SBC News Archives - Smart Buildings Center

Melanie Danuser Recognized as a 2020 BOMA Hero!

December 16, 2020 By Britton Rife

The Smart Buildings Center (SBC) is proud to announce that Melanie Danuser, SBC Director of Education & Training, has been recognized as a 2020 Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Hero by the Seattle-King County chapter. The following is from the BOMA press release announcing the award winners.

The BOMA Hero Awards recognize members in BOMA that have displayed hard work, dedication and were real stand outs among the membership. The time they give, the support they provide and the value they bring to members makes these individuals BOMA Heroes!

Melanie Danuser with the Northwest Energy Efficiency Council and the Smart Buildings Center is an active Education Committee member. Melanie is tremendously helpful in organizing the Engineer Skills Hours and contributes to BOMA Educational programming. This includes coordinating BOC instructors and finding relevant topics for our engineers. We really appreciate Melanie’s commitment to BOMA Education.

Read the full BOMA press release here. Congratulations to all the 2020 BOMA Heroes!

Support SBCEP on Giving Tuesday!

November 30, 2020 By Britton Rife

You can support the Smart Buildings Center Education Program (SBCEP) today for Giving Tuesday, a global day of Giving!

Launched in 2012 as a charitable answer to the Black Friday and Cyber Monday retail shopping days, Giving Tuesday is a worldwide movement to encourage giving and celebrate generosity. You can support SBCEP this Giving Tuesday and together we can continue to work to accelerate the adoption and commercialization of smart buildings technologies and practices through education and demonstration.

SBCEP is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that believes the smarter use of technology and practices in the built environment, particularly as they relate to building operations and management, will enable a cleaner, healthier and more productive future. We seek to establish thought leadership in the Pacific Northwest for smart technology within the commercial and residential building sectors, and pursue our objective through the following pillars of activity: delivering training programs to educate the building workforce of the future; enabling industry leading demonstration projects; and connecting the industry through hosting and participating in smart buildings events.

We welcome your support to help us sustain our educational programs.

Click here to support SBCEP this Giving Tuesday! Any and all levels of support are greatly appreciated and go a long way. Thank you!

Save the Date: Giving Tuesday is December 1st!

November 18, 2020 By Britton Rife

Join the Smart Buildings Center Education Program (SBCEP) on December 1st, 2020 for Giving Tuesday, a global day of Giving!

We welcome your support to help us sustain our educational programs.

Click here to support SBCEP this Giving Tuesday! Any and all levels of support are greatly appreciated and go a long way. Thank you!

Washington State Energy Efficiency Grant Program Now Accepting Applications

November 10, 2020 By Britton Rife

The application period for Washington State Energy Efficiency Grants opened on November 9th.

This grant opportunity is part of the Energy Efficiency and Solar Grants Program.

Approximately $3,570,000 in funding will be available to grantees with a maximum of $500,000 available to each applicant. There is no minimum request amount. The deadline to apply is 4 p.m. on Jan. 29, 2021.

These grants are for energy efficiency retrofits at existing facilities that result in energy and operational cost savings. This funding enables organizations to take actionable steps toward reducing energy and water consumption in existing public facilities across Washington State. In addition to realizing cost savings, this program provides opportunities to improve the health and safety for building occupants such as students, teachers and other public employees, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Eligible applicants include:

Local Agencies
- Local Agencies include any city, town, county, special purpose district, municipal corporation, agency, port district or authority, or political subdivision of any type, or any other entity or authority of local government in corporate form or otherwise.
Public Higher Education Institutions
School Districts
State Agencies
Federally Recognized Tribal Governments

To increase the equitable distribution of resources and funding, the program sets aside 20% of the funding for projects located in small towns and cities (populations of 5,000 or less). These entities have a lower match requirement, ensuring that rural communities with fewer resources also benefit from energy efficiency projects. In 2019, new proviso language was adopted to allow the inclusion of federally recognized Tribal governments as eligible applicants.

Applicant’s Conference
A pre-proposal Applicant’s conference webinar is scheduled to be held at 10 am on November 19, 2020. All prospective applicants are encouraged to attend; however, attendance is not mandatory. The webinar will be recorded and posted on the program webpage. Please visit the EE Grant webpage for more details.

Smart Buildings Center Becomes Partner in U.S. Department of Energy Workforce Accelerator Initiative

November 5, 2020 By Britton Rife

The Smart Buildings Center (SBC) is pleased to become a partner in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Better Buildings Workforce Accelerator (BBWA). Officially launched in 2020, this three-year initiative seeks to raise the level of building science and energy efficiency knowledge in the nation’s building-related workforce.

The goal of the BBWA is to set the U.S. on a course toward a more energy-efficient and high-performing building stock. Accelerator partners include educators, workforce training providers, industry practitioners, trade associations, utility agencies, and government agencies. As a partner, SBC will gain access to a variety of resources, including opportunities to receive technical assistance from building science experts. Partners will also share their own best practices and contribute to developing guidance, case studies, and educational materials.

SBC looks forward to participating in the initiative and working with DOE and Accelerator partners to build interest in and streamline pathways for building efficiency careers. SBC intends to contribute to efforts to improve building workforce skills by utilizing updated curriculum and educational tools in SBC’s national Building Operator Certification (BOC) program. BOC is a competency-based training and certification program for building engineers and maintenance personnel. BOC graduates make their buildings more comfortable, efficient and environmentally friendly while providing energy and resource savings to building owners and organizations.

As buildings become more efficient and technologically advanced, the next generation workforce needs to be prepared to develop, integrate, install, and diffuse energy-efficient and smart buildings technologies. “We are proud of the work the BOC program does to elevate the profession of the building operator through training and certification, and we are excited to work with DOE and Accelerator partners to ensure training pathways for a diverse and qualified building efficiency workforce that enable high performance buildings,” said Melanie Danuser, SBC Director of Education & Training.

Reports show that cost-effective energy efficiency upgrades in U.S. buildings could save close to $100 billion annually in energy bills. However, these savings are only possible if the U.S. invests in preparing a workforce of qualified people who understand building science and energy efficiency. Through collaboration with the Accelerator partners, this initiative aims to build awareness about building efficiency careers, streamline pathways to building efficiency careers, and improve workforce skills. This three-year effort will support the vision of the U.S. building workforce as a global leader in delivering quality efficiency products and services to American residents and businesses, thereby increasing energy affordability across the economy.

To read more about the Better Buildings Workforce Accelerator, please visit: https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/accelerators/workforce

Inflection Point: a post-election Climate Leaders Live conversation, Dec 3rd

October 22, 2020 By Britton Rife

Inflection Point: Climate Leaders Live
December 3, 2020; 4:00-5:30 PM PST

Register Now!

No matter the outcome of the upcoming election, it’s clear we’re at a critical juncture for climate, clean energy, and a just economic recovery.

Join two incredible thought-leaders for a timely post-election conversation about what’s ahead moderated by Victoria Paykar, Climate Solutions’ Oregon Transportation Policy Manager.

Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson: a marine biologist, policy expert, and Brooklyn native. She is founder of the non-profit think tank Urban Ocean Lab, founder and CEO of the consultancy Ocean Collectiv, and co-creator and co-host of the Spotify/Gimlet podcast How to Save a Planet. She co-edited the anthology All We Can Save, and co-founded The All We Can Save Project in support of women climate leaders. Her mission is to build community around climate solutions. Follow her @ayanaeliza.
Majora Carter: a real estate developer, urban revitalization strategy consultant, MacArthur Fellow and Peabody Award winning broadcaster. Majora is responsible for the creation and successful implementation of numerous economic development, technology, green-infrastructure projects, policies and job training & placement systems. Follow her @MajoraCarter.
Victoria (Vee) Paykar: Vee works on developing a strategic and equitable transportation agenda for electrification, lower carbon fuels, and a reduced need to drive, seeking to build a powerful, networked coalition of leaders and partners to urge action at multiple levels of government. Prior to joining Climate Solutions, she was an Environmental Equity Fellow at the Greenlining Institute and the Transportation Equity Associate at Center for Sustainable Energy. In those capacities she worked on programs and policies to deliver equitable climate benefits to low-income and communities of color.

While free to tune-in, this is also a virtual fundraising event for Climate Solutions and part of the launch of a multi-week giving campaign to help support our upcoming work in 2021 to accelerate the transition to a 100% clean energy economy.

For over twenty years, Climate Solutions has been working to accelerate the solutions to the climate crisis, and with your help and support, we can keep going. Now more than ever as we experience climate impacts, it is clear we need to accelerate the transition to 100% clean and efficient energy in the region and beyond. We need solutions like 100% clean electricity for our grid, cleaner fuels and electrification to power our transportation, and clean and energy savvy buildings where we work and live. With your help, we can accelerate the transition to a clean energy future.

Inflection Point: Climate Leaders Live December 3, 2020; 4:00-5:30 PM PST

Inflection Point: Climate Leaders Live
December 3, 2020; 4:00-5:30 PM PST