patsy Dugge

Technology and Analytics

Data analytics and new technologies continue to provide opportunities for significant energy reductions in industrial energy use.  The Technologies Action Sessions will tackle the challenges faced with implementing energy management improvements including:

How can the wealth of data be used to further energy management programs as costs for sensors, connectivity, IOT and data visualization decreases?
What is the relationship between people and technology and how can we enable change through the use of technology?
What is preventing organizations from applying the most promising new technologies and how can we reach the full potential of technological advances?
Action Session Leader: Robert Greenwald, Prism Engineering

People and Places

With the U.S. transition away from federal climate policies such as the Clean Power Plan and the Paris Climate commitments, and potentially large cuts to federal energy efficiency programs on the horizon, what can states and regions do to maintain momentum for industrial energy efficiency? The Policy and People Action Sessions will explore the challenges and opportunities for advancing industrial energy efficiency through policies at the state/province or regional levels. In the three Action sessions, we will dig deeper into topics such as:   

• State and regional policies to support strategic energy management, CHP and other innovative industrial DSM programs;
• State recognition programs for voluntary energy efficiency goals and achievements;
• Avoiding new state opt-out policies, and;
• Other topics suggested by conference participants. 

Action Session Leaders: Graziella Siciliano, US Department of Energy; Neil Kolwey, Southwest Energy Efficiency Project

ACEEE grants a number of Linda Latham Scholarships to attend the biennial Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry. The scholarship was established in memory of Linda Latham who served as ACEEE’s Chief Operating Officer until her untimely death in September 2011. Linda, who helped found the US government’s ENERGY STAR® program, believed that students bring talent and creativity to the field of energy efficiency especially if we provide a venue to inspire and educate them.

The “Latham Scholars” chosen for 2017 will have the opportunity to be exposed to new ideas and to interact with energy efficiency experts from around the world. In turn, Summer Study attendees will be able to meet these exceptional students—a reciprocal opportunity for all! Watch a video that shows the true value of ACEEE's Linda Latham Scholarships.

The 2017 Champions of Energy Efficiency in Industry were announced on August 18, 2017, following the Awards Dinner at the Summer Study and recognizes leadership and accomplishment in the energy efficiency field.

Marilyn Brown, Georgia Institute of Technology, for her decades of research and leadership in industrial energy efficiency. She conducted research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, wrote trend-setting publications, co-founded the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, and created and led the Climate and Energy Policy Laboratory.

Dr. Steve Fawkes, EnergyPro Ltd., for his career-long commitment to industrial energy efficiency in the United States and throughout the world. In addition to writing more than 300 articles about energy efficiency and finance, he has advised start-ups, multinationals, and governments in Europe and Asia.

Michael R. Muller, Rutgers University, for a lifetime of leadership in developing training programs for students in industrial energy efficiency. He established the Center for Advanced Energy Systems and has been a central figure in the US Department of Energy Industrial Assessment Center program.

John L. Nicol, Leidos, for 40 years of helping companies implement industrial energy efficiency programs. He has been instrumental in launching statewide energy efficiency programs and developing continuous improvement practices such as ISO 50001.

Lynn Price, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, for her lifetime of leadership in industrial energy efficiency and policy initiatives. She has been a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and was lead author of the chapters that addressed how industrial energy efficiency can combat climate change.

Winners were selected based on demonstrated excellence in the following categories:

Research and Development (R&D): Excellence in research and development including baseline or background research, as well as R&D of products and practices.

Implementation and Deployment: Effective design and implementation of programs or projects, including achievement of significant impacts on energy use.

Energy Policy: Excellence in energy policy including writing, educating, promoting, and supporting energy efficiency in energy policy at the federal, state, or local level.

Industrial Leadership: Exceptional personal leadership demonstrated in the development, implementation, and growth of important energy efficiency initiatives.

Lifetime Achievement: Continuous leadership that produces sustained impacts over time.

To learn more about the awards and previous winners in the industry sector, please visit the Awards page. If you have questions, please contact the ACEEE conferences team.