NETL to build new lab with ARRA funds
November 19, 2009 ·
The National Energy Technology Laboratory will use nearly $14 million in stimulus money to build a testing lab in Morgantown. It will be used to evaluate the energy efficiency of various appliances.
The NETL will build a 35,000 square foot laboratory called the Performance Verification Laboratory where researchers will test whether a broad range of household appliances meet Department of Energy standards on their energy efficiency.
Nearly 17,000 tests will be performed each year.
Joseph Baldwin is a business management specialist with the NETL.
“What we are planning to do is to go back behind the manufacturers, pulling random samples from retail, and verify that their equipment is meeting the DOE standard,” he said.
“If the appliance does not meet the standard, then we would have to go back through the DOE through its enforcement branch and go talk to the manufacturer.”
The laboratory will test a variety of products, ranging from refrigerators and freezers to cordless telephones and computer battery chargers.
The lab will employ 88 people when it’s finished in 2013 and create 92 construction jobs in the meantime.
The facility is one of eight national projects establishing research and testing facilities for the Department of Energy.
Money to pay for the new NETL lab comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.