Director - Energy Engineering Services

Rusty Friend, PE, CEM

Rusty  is responsible for leading and growing the energy business for NPC Group.

He has over 20 years of engineering experience developing and leading teams to provide facility and energy consulting. Originally a facility engineer himself, he has extensive technical experience performing in-depth energy assessments, feasibility studies for the implementation of clean and renewable technologies, and energy project design and development for industrial, commercial, federal, and municipal facilities.

Rusty’s notable projects include performing preliminary and investment-grade audits for Energy Savings Performance Contract clients, designing MW+ waste energy backpressure steam turbine systems for the steel industry, developing energy strategies to take advantage of time-of-use (TOU) California rate schedules, and performing energy audits on The Statue of Liberty and Independence Hall. Recent efforts have focused on enhancing the value of luxury hotel and resort portfolios by identifying infrastructure projects that reduce operating costs.

Get to Know Rusty
Q: What’s your all-time favorite project?
A: I feel like I have been blessed with the opportunity to work on many interesting projects.  I tell my kids that my job is a “field trip” nearly every day.  But probably my favorite recent project was developing a plan for the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to the get the Federal property and surrounding community switched over from diesel generators to renewable energy.  The area’s energy demand skyrockets each summer as tourists gather at Lake Powell, and our economical solution was to use solar power to steadily pump water up into a separate reservoir, so its hydroelectric potential could be tapped on demand.

Q: What do you like about the work you do?
A: What I like most about energy engineering is that, since the world is made up of winners and losers, I can make greenhouse gases the losers, and our clients and the climate the winners.

Q:  What do you do in your free time?
A: In my free time I enjoy exploring the natural wonders of rural Kentucky, taking my wife and kids along with me for adventures as much as possible.

Email: rfriend@npcg.net

Phone: (937) 763-2725