Seven New Board Members Welcomed to the Building Potential and SBC Boards of Directors

In 2024, the Smart Buildings Center welcomed four new board members, and Building Potential welcomed three new board members. We’re excited to have these talented individuals supporting the strategic development of these two organizations. You can read about our new members below or visit our websites to learn more about both boards of directors.

The Smart Buildings Center, whose mission is to accelerate the adoption and commercialization of smart building technologies and practices through education and demonstration, added four new board members to its Board of Directors. These senior industry leaders join us from ATS Automation, Microsoft, Puget Sound Energy, and EEI. We are grateful to them for volunteering their time and expertise to support our organization as we continue to grow and scale our education programs.

Smart Buildings Center – New Board Members:

Josh Cales joined ATS Automation as the President in June 2019. Before joining ATS, Josh spent five years as VP & GM of Alerton & Phoenix Controls, two building automation businesses for Honeywell. During that time, he worked to enhance control systems for critical environments with a specific focus on improving operating room indoor air quality.  He also launched initiatives to integrate AI technologies to connect people with buildings. Prior to that, he spent ten years in China building a business focused on improving air quality and emissions for major infrastructure and petrochemical projects throughout the region. Josh is passionate about leveraging technology and the tools we have to make life better! Josh earned a degree in engineering from Oral Roberts University.

Jason Johnson is a leader in Smart Building technology within Microsoft’s Global Workplace Services Technology team, where he informs the digital transformation strategy for Microsoft’s worldwide real estate assets. His expertise lies in operational technology and developing solutions that not only align with the company’s corporate sustainability objectives but also yield a return on investment through enhanced operational efficiencies. Before his tenure at Microsoft, Jason honed his skills as a Building Controls Engineer and Systems Integrator at a private firm in San Diego. This role followed his commendable service in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served as an Avionics Technician, specializing in the CH-53 helicopter platform.

Ben Rushwald is an experienced senior utility leader currently overseeing Customer and System Projects for Puget Sound Energy where Ben is responsible for new customer connections.  Ben is passionate about the intersection of the electric grid and customer behavior.  Puget Sound Energy has aggressive decarbonization goals, where Ben is driving change to support this lofty transformational work.

Brendon Mattis is a Principal at EEI and the branch manager of the company’s Seattle, Spokane, Portland, and Washington DC offices. His passion for sustainability began at an early age and grew into a career focused on improving building systems and reducing the environmental impact of the built environment. With over 25 years of experience in commissioning, Brendon is a respected local industry leader known for his innovative solutions, attention to detail, and collaborative approach. His commitment to excellence has made him a trusted authority in driving sustainable change through engineering and building performance. Brendon has extensive experience in a variety of projects including commercial buildings and convention centers. Notable projects include Seattle Convention Center, Spokane Convention Center, Amazon HQ, HQ2.

Building Potential – New Board Members:

In this first full year operating under our new name, Building Potential, we focused efforts on expanding our board membership to reflect the broader set of offerings our industry delivers to the clean energy transition. We are excited to welcome three new board members to our Board of Directors. These new members join us from McKinstry, Schneider Electric, and O’Brien360. We are grateful for their support!

Robert Hail is the Regional Director of McKinstry’s Western Washington Energy team, whose focus is on partnering with clients to improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings. The mission of McKinstry is to make every building they touch more efficient through their design, construction, service, consulting and energy efficiency offerings.  He has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan and has been in the Energy Efficiency industry since 1997. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Washington, a Certified Energy Manager through the Association of Energy Engineers, and a LEED Accredited Professional.  Prior to joining McKinstry in 2007, Robert worked for Siemens and the Industrial Assessment Center as an Energy Engineer. He has worked on hundreds of energy efficiency projects in his career across Washington and Oregon and has an extensive experience in all sectors of public projects.

Gary Milligan has more than 30 years of small business ownership and experience in the building trades, along with a lifelong interest in matters pertaining to ecology in the built environment.   He started a disaster restoration company, operating it for more than 20 years, while adopting – and in fact innovating – ecologically sound practices. Following the sale of that business in 2014, Gary started a new career in commercial HVAC controls with ATS Automation and later with Holaday-Parks.   When the Schneider Electric opened a new Digital Buildings Pacific NW branch office, in 2021 Gary joined the team to lead sales and business development for the HVAC controls, BAS, and digital services unit.  He also serves as Schneider USA’s Decarbonization Champion for the Pacific NW region and is a course instructor at the Smart Buildings Center’s Building Operator Certification (BOC) program.

David Reddy is the Principal of O’Brien360’s Building Performance team, and focuses on making recommendations supported by analysis and real-world data, towards the goal of reducing the environmental impact of our built environment. He is an advanced user of whole building simulation programs, utility bill regression analysis, and many other modeling tools, and a lead developer of CBECC, an open-source software for California T24 compliance analysis. His breadth of experience includes using models to evaluate and optimize new and existing building efficiency strategies, complete measurement and verification studies, and document compliance with energy codes and green building certifications.  He is a licensed professional engineer in Washington, and formerly a member of the 2018 & 2021 Washington State Energy Code Technical Advisory Groups and sub-committee chair for ASHRAE Standard 209.

If you’re interested in learning more about our organizational governance or serving on either board, please reach out to us for more information.

The Smart Buildings Center congratulates our partner, the Greater Seattle Chapter of IFMA, on winning the National Large Chapter of the Year award from IFMA national. SBC Director of Education and Training, Melanie Danuser, serves as Vice President of Education for the chapter and was present at the annual World Workplace conference to accept the award with other chapter leaders. Read on for the announcement from the chapter:

The Greater Seattle Chapter of IFMA is thrilled to announce we have won the Large Chapter of the Year award!

Thank you to @IFMA for the honor and a huge shoutout to our board for their phenomenal work. The chapter has truly launched from COVID era struggle to a facility management powerhouse and we couldn’t be more proud. A special thank you to all of our sustaining and program sponsors who make what we do possible.

Keep an eye out for our new event schedule in the coming month for 2025, we’re preparing for an even better year and can’t wait to spend it with all of you!

OLYMPIA SCHOOL DISTRICT has become the first school in Washington to achieve compliance with the Clean Building Performance Standards! The achievement was supported by Climate Corps Fellow Grace Yockey, who drafted critical documents for submission.

Yockey worked on the Energy Maintenance Plan, detailing the district’s energy efficiency improvements, as well as the Operations and Maintenance Plan, showing how buildings will be operated and maintained. “Olympia School District’s Capital High School was the first building to submit and get approved,” Grace said, “our submission can serve as a model and resource.”

Yockey’s supervisor and team lead, Frank Wilson, is the Executive Director of Operations at Olympia School District. “Grace has an excellent grasp of our district goals,” Wilson shared, “They align well with her own personal beliefs, which helps keep the [sustainability] conversation at the forefront.”

The accomplishment was published in the Spring 2024 WAMOA journal.

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