Our Industrial Services team helps manufacturers adopt efficient technologies, productivity improvements, and best practices by integrating and customizing products and services. Our engineering team provides technical assistance, assessments, training, and project planning to clients in Washington, across the country, and around the world.
Our program managers provide national leadership by co-chairing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) State Energy Efficiency Action Network. We work closely with partners and stakeholders to deliver federal programs and establish long-term industrial energy efficiency programs that meet the needs of the Northwest Power Plan. We also partner with DOE, northwest industry associations, the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA), and the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to plan and deliver a regional industrial training strategy that promotes efficiency and corporate energy management.
In 2010, our Industrial Services program was recognized as an “exemplary state energy efficiency program” by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
Projects
Industrial Engineering/Plant Assessments
Our engineering team delivers consultations, training, and in-plant services ranging from informal walk-throughs to in-depth plant assessments focused on one or more energy systems. Our team has performed energy assessments at scores of facilities, including military bases; industrial plants; and food processing, forest product, glass, and chemical manufacturing facilities.
We have in-depth experience with processing systems such as steam, motors, compressed air, process heating, fans, pumping and refrigeration, waste heat recovery, combined heat and power, corporate energy management, district energy, biofuels, materials handling, and lighting and building envelope efficiency.
We also conduct detailed reviews of energy optimization studies on some of the largest industrial plants in North America.
Industrial Trainings
Our industrial team coordinates custom training for plant operators and industrial equipment specialists. We also work with regional and national training providers to review curriculum and deliver world-class training to enhance energy and process efficiencies.
Our trainers include U.S. DOE Qualified Specialists with expertise in compressed air, fans, process heating, pumping, steam, and motor systems. We have led workshops on energy management of motor-driven systems throughout the U.S., Europe, South America, Guam, and the Caribbean. These workshops provide hands-on sessions using MotorMaster+ software.
We offer customized training with immediate on-site applications to support specific projects. Contact the industrial team to plan a training session or to be added to our training mailing list.
CHP Technical Assistance Partnership - Northwest
This five-state center, headquartered at the WSU Energy Program, promotes combined heat and power (CHP), waste heat recovery, and other clean energy technologies and practices for industrial and commercial facilities. Case studies, fact sheets, and other resources are available at the CHP Technical Assistance Partnership - Northwest website.
January 1, 2024: The CHP Technical Assistance Partnership has ended. The U.S. Department of Energy has replaced this program with the Onsite Energy Technical Assistance Partnerships program, which continues to provide technical assistance for CHP projects, as well as other onsite technologies. For more information visit the U.S. DOE’s Onsite Energy Program website.
Emerging Technologies
The WSU Energy Program reviews and assesses merging technologies in the industrial field. Since 1997, we have provided a centralized Product and Technology Review to Northwest utilities for NEEA. During development of the Sixth Northwest Power Plan, we evaluated new and emerging technologies for the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
We assist BPA’s Emerging Technologies for Energy Efficiency (E3T) Program to assess innovative, energy-efficient technologies that could save electric energy but lack a foothold in the Northwest marketplace. As part of this program, we implemented a comprehensive process to identify, assess, peer review, and document the technologies’ technical and market potential.
Northwest Onsite Energy Technical Assistance Partnership
This four-state center, headquartered at the WSU Energy Program, provides no-cost technical assistance for industrial facilities considering onsite energy projects. The Northwest Onsite Energy TAP can advise on a wide array of onsite energy technologies, including but not limited to battery storage, solar photovoltaics, combined heat and power, and microgrids. Case studies, fact sheets, and other resources are available at the U.S. DOE’s Onsite Energy Program website.
Register here for the Northwest Onsite Energy TAP Newsletter.
Publications
Our Staff
David Van Holde, P.E.
David Van Holde, a registered Professional Engineer and Certified Energy Manager, is Director of the U.S. DOE’s Northwest Combined Heat and Power Technical Assistance Partnership and a Senior Energy Systems Engineer with the WSU Energy Program. David leverages more than 27 years’ experience working with utilities, government agencies, and consulting firms to implement innovative supply and demand-side energy solutions, and lead organizational change in support of advancing sustainable energy systems. His areas of expertise include combined heat and power and other distributed energy systems; government/utility energy policy, energy efficiency technology development, and utility program design. Before joining WSU, he served in leadership positions with Seattle City Light, King County Dept. of Natural Resources and Parks, E Source, EMI Consulting ,and SBW Consulting. In an earlier career, David was a mechanical CAD systems researcher for Tektronix and taught mechanical engineering courses at Oregon State University and Portland State University. David holds an M.S. in mechanical engineering from Oregon State University and a Bachelor of Engineering from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., both with concentration in Energy Systems.
Carolyn Roos, Ph.D.
Dr. Carolyn Roos is a mechanical engineer with over 25 years of experience improving energy efficiency in industrial and building systems, specializing in developing Excel-based applications for engineers and contractors. She provides technical assistance on commercial and industrial energy system efficiency and renewable energy projects. She also provides technical support to the U.S. DOE Northwest Combined Heat and Power Technical Assistance Partnership, focusing on CHP, biopower, and waste heat to power applications. Roos previously worked as an energy management engineer at Puget Sound Energy, where she performed energy efficiency analyses for commercial and industrial customers, and at the Army Corps of Engineers Hydroelectric Design Center. For her doctorate in systems science and mechanical engineering, she developed software to simulate simultaneous heat and moisture transfer in building environments. For her M.S. in mechanical engineering, Roos developed software to aid in the design of high-temperature solar concentrating furnaces.