As most of you know, the Smart Buildings Center, a project of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Council, is a gathering spot for business and industry groups who share our passion for the built environment (if you haven’t seen it, visit).   The site also houses our free Tool Lending Library, a regional resource for lending building diagnostic tools like data loggers, IR cameras, flow measuring devices, and power meters to facility professionals in Washington and Oregon – for free.  In the next step to grow the programs and opportunities focused on smart and efficient building operations, a new non-profit was recently formed – the Smart Buildings Center Education Program (SBC-EP).  Recently, the SBC-EP was issued the IRS final determination letter granting it 501(c)3 status.  The new SBC-EP has an educational mission to increase awareness and understanding of smart building technologies and practices.  As a 501(c)3, SBC-EP will be able to solicit tax deductible contributions to support the development of this type of programming.  NEEC will continue to operate the facility (the box) and SBC-EP will help develop educational content (the stuff that goes into the box).  If you are interested in supporting the SBC-EP through a tax deductible donation, please contact [email protected] for more information.

The SBC-EP is governed by its own Board of Directors, but will work in close coordination with the NEEC Board.  The initial SBC-EP Board includes;

Ash Awad, McKinstry

Perry England, MacDonald-Miller Facility Solutions

Dan McConnon, State of Washington

Chris Roe, Amazon

Bert Von Hoof, Microsoft

Phil Welker, PECI

The following article was first published on www.neec.net.  The SBC is a project of NEEC.

The Northwest Energy Efficiency Council (NEEC) Board of Directors has selected Kerry Meade as their new Executive Director beginning October 1st.  After a national search for a dynamic and energetic leader, the NEEC Board selected Kerry to lead one of the region’s oldest and most influential energy efficiency non-profit trade associations.

“Kerry brings to NEEC both a deep knowledge of the energy efficiency industry as well as a keen sense of the enormous challenge and opportunity of transitioning the Northwest to a clean energy economy,” according to Janet Stephenson, NEEC Board President.  “We feel extremely lucky to get someone with her talents to lead the organization.”

Kerry will be managing a highly capable and experienced NEEC staff known for their high-quality programs and services.  NEEC will continue to implement its Smart Buildings Center project, dedicated to informing and educating the market on opportunities for smart and efficient building operations.

NEEC will continue its nationally recognized Building Operator Certification program which trains and credentials facility professionals in energy smart building operations and maintenance.

NEEC will also continue to advocate for the interests of the energy efficiency business community to ensure that regional policies and programs support adoption of efficient building technologies and practices.

Before joining NEEC, Kerry held senior positions at Seattle-based EMI Consulting and at CLEAResult, in Austin, Texas.  She is a graduate of Seattle University and Cornell University.  She can be reached at [email protected] and 206-292-5592.

On August 2nd, the Smart Buildings Center had a successful event for Pacific Tower building tenants to introduce SBC’s project to improve energy efficiency at Pacific Tower, one of the most iconic and historic buildings in Seattle.  Earlier this year, SBC received a two-year grant from the Martin Fabert Foundation, with a focus on engaging the 16 organizations on behavioral strategies specific to lighting, plug loads, and heating and cooling.  The first step was to establish a baseline energy use data for the building.  We utilized SBC’s Tool Lending Library and deployed over 100 data loggers over a period of two months.  At the event, attendees learned about the building energy consumption and energy use profile as a result of the data analysis from the loggers.  In addition, they also learned tips and tricks on changes they can implement to reduce energy consumption.

The kickoff event was the first of many more tenant engagement events for this project.  The first building wide tenant two-week competition, Lights Off Challenge, was announced and started on August 7.  Stay tuned for more progress on this project over the next two years.