New Certification Program for Industrial Facilities

University of Maryland - Manufacturing facilities—with their specific, energy-intensive processes—are often difficult to incorporate within general green building standards, such as ENERGY STAR® and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Superior Energy Performance, a new plant certification program currently in development, hopes to fill this gap by providing manufacturing facilities with a system for validating energy intensity performance improvement and management practices. The program is designed to contribute towards a goal of reducing the energy intensity of U.S. manufacturing plants by 25% over the next decade.

The U.S. Council for Energy-Efficient Manufacturing is guiding the development of the program. The council is a cooperative effort between the U.S. government, industry, and universities—as well as several standard-making organizations. Pilot testing is ongoing at a number of industrial facilities in Texas. It is expected that the first plants will be certified in 2010 and the national voluntary program will be launched in 2011.

Qualifying for Certification
Superior Energy Performance will offer three levels of participation—Participant, Partner, and Certified Partner—depending on the amount of data validated and the degree of involvement desired. To achieve certification, facilities must conform to the ANSI/MSE 2000-2008 (until development of ISO 50001) energy management standard and meet the program's energy intensity targets. The program will offer silver, platinum, and gold designations that signify levels of performance. Facilities will need to re-certify every three years to validate their performance and their conformance to program requirements.