DOE Launches New Superior Energy Performance Website

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Technical Assistance division of the Advanced Manufacturing Office has a new website, Superior Energy Performance™ (SEP). SEP is a certification and recognition program for facilities that have incorporated superior energy management practices and sustained energy savings. The program uses ISO 50001, the international energy management standard that provides a framework for organizations looking to improve energy performance and efficiency, as well as ANSI/MSE 50021, a management standard for energy use.

Companies can be certified to three levels based on energy performance improvements over a three-year period: silver, gold, or platinum. They also choose between the “Energy Performance Pathway” and the “Mature Energy Pathway.” The Energy Performance Pathway requires a 5 percent improvement, the silver requires a 10 percent improvement, and the platinum requires a 15 percent improvement. The Mature Energy Pathway requires a 15 percent improvement over five to 10 years after the three-year baseline period. It also requires achieving points on the SEP Industrial Facility Best Practices Scorecard to be awarded silver, gold, or platinum certification.

An SEP toolbox offers introductory information on energy management resources and explains how to assess a starting point and provides further information on ENERGY STAR®, ISO 50001, and the DOE’s Energy Performance Indicator. Also in the toolbox are resources to pursue SEP and information to sign up with the DOE’s Better Plants Program.

According to the website, the program already is seeing results at SEP-certified facilities: annual savings of $87,000 to $984,000 using no-cost or low-cost operational measures, reduced energy costs on average of 10 percent within 18 months of program implementation, energy performance improvements of 6 to 25 percent over three years, and paybacks of less than two years in facilities with energy costs greater than $1.5 million annually.

The website also offers testimonials, videos, and case studies by companies with SEP-certified facilities as Volvo Trucks, Dow Chemical Co., 3M, and Nissan.