What is IOF-WV?
Industries of the Future-West Virginia (IOF-WV) grew out of collaboration between West Virginia University (WVU), the WVDO and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Everything the team does is a collaborative effort to develop energy-saving, productivity-enhancing technologies and strategies for energy-intensive industries such as aluminum, steel, metal casting, glass, chemicals, polymers, wood/forest products, and mining. Over the past ten years, 45 competitively funded collaborative projects have been put in place, 60 industry partners have been cost-share partners, 26 professors and numerous students have worked on projects, three national laboratories have participated, and over 200 proposals have been written involving more that 200 partners and co-PIs.
When West Virginia first became involved with the IOF program in 1997, Denise Swink was deputy assistant secretary for Industrial Technologies and director of the OIT. At her suggestion, West Virginia became the first state to initiate a state-level IOF program. Since then, as many as 30 other states established some form of the IOF program.
Why is IOF-WV important to the state?
With approximately 65 companies having annual energy purchases exceeding $2 million, energy has become the critical issue for many of West Virginia's materials manufacturers. Although coal-based electricity is relatively inexpensive for now in West Virginia, aluminum companies operate on extremely thin margins and are continually threatened by power cost increases of just a few mils. In addition, dramatically increasing energy prices have been devastating to the chemical, glass, and metals industries that demand large quantities of heat and/or use natural gas as a process raw material.
Why is West Virginia such a good fit with the IOF program?
West Virginia is home to many of the industries that are prominent in the national IOF program: 74% of the State's manufacturing GSP and 66% of the State's manufacturing employment is in the core manufacturing industries that are part of the IOF program.
| Employment | Employment | GSP |
| Manufacturing | 65,081 |
$6,022 |
| Wood Product Manufacturing | 9,449 |
$628 |
| Nonmetallic Mineral product manufacturing | 4,245 |
$305 |
| Primary metal manufacturing | 7,112 |
$790 |
| Fabricated metal product manufacturing | 6,845 |
$549 |
| Chemical manufacturing | 10,488 |
$1,883 |
| Plastics and rubber products manufacturing | 4,243 |
$259 |
| Total IOF employment | 42,382 |
$4,414 |
| IOF employment as a percentage of total manufacturing employment | 65% |
73% |
The IOF-WV program works with West Virginia's aluminum, steel, glass, chemical/polymer, wood/forest products, metalcasting and crosscutting technology industry sectors. West Virginia's diverse range of basic industries and raw materials make the State an ideal laboratory for testing new technologies and manufacturing business models.
Goals and Objectives of IOF-WV
- Develop alliances that work to improve energy and resource efficiency and productivity of energy-intensive manufacturing and production companies.
- Through faculty researchers, who have the expertise and commitment, conduct projects that help energy-intensive companies become more energy efficient and competitive.
- Develop innovative projects and technologies that help energy-intensive companies increase efficiency, reduce waste and increase productivity.
The IOF-WV approach is to:
- Identify and prioritize the needs of West Virginia's energy intensive companies
- Form interdisciplinary project teams and alliances to develop proposals and seek resources to conduct essential projects
- Conduct energy assessments to identify energy savings opportunities and work with companies on implementation strategies
- Involve senior-level government and industry officials in IOF-WV symposia and initiatives
- Integrate the IOF-WV program with other centers and programs whose objectives are to leverage state and federal resources for the benefit of energy intensive companies
- Encourage and facilitate the implementation of new technologies with energy intensive companies that improve energy and environmental performance
Future Path
IOF-WV's path forward is based on collaborations to improve industrial and resource efficiency with companies both small and large on efforts such as:
- Facilitating conversations on high priority research needs among industry leaders, research and economic development and government officials;
- Conducting meaningful projects in the areas of industrial energy efficiency and alternative fuels and feedstocks and energy recycling;
- Promoting implementation and commercialization of new innovative technologies, strategies and services;
- Development of new processes and products such as wood/polymer composites.
