Energy efficiency evaluations are being conducted for free for small businesses in North Idaho, and University of Idaho students are doing the work.

More businesses are needed to receive the money saving service, a coordinator for the program said.

In return for the work, the six university interns are being paid and are building valuable, real-world skills for the emerging green economy, the school announced Monday.

The university's sustainability center and the environmental science program are working together with the Idaho Small Business Development Center and Avista Utilities to facilitate the internship program.

The interns work in teams of two to evaluate current energy uses and recommend potential savings. The students will consider lighting; what's called building envelope; heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems; and behavioral choices in an effort to help reduce operating costs for local business owners and cut down on carbon emissions from energy use.

"This is a great opportunity for students to manage a project from start to finish," Joe Nickels, intern coordinator for the program, said in a press release. "They play an active role in each step, from gathering and analyzing data to building rapport with business owners and writing the final reports. These are essential skills for their future, regardless of the career field they end up in."

Nickels said the students will do 24 evaluations this semester.

Already, about eight to 10 businesses have signed up, he said.

"They could do up to 12 in Coeur d'Alene if (those businesses) are first to register," Nickels said.

The program will continue through 2012, he said.

The Small Business Administration grant that funds the program requires students from a variety of disciplines.

In the fall of 2010, 10 interns from five disciplines completed 26 evaluations in Coeur d'Alene, Moscow and Lewiston.

Small businesses can register for the program online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/sbdcregistration, or by contacting Emily Shimada at shim5523@vandals.uidaho.edu, or at (208) 885-0125.