SBC staff, Author at Smart Buildings Center

Bellevue Clean Buildings Incentive Program

March 15, 2024 By SBC staff

Bellevue Clean Buildings Incentive Program

The City of Bellevue is helping large buildings (20,000+ sf) to reduce energy use, save on costs, and comply with WA State Clean Buildings Standards. Free building energy services include energy benchmarking, scoping assessments, incentive navigation, and compliance reporting support – an estimated $18,000 value. Sign-up today!

Free April Webinars for Nonprofit and Multi-Family Properties: Register

Understanding the Law & How to Comply:
- April 3rd: 11:00AM-12:00PM (New? Start here!)
- April 4th: 12:00PM-1:00PM
Benchmarking Your Building:
- April 10th: 11:00AM-12:00PM

The City of Bellevue offers free building energy services to all large buildings through MacDonald-Miller.

Meeting Your Clean Buildings Requirements: EMP and O&M Program Guidance

March 7, 2024 By SBC staff

A no-cost WSU Energy Program for Resource Conservation Managers, Energy Managers, and Sustainability Managers at public facilities in Washington State

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

10:30 AM to 12:00 PM Pacific Time (1 ½ hours)

Click here to register!

Energy Management Plan (EMP) and Operations & Maintenance (O&M) Plan requirements for Washington State’s Clean Buildings Performance Standard is the focus of this 1 ½ hour no-cost webinar, sponsored by Washington State University Energy Program.

While EUIs, EUI targets, and benchmarking have rightfully been getting a lot of attention, documentation requirements for your EMP and O&M program are a significant part of Clean Buildings and worth starting sooner than later. Recognizing the need for EMP and O&M Program templates, ArchEcology, a green building consulting firm based in Seattle, created a template and guidance for building operators and property managers. Katherine Morgan, Principal at ArchEcology and a BOC instructor, will provide an introductory training to their free template package, to help support the collective effort to improve energy and emissions performance across the state.

In addition to the presentation, we will open the webinar up to discussion to hear from attendees about concerns as well as successes in dealing with the EMP and O&M requirements.

RCMs, energy managers, and similar staff from Washington state public and government institutions and agencies are the intended audience. Others may attend if space allows.

Washington State University Energy Program promotes and supports RCM programs with technical assistance, hiring and job description information, monthly newsletters, website, and more.

This free webinar from Washington State University Energy Program is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy State Energy Program through the Washington State Department of Commerce Energy Division.

For more information, email [email protected].

AESP: 2024 State of Demand Flexibility Report

March 6, 2024 By SBC staff

Hey there energy enthusiasts! We are thrilled to announce that the highly anticipated AESP’s Demand Flexibility Report is now live and ready for your perusal. Dive in to discover the latest insights and trends in energy management that will spark a surge of excitement in your sustainability journey. Don’t miss out on this electrifying opportunity to stay ahead of the curve and power up your knowledge arsenal!

UNLEASH THE INSIGHTS

Inside this report, you will find several insights including:

A brief history of demand flexibility
Why grid flexibility is more important than ever
Benefits of distributed energy resources
Implementation challenges of demand flexibility
Key technologies supporting demand flexibility
Current pilots
Successful implementations

Seattle City Light Adopts New Standard for Solar Panel Inverters

March 6, 2024 By SBC staff

Beginning this year, all proposed inverter-based Distributed Energy Resources (DER) must use inverters certified under Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 1741 Supplement B (Standard for Safety Inverters, Converters, Controllers and Interconnection System Equipment for Use with Distributed Energy Resources, Supplement B and labeled as UL1741-SB) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1547-2018 (Standard for Interconnection Interoperability of Distributed Energy Resources with Associated Electric Power Systems Interfaces).

The new inverter requirement will go into effect on the following schedule:

On or after April 1, 2024: New DER interconnection applications submitted that require an engineering review must use inverters certified under UL1741-SB
On or after July 1, 2024: All new DER interconnection applications submitted must use inverters certified under UL1741-SB.

The new inverter requirements have been adopted to support City Light’s grid modernization efforts. UL1741-SB inverters have communications functionality that can provide important information to the utility. In the future, as more and more customers adopt photovoltaic technologies, the new inverters will allow the utility to understand how much energy customer solar is generating in real time. This new inverter standard supports the utility’s progress toward a carbon-free, electrified future where customers have more choice about energy generation.

For more information, please contact [email protected]. You can review the 2024 RESC on City Light’s website at web8.seattle.gov/city-light-engineering-standards/RESC.

New WSU Energy Webinar & Clean Buildings Basic Training Workshop

February 29, 2024 By SBC staff

Clean Buildings Portal Basic Training Workshop

Join the WA State Commerce Clean Building’s Team on Tuesday, March 12^th from 10-11AM for an overview of the Clean Buildings Portal that is perfect for the new user or anyone who has portal questions.

The session will end with a Q&A. Topics include:

Troubleshooting Secure Access WA (SAW)
Requesting Building Owner Notification letters and Shared Access
Building data page – common questions and forms overview
Basic application navigation

Registration is required. Your unique Zoom link will be emailed to you upon registration.

New WSU Energy Program Webinar on Clean Buildings Requirements

Attend the upcoming WSU Energy Program webinar on March 20, 2024 for a presentation and discussion about using Energy Management Plan (EMP) and Operations & Maintenance (O&M) program templates to satisfy requirements for Washington State’s Clean Buildings Performance Standard. While no-cost and open to everyone, preference is given to those working at Washington state public facilities and buildings. Register here.

PSE Job Postings February 2024

February 23, 2024 By SBC staff

Our friends at Puget Sound Energy have two new job postings to share with you! Are you looking for a new opportunity for 2024? Do you have a desire for a change of pace? Read on for the details and the .pdfs of the job descriptions!

Puget Sound Energy is looking to grow our community with top talented individuals like you! With our rapidly growing, award winning energy efficiency programs, our pathway to an exciting and innovative future is now.

PSE’s Customer Energy Mgmt & Renewables team is looking for qualified candidates to fill an open Energy Management Engineer II & Supervisor Energy Management Engineering positions!

Specific details regarding the work arrangements for this position will be discussed in further detail during the interview process.

Energy Management Engineer II

With limited guidance from senior colleagues, the responsibilities encompass executing various efficiency projects within the premises of business customers for multiple PSE energy efficiency Programs governed by electric and gas conservation schedules. Specific duties may include 1) Managing and implementing all phases of projects with customers from development through final installation verification, 2) management of specific programs and initiatives, 3) oversight of outside contractors and 4) oversight of utility energy service contract projects.

Upholds the safety compliance standards inherent in PSE’s operating and/or field procedures related to work responsibilities. Promotes and supports a culture of total safety.

Demonstrates commitment to conduct business honestly, ethically and consistent with our core values and Code of Conduct. Ensures duties are performed in accordance with all regulatory compliance obligations.

PSE Energy Management Engineer Job Description

Supervisor Energy Management Engineer

Duties include responsibility overseeing PSE Program Managers, Energy Management Engineers and third party contracts in delivering tariffed commercial and industrial energy efficiency savings in the Business Lighting Incentive (BLi) program.

Key responsibilities include oversight of and functionality and energy engineering analyses of the BLi Excel Application; program planning and budgeting; contract negotiation and management of the web-based BLi application; coordination of regulatory compliance activities including evaluation, measurement and verification (EM&V) and reporting of program results; employee development; customer service and outreach to BLi partners, contractor and distributors; maintenance of the Business Energy Management PowerBI report. Assignments involve customer projects with substantial technical complexity and initial identification and development of energy efficiency measures and programs, including budget and savings targets.

Upholds the safety compliance standards inherent in PSE’s operating and/or field procedures related to work responsibilities. Promotes and supports a culture of total safety. Demonstrates commitment to conduct business honestly, ethically and consistent with our core values and Code of Conduct. Ensures duties are performed in accordance with all regulatory compliance obligations.

PSE Supervising Energy Management Engineering Job Description

You can also apply right now for either of the jobs above, or browse many other open PSE positions here on the PSE website.

Clean Buildings Portal Basic Training Workshop

New WSU Energy Program Webinar on Clean Buildings Requirements

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