OU INC has teamed up with the School of Business Administration and the School of Engineering and Computer Science to give Oakland University students the opportunity to learn about energy management alongside industry professionals.

The Energy Management Certificate Program is designed to give OU students and professionals tools to better understand how to cut energy costs and boost bottom line profits.

This is the second year of the program, and the first year that it has been open to students.

The program is broken down into three sections and runs for a total of six accelerated weeks.

“We are hoping programs like this can provide good quality workers in the energy efficiency industry,” said Kenneth J. Hedrick, Chevron Senior Business Development Manager of the Midwest.

Classes in the program include fundamentals of energy and energy management, analysis of energy alternatives and implementation of energy strategies.

The course allows participants to further their knowledge about energy management even if they already have jobs in the energy sector.

“It allows me to really do my job better,” Saurav Shrestha, an electrical specialist at Toyota, said. “In the school I went to they did not really go in as much depth as they do in this course.”

According to Scott Jenney, vice president of business development for Ming Scientific, energy management is about savings.

“More and more energy has an impact on everyone’s life no matter where you are going,” Robert Uptegraff, a visiting instructor in accounting , said.

Class sessions focus on technologies that are available to improve energy efficiency and how to determine when these technologies make business sense.

“It’s not just about being green for environmental sake but it is about being green for your bottom line. Those two do often line up,” Jenney said.

The class not only speaks to businesses, but also touches on how to improve energy efficiency in residential properties.

“Changing out windows just for saving money on energy probably isn’t worth it,” Chris Kobus, professor of engineering and computer science, said. “It just all depends on the house. I would suggest that everyone gets an energy assessment, especially if your house was built before the year 2000.”

According to Kobus, an energy assessment will give the homeowners a full report on where they are loosing energy.

One aspect of an energy assessment is the use of thermal cameras to pinpoint where a building is losing energy.

Kobus said that thermal cameras are becoming the most important tools. They take pictures of the surface temperature of any object in a room.

The program also allows members of the class to get hands-on experience with new tools of the industry.

Contact senior reporter Chris Lauritsen via email at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @ChrisLaurtsen