History

2021

• The ESL moves to its current RELLIS location.

2010

• The ESL celebrates its 25th Anniversary.

2001

• Texas Emissions Reductions Plan (TERP) is launched by Dr. Charles Culp, Mr. Bahman Yazdani and Dr. Jeff Haberl as a component of Senate Bill 5. The ESL is tasked with determining and reporting energy savings and creditable NOX emissions reductions resulting from energy efficiency and renewable energy programs within the state, providing training on implementing energy efficiency standards, and determining the impact of proposed code changes.

1995

• One of the first major CC® clients, Texas A&M University grants $1 million to the ESL to perform measurement and verification in major buildings on campus.

1992

• The Continuous Commissioning® (CC® ) process is established.

1989

• The ESL approaches over $1 million in contracts; The ESL partners with the Texas LoanSTAR Program as its measurement and verification contractor. Over the next decade, the lab develops analysis techniques and determines the savings in over 300 building AVAC retrofits in the LoanSTAR Program.

1986

• Drs. Warren M. Heffington and David E. Claridge join the ESL; The Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) is founded.

1985

• Energy Management Group changes name to Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL). The ESL lands its very first contract with Texas Governor’s Energy Office, and performs work for its energy efficiency program and cost containment program. ESL works with engineering contractors to perform energy audits, and review their reports; Construction on psychometric facilities at Fan Test Laboratory begins.

1984

• First annual “Symposium of Efficient utilization of Energy in Residential and Commercial Buildings”, which became the “Hot and Humid Conference”, takes place on A&M’s campus. Turner, Murphy, and O’Neal become known as the Energy Management Group within the Mechanical Engineering department.
• The Energy Management Group secures funding from the Texas Public Utilities Commission for a state energy study. The study recommends that agencies be allowed to take their own natural gas “in-kind” or to purchase gas from state owned lands, which lowers their price. Study is renewed for several years; framework is laid for Texas LoanSTAR program in 1989; The Fan Test Laboratory, on the Riverside Campus, is turned over to the Energy Management Group. Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) provides funding to upgrade the lab and expand its research capabilities.

1983

• Proposal submitted by three Texas A&M Mechanical Engineering faculty members – Drs. W. Dan Turner, William E. Murphy, and Dennis L. O’Neal – to Center for Energy and Mineral Resources. Proposal calls for Energy Management Conference, and is subsequently funded.

• The predecessor to the ESL, the Fan Testing Lab, is founded.