Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement: Industrial Assessment Centers Technical Field Manager

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled Industrial Assessment Centers Technical Field Manager (DE-FOA-0001679). This FOA supports EERE AMO technical assistance activities. As background, the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) program is a resource conservation and workforce development initiative of AMO based in the engineering departments of universities nationwide. IACs conduct assessments and provide site-specific recommendations to small manufacturers on opportunities to improve productivity, reduce waste, and save energy. The program also provides engineering students with invaluable hands-on experience in energy engineering and energy management. Through the FOA referenced above, EERE intends to fund the activities for an IAC Technical Field Manager. The IAC Technical Field Manager plays a critical role in the IAC program. The Technical Field Manager is a liaison between the AMO Technology Manager and the individual IACs, provides technical assistance and outreach to individual centers, and is the principle mechanism for ensuring the 28 individual IACs and their associated satellite centers perform at the highest possible level and that their activities support the achievement of AMO goals. The Technical Field Manager’s core responsibilities include the following: • Providing technical assistance for quality control of Center operations, assessments, and outreach activities; • Providing technical reviews and feedback on all of the IAC assessment reports; • Integrating DOE priorities around practices and technologies into IAC operations; • Providing training and technical assistance to the IAC staff and students and external stakeholders; • Maintaining and upgrading the IAC websites and databases; • Developing technical and informational resources for IAC clients and small and medium-sized manufacturers nationwide; • Advancing the deployment of an accredited energy efficiency engineering degree; and • Extending IAC program impacts beyond manufacturers and students immediately engaged by the Centers. Through this announcement, DOE is seeking detailed applications for a Technical Field Manager who will provide these core activities, as well as respond to new program innovations and priorities from DOE. Examples of the Technical Field Manager’s potential new or expanded activities include: • Training IACs on cybersecurity improvements, water sector assessments, energy management systems and smart manufacturing; • Coordinating IAC student and alumni activities, including social media, to highlight career achievements; • Moving to online reporting for assessments; • Developing readily accessible resources around critical energy areas relevant to small and medium manufacturers, especially those not receiving IAC assessments; and • Developing online best practice resources for industrial sector-specific energy saving and productivity improvements. EERE envisions awarding one financial assistance award in the form of a cooperative agreement. The estimated period of performance for the award will be five years. This NOI is issued so that interested parties are aware of EERE’s intention to issue a FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this NOI is subject to change. EERE may issue a FOA as described herein, may issue a FOA that is significantly different than the FOA described herein, or DOE may not issue a FOA at all. NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. Please do not submit questions or respond to this NOI. Prospective applicants to the FOA should begin developing partnerships, formulating ideas, and gathering data in anticipation of the issuance of this FOA. It is anticipated that this FOA will be posted to EERE Exchange in December 2016. Please access the complete Notice of Intent on https://eere-exchange.energy.gov/. The applicant must first register and create an account on the EERE Exchange website. A User Guide for the EERE Exchange can be found on the EERE website http://eere.energy.gov/financing/exchangeExchange/Manuals.aspx after logging in to the system.