Engineering students from Texas A&M University’s Mechanical Engineering Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) recently analyzed the facility that houses the Lufkin Daily News to assess its current energy usage. From the preliminary electric bill analysis the team found an estimated $5,600 in yearly savings in the paper’s operational cost.
Management from the paper immediately began taking some of the steps needed to implement the savings during the evaluation. In addition, four additional energy saving recommendations are being studied by the students and will be included in a final report to the newspaper.
IAC Assistant Director James Eggebrecht supervised the students as they searched through the facility to detect compressor leaks and other energy saving opportunities. During the newspaper facility’s inspection students Crystal Torres, Amy Li, and Geoffrey Garner discovered the paper had been missing out on a state sales tax exemption. The exemption is provided to a manufacturer if more than 50 percent of its electrical usage or natural gas usage is used in actual manufacturing of its product.
“The intention of the program is to provide engineering student’s real world applications for looking at energy usage as part of the design process for what is done in the manufacturing of products,” Eggebrecht said.
For more information about the IAC, contact Dr. Bryan Rasmussen, the IAC director, or visit the center’s website