Energy Efficiency Innovation Center, Tool Library & Data Visualization
Do you know someone who has been improving the energy efficiency of their work environment using BOC skills? Nominate them, a co-worker, employee, or yourself forĀ BOC Operator of the Year.Ā We want to hear how methods learned in BOC classes are helping people make improvements in their work environment.Ā Click the link below and share the success stories.Ā Nomination deadline is this Friday, June 12th!
Smart Buildings Exchange Fall Conference | November 9-10, 2026 | Downtown Seattle
What’s on the SBX Agenda?
We’re excited to announce the SBX 2026 agenda. Grounded in our theme, āAccelerating Performance at the Speed of Innovation,ā this year’s topics center on one question: what will it take to move smart buildings from promising projects to genuine, repeatable scale? The agenda digs into the practical barriers and opportunities that matter most right nowāfinancing structures, policy alignment, AI-driven operations, and what it will take to make smart buildings the norm rather than the exception.
SBX is built on practitioner knowledge and real-world experience. As noted in the grid below, we’re actively looking for speakers, panelists, and moderators who can bring grounded, honest perspectives to our attendees ā not polished sales pitches, but genuine insight from the work you’re doing in the field.
We’re especially interested in voices from:
Weāve designed this yearās program to be direct, substantive, and honest. Weāre interested in hosting multiple perspectives; disagreement is ok and leads to progress. If you have real experience, a grounded perspective, or a passionate point of view on any of these topics, we want to hear from you.
Interested in speaking or have speaker suggestions? We want to hear from you!
Ready to share your expertise or know great speakers who should be considered? Complete our speaker suggestion form to tell us about yourself or the suggested speaker(s), areas of expertise, and which topics would be a good fit. Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and our programming team will be in touch with those whose experience aligns with our conference themes.
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SBX 2026 is where the Pacific Northwest’s smart buildings community comes together to do the hard work of figuring out what’s next. Whether you join us as an attendee, a speaker, or a sponsor, we hope to see you there.
Questions? Reach us at [email protected]
More information: www.sbxconference.org
Looking back at the month of April, here at Smart Buildings Center, we:
~ Northwest Facilities Expo
Our OBEP fellow Andrea joined by other Climate Corps fellows and San Timoteo staff
Building Potential/SBC Senior Project Manager Rebecca Sheppard presented at the conference and let loose with some Energy Efficiency Bingo!
~ PSE Commercial Strategic Energy Management Conference
SBC/Building Potential Chief Program Officer attended the annual PSE CSEM conference where annual SEMMY awards were given out
Do you know someone who has been improving the energy efficiency of their work environment using BOC skills? Nominate them, a co-worker, employee, or yourself forĀ BOC Operator of the Year.Ā We want to hear how methods learned in BOC classes are helping people make improvements in their work environment.Ā Click the link below and share the success stories.Ā Nomination deadline is June 12th!
The compliance deadline for Tier 1 buildings greater than 220,000 square feet isĀ June 1, 2026.
If you’re the owner of a building subject to the Clean Building Performance Standard (CBPS) and have not yet started the compliance process, pleaseĀ begin now and develop a planĀ to meet the CBPS requirements for your building. Buildings that don’t meet the requirements by the compliance deadline may face a penalty.
Mercer Island School District is one of the largest school districts in the state to achieve compliance with the Clean Buildings Performance Standard (CBPS) including Mercer Island High School, which exceeds 220,000 square feet.
“This milestone reflects three years of dedicated collaboration between the districtās facilities team, led by Director of Maintenance, Operations, and Facilities Tony Kuhn, Hargis Engineers, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) and ATS Automation,” said Kathy Zurawski, Capital Projects Coordinator for Mercer Island School District. “This accomplishment demonstrates whatās possible through teamwork, innovation, and a commitment to a greener future for students and the broader community.”
Kathy led efforts in data analysis, optimizing building systems, and worked in partnership with community stakeholders to ensure compliance and drive energy efficiency across the district. “Because we had joined PSEās CSEM program the previous year or so, we had already made many improvements that helped us reach our EUI goals,” said Zurawski.
Hargis supported the district with no-cost HVAC control upgrades to address elevated EUI performance, but then immediately moved into the energy audit phase to adhere to the CBPS timeline.
During the assessment, the district found that updates to the HVAC control systems improved building efficiency enough for the buildings to meet CBPS requirements, making energy audits unnecessary.
This reinforced the importance of maintaining good HVAC controls as their impact on overall building performance can often be significant.
“Our maintenance and operations team, led by Tony Kuhn, is second-to-none. Systems that should have been replaced 10 years ago continue to operate, and thanks to their ingenuity, do so as efficiently as possible,” said Superintendent Fred Rundle.
The district gave a big shout-out to their Maintenance and Operations team: Steve Baird, Shannon Allen and Dana Parkey who they mentioned played a key role in putting energy-saving improvements into action. While challenges remain ā particularly with aging infrastructure ā the district says it will continue to pursue forward-thinking maintenance practices and employee engagement to extend the impact of its energy conservation efforts.
We continue to receive success stories from building owners and their teams and look forward to sharing them with you. If you would like to have your success story featured in an upcoming bulletin, please fill out thisĀ short questionnaire.
Commerce filed the HB1543Ā CR-102Ā rulemaking on April 9. The proposed rules and the CR-102 form are available on theĀ Clean Buildings webpage. The form includes:
Public hearing: Thursday, May 28, 2026, 10 a.m.
The public hearing and end of the comment period for HB1543 rulemaking is scheduled for May 28, 2026. This is your opportunity to give a testimony on the proposed rules and to participate in the rulemaking process.
You can submit written comments can be submitted through the stakeholder comment form. The deadline for written comments is May 28, 2026, at 4:30 p.m.
