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Northwest Energy Efficiency Council Transitions to Building Potential

January 30, 2024 By SBC staff

The Northwest Energy Efficiency Council (NEEC) is excited to announce the organization’s official transition to Building Potential, the name shared at the member celebration will be the trade association’s new name.

As Building Potential makes this official transition, you will begin to see the new logo and name in predictable places. It will take a little time to fully transition over to the new name, as our branding on collateral, social media etc. is slowly replaced, however moving forward, the NEEC blog will be renamed “Building Potential News” and the website has been changed to www.buildingpotential.org.

Read on below for our official announcement.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Northwest Energy Efficiency Council Transitions to Building Potential, A Leading Non-Profit Trade Association Shaping the Building Decarbonization Industry

Seattle, January 30, 2024 – The Northwest Energy Efficiency Council (NEEC) is thrilled to unveil its rebranding as “Building Potential,” marking a significant evolution in its role as a non-profit trade association. This strategic shift reflects the organization’s commitment to representing and advancing the industry that is transforming the built environment through energy efficiency, demand flexibility and other behind the meter resources, equipment and interventions.

In 2022, the organization announced a revamped mission and vision for the organization, one that aligns with the direction of the industry and its members and stakeholders: “We envision a world with net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and our mission is to eliminate carbon emissions from building energy use through market-based thought leadership, education, and advocacy.”

As Building Potential, the organization assumes a leading position as a non-profit trade association, championing the collective efforts of industry stakeholders dedicated to reshaping the future of buildings. This rebranding signifies a broader and more inclusive focus on the diverse facets of building decarbonization, where buildings actively contribute to carbon reduction targets.

In this changing industry landscape, Building Potential will continue to serve as a unifying force for individuals, businesses, and organizations involved in the building efficiency, performance, and decarbonization industries to collaboratively work to transform our building stock. By fostering collaboration, education, and advocacy, the association aims to accelerate the adoption of innovative practices and technologies that enable buildings to play an active role in achieving societal sustainability goals.

“We are proud to embrace the identity of Building Potential as a non-profit trade association, reinforcing our dedication to uniting the industry and driving positive change,” said Perry England, Vice President at MacDonald Miller and President of the Building Potential Board of Directors. “Our role extends beyond a name change; it signifies a commitment to fostering collaboration and driving impactful advancements in managing operational carbon.”

“Energy Efficiency remains critical to the success of the clean energy transition. This name change and the expanded mission expand on this critical focus, highlighting that the mission has evolved beyond saving energy, to buildings that contribute to decarbonization, reliance, equity, and a transition to a distributed clean energy grid. Energy Efficiency is part of a broader market of demand flexibility that includes demand response, battery storage, onsite renewables, and electrification, as part of an integrated solution to enable buildings to be active participants in the energy transition,” said Matt Golden, Building Potential Board Member and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Recurve.

“There is a lot of work to be done to transform our building stock and meet our local climate targets. Reframing our work is only the first step in our efforts here. I am excited to work with our current and new members to find innovative solutions and opportunities to support the building decarbonization industry,” said Poppy Storm, Building Potential Board Member and Director of Innovation for the 2050 Institute.

Building Potential will continue to serve as the voice of the industry, promoting best practices, facilitating knowledge exchange, and advocating for policies that create an enabling environment for building decarbonization initiatives.

For more information about Building Potential and its role as a non-profit trade association, please visit www.buildingpotential.org.

About Building Potential: Building Potential, formerly known as the Northwest Energy Efficiency Council (NEEC), is a non-profit trade association representing the industry at the forefront of the building decarbonization revolution. The organization unites professionals, businesses, and organizations dedicated to reshaping the future of buildings through market-based thought leadership, education, and advocacy.

For media inquiries, please contact: Britton Rife, Senior Project Manager, Building Potential [email protected] (206) 588-4984

Filed Under: SBC News

SBC Year in Review 2023

December 21, 2023 By SBC staff

2023 is almost over! We can’t believe it, it still feels like January. As we prepare for 2024 we took the time to look back on the year and celebrate some of our big accomplishments.

Thanks to you we celebrated our biggest Smart Buildings Exchange yet! We welcomed attendees from around the world and gathered live and in-person on Day 3 to listen to some amazing speakers, share successes, look to the challenges ahead, and enjoy an incredible view of the Seattle skyline. We can’t wait to do it all again next year! We hope you’ll all be there to join us at SBX 2024.

As we get ready to countdown to the new year let’s count UP all the amazing ways we broke records in 2023. Take a look at our End of Year Infographic below!

Year in Review 2023

 

Filed Under: Resources, SBC News, Tool Library

News from Commerce on Clean Buildings

November 20, 2023 By SBC staff

Tier 2 Rulemaking: Public hearing and comments

The public hearing and end of the comment period for Tier 2 rulemaking is scheduled for Nov 21, 2023. This is your opportunity to give input on the proposed rule and to participate in the rulemaking process.

Public hearing – 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 21

This is the opportunity for the public to give testimony on the proposed rule.

REGISTER to attend (Zoom)

Written comments can be submitted through the stakeholder comment form. Deadline for written comments is Nov. 21, 2023, at 4:30 p.m.

The proposed rules and the CR-102 form are available on the Clean Buildings webpage. The form includes:

  • Agency contact information
  • Intended adoption date
  • Public hearing details
  • Small Business Economic Impact Statement.

Upcoming Events

  • Inflation Reduction Act Rebates Listening Session #2  Dec. 05, 2023 at 2:30 p.m. Register
  • Workshop: Developing guidelines for Tier 2 incentive program Date to be determined – Register (SmartSheet) to receive notice.

Filed Under: SBC News

Event Recap: Ch-ch-ch Changes – Celebrating Progress in the Pacific Northwest

November 15, 2023 By SBC staff

On November 8th, NEEC joined with a sold-out audience of members, longtime supporters, peer organizations, and other interested stakeholders to celebrate the transforming efficiency industry, NEEC’s updated mission statement, and to unveil the organization’s new name.

Ch-ch-changes2

Joined by a panel of NEEC board members, NEEC’s Executive Director, Kerry Meade, presented a series of slides that developed the political, environmental, and market context that gave rise to NEEC’s new mission, which was announced in late 2022: Decarbonizing building energy use through market-based thought leadership, education, and advocacy. Kerry shared about the statewide GHG reduction targets that both Washington and Oregon have in place, and how those combined with the primary sources of emissions—buildings (including electricity) and transportation—led to the formation of regional, state, and local policies that address carbon emissions and energy use through regulation of emissions and commercial building performance. And while there is no doubt additional policy will be passed in the coming months, Kerry shared about how there is a notable shift in discourse now toward implementation, pointing out how that is a charge for our industry to drive change and assure success in meeting the statewide climate targets.

Ch-ch-changes1

Kerry spoke about the impressive history of NEEC, which was formed nearly 30 years ago by Stan Price and has over the course of its decades of work played a key role in elevating the Pacific Northwest to a national leader in energy efficiency. While the mission of the organization has evolved to meet the needs of the current time, Kerry pointed out that energy efficiency continues to play an essential role in achieving climate goals. She then went on to discuss how energy efficiency in buildings is essential to success in meeting climate targets but is also just one of the tools required to shift buildings into the future. Going deeper on that topic, Kerry referred to all that is implied by such a goal, among which includes better aligning a building’s energy use with the needs of the grid, and that this shift from energy efficiency as the central objective to instead efficiency joining with demand response, distributed storage, onsite renewables, and a whole host of other building practices and technologies places buildings in the center of it all. Kerry then went on to share the organization’s new name—Building Potential.

Building Potential

Over the coming weeks, NEEC will be working to transition to Building Potential with a formal transition starting in January of 2024. Stay tuned for more updates and changes to the organization’s outward appearance. Along with the overall branding of the organization, the organization will be working to recruit new businesses into the “industry tent,” which Kerry described as representative of all businesses who provide efficiency and energy decarbonization services directly to building owners or to building owners through utilities and related entities, as well as businesses who develop systems, tools and other forms of support for energy efficiency and decarbonization services. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks, and as always feel free to reach out to Kerry if you have any questions or thoughts you’d like to share.

Ch-ch-changes3

Filed Under: Featured Event, SBC News

Better Buildings: Workforce Accelerator Completed

November 1, 2023 By SBC staff

DOE Better Buildings

Cost-effective energy efficiency upgrades in U.S. buildings could save $100 billion each year in energy bills. From 2020-2023, the Better Buildings Workforce Accelerator convened and supported more than 40 workforce partners from across the country working to raise the level of building science and energy efficiency knowledge in the nation’s building-related workforce. The Accelerator focused on activities that build interest, streamline career pathways, and improve skills and we are proud to have played a partner role in the success of this program! Read more about the Workforce Accelerator here at the US Department of Energy Better Buildings Solutions site.

What does this look like in real terms? The US Department of Energy, NEEC and the BOC program have completed a case study that identifies the challenges, solutions, lessons and impact of the building accelerator. Join us as we analyze the outcomes of the Building Accelerator in the case study here.

Filed Under: Resources, SBC News

SBC Welcomes New Partner: Counterbalance!

October 31, 2023 By SBC staff

The Smart Buildings Center is excited to welcome Counterbalance as a new Smart Buildings Center Education Program Partner!

Founded in 2019 and based in Seattle, Counterbalance is on a mission to change how we procure, connect, and manage building technologies. By harnessing the power of technology and making buildings easier to operate, we can help reduce waste, lower energy consumption, and improve the overall quality of life for everyone.

Green Stack, Counterbalance’s next-generation building management platform, offers a hassle-free facility management solution that combines all your building technologies into a single user interface and seamlessly merges them with your existing Building Management System (BMS).

Once connected, Green Stack takes the guesswork out of building engineering and makes daily tasks more manageable with a unified set of modular tools like scheduler, powerful reporting, and unified alarm management.

Learn more at www.greenstack.cloud.

Filed Under: SBC News

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206-538-0832

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