Virtual Trainings (VTs) offered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Plants program are the online version of the multi-day workshops known as In Plant trainings. As with the in-person INPLTs, the VTs will train the attendees to identify energy conservation and decarbonization opportunities, quantify savings from those opportunities, and implement projects to realize the cost savings.

These training workshops enhance the attendees’ understanding of working principles, knowledge of best practices, and capability of analyzing the energy performance of industrial energy systems. As of December 2024, DOE has hosted 31 virtual trainings with about 2,200 participants, and over $11M energy savings opportunities have been identified. The Better Plants team piloted a cohort of Virtual Trainings (VTs) at the end of 2020 as a means of continuing these interactive training workshops during the pandemic. Due to strong partner interest, DOE’s Better Plants program decided to offer VTs all year around for the same topics as are available in the in-person INPLTs. As of now, more than 1,200 people attended these VT sessions and over $9.2M energy savings opportunities have been identified.

The Better Plants program will deliver a VT on Compressed Air Systems from Jan 24 to Mar 14, 2025. The Compressed Air VT will be performed by industrial experts and Technical Account Managers using online video communication technologies. The Compressed Air VT is comprised of 2.5-hour online training sessions (2-hours formal training and optional 0.5-hour Q&A) that will be delivered on every Friday 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM ET for eight (8) consecutive weeks. Participating in this VT is free and open to all the Better Plants program partners.

Participants will be trained on compressed air systems fundamentals and undertaking of a typical compressed air energy assessment, including virtual hands-on training on the DOE compressed air software tool. To maximize the benefits from attending VTs, homework assignments will be given to the participants at the end of each session and will be due by the next session. These homework assignments are designed to enhance participants’ understanding on the compressed air systems, as well as to identify and quantify energy savings opportunities. During the last session of the VT, participants are expected to create a summary presentation based on their assessment, present their findings, and share the scrubbed version with DOE.

At the completion of the VT, Professional Development Hours (PDHs) Certificates will be prepared for the attendees on a demand basis. Participants are expected to collect measurements/data from their own compressed air systems, perform an assessment, and identify energy efficiency opportunities with help from the instructors. To collect the assessment data, diagnostic equipment can be arranged and shipped to the partners. The Better Plants diagnostic equipment is available on a first come, first serve basis.