SBC Announces 2020 BOC Operator of the Year!

The Smart Buildings Center (SBC) and Building Operator Certification (BOC) program are proud to announce the 2020 BOC Operator of the Year: Ethan Godfrey, Building Coordinator for Hendricks Commercial Properties in Beloit, WI!

“The BOC program is well worth the time and opened my eyes to what I could provide for my company. If a company is truly serious about making an impact on their utility costs, they should find the right person in their organization and get them into the BOC program.” – Ethan Godfrey

Earlier this year, BOC requested nominations for people working to improve the energy efficiency of their work environment using skills they learned in the BOC program. We received many impressive nominations detailing how methods learned in BOC classes are helping people make improvements in their work environments, but Ethan’s story stood out among the rest.

In his role as Building Coordinator, Ethan is responsible for HVAC operations and energy saving projects within the Ironworks Campus in Beloit. BOC training equipped him with the necessary skills to identify energy saving measures and present a more proactive approach on energy saving projects. His other duties include BAS control adjustments, searching for available energy rebates and tax incentives, PM contract fulfillment for these systems and most importantly, utility monitoring and tracking of the energy use on campus.

Some of Ethan’s recent accomplishments include:

Implementing a more structured and strategic approach to energy management for Hendricks Commercial Properties.
Reducing overall utility costs by $50k or 13% in year one with zero or low-cost implementations; on pace to reach a 20% reduction in year two. These reductions were accomplished by:
- Making improvements to the campus’ building automation system (BAS) to realize the full energy-saving benefits it can provide (i.e. HVAC scheduling setbacks, temperature setpoint adjustments, etc.).
  - As a result of these improvements, the heating season’s work order\complaints for HVAC dropped by 60%.
- Implementing a more strategic boiler use adjustment which is already on pace to beat the energy savings from 2019. YTD is $29,200 in additional savings vs 2019 or 8.6%.
- Conducting lighting surveys for locations in the building that hadn’t been converted to LEDs.
  - Information about and costs to replace lighting were presented to management, rebates were utilized, and lighting was converted to LEDs which reduced wattage usage by 70% for that floor.

Ethan says these zero or low-cost improvements improve Hendricks Commercial Properties’ bottom line and allow the savings to be passed on to happy tenants in the form of lower bills.

The SBC and BOC program applaud Ethan on his efforts to improve the energy efficiency of Hendricks Commercial Properties’ operations and congratulate him on being named as 2020 BOC Operator of the Year!

Know someone who deserves recognition for their work in the industry? Nominations will open for the 2021 BOC Operator of the Year award in May, so stay tuned!