This month, Snohomish County PUD is energizing its innovative Arlington Microgrid and Clean Energy Center. Located near the Arlington Airport, the new project employs state-of-the-art technology to demonstrate the multiple uses of energy storage, including grid resiliency, renewable energy integration, grid support and electric vehicle integration.

Think of the Arlington Microgrid as a clean energy generator with a day job. When connected to the grid, the system will send power generated by the 500-kilowatt solar array on site to PUD customers. But if the microgrid is “islanded” and independent from the grid, it will have the ability to provide electricity to critical PUD facilities in the event of a storm or natural disaster.

To help fund the project, the PUD was granted $3.5 million in funding from the Washington state Clean Energy Fund, covering over a quarter of the project’s costs.

Here’s a look at the components of the Arlington Microgrid and Clean Energy Center:

Battery Storage
The 1 megawatt/1.4 megawatt-hour lithium-ion battery storage system can store enough energy to power 30 homes for a full day. Powered by the on-site solar array, the battery will be able to power critical PUD facilities when the sun’s not shining or wind’s not blowing.

V2G Charging
Two vehicle-to-grid, or V2G, charging stations will allow PUD fleet vehicles to not only receive a charge but flow power back on to the grid. The PUD collaborated with Mitsubishi to build the two charging stations, which are the nation’s first grid-integrated V2G charging stations.

Clean Energy Center
The multi-use facility will use interactive exhibits and displays focused on renewable energy, battery storage and energy efficiency to educate industry and community members and students.

Community Solar
The 500-kilowatt solar array not only provides clean energy to power the battery storage system, but it expands access to solar power through the PUD’s Community Solar program.

 

The National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) and 16 other organizations are collaborating on an important survey to better understand the diversity of the built environment and the experiences of people working in the built environment in the United States. The survey should take about 5-7 minutes, and as a thank you for completing it, you will have a chance to enter a drawing for one of four $250 Amazon gift cards.

Take the survey now

Eligibility: This survey is intended for people in the U.S. who are involved in real estate, design, construction, and/or maintenance of the U.S. built environment—that is, human-made structures, features, and facilities viewed collectively as an environment in which people live, work, learn, and play. You may receive an invitation to participate from more than one organization, but please only take this 2021 Built Environment Social Equity Survey once.

Privacy: The survey is being conducted by Avenue M Group, an independent market research company, and responses will be anonymous when collected and when shared with participating organizations. If you have any questions about this survey, please feel free to contact Trevor Schlusemann from Avenue M Group by emailing [email protected].

Why This Survey Is Important: All people working in the built environment should have the support they need and opportunities to succeed. The survey will help partnering organizations better understand…

• The degree to which the built environment is inclusive
• Whether some demographic groups are underrepresented at certain levels or in areas of the built environment
• How people working in the built environment define diversity

This survey is crucial towards improving social equity within the built environment. We thank you for your help.

What are the technologies of the future that will make commercial buildings more energy efficient and climate-friendly? The Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office Commercial Building Integration (CBI) team wants to hear from you as we review 2021’s most promising, market-ready, energy-efficient commercial building technologies.

CBI is hosting a series of discussions to collect feedback and comments on a prioritized set of cost-effective, underutilized, deployment-ready, energy-efficient technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and will support our market transformation programs. Each year we invite participation from federal technology managers, renewable energy/ energy efficiency organizations, utilities, local governments, and industry and non-governmental organizations. This year, we specifically request feedback and participation from diverse and underrepresented populations.

If you think you may have contributions to help guide CBI’s prioritization of commercial building technologies, join us!

Dates and Times:

1. Tuesday, March 30, 1:00-2:00 ET
2. Thursday, April 8, 2:30-3:30 ET
3. Monday, April 12, 10:00-11:00 ET
4. Wednesday, April 21, 1:00-2:00 ET
5. Friday, April 30, 12:00-1:00 ET

To RSVP, please email Tim Manganello at [email protected]. In your RSVP, please include your:

1. Name
2. Organization
3. Top TWO preferred timeslots (we will be assigning people to timeslots to ensure we can keep the number of participants relatively even)

For more information, please visit the BTO website here.

The following is from the Energy Trust of Oregon blog.

Improving your building’s energy efficiency starts with understanding how equipment and building systems are actually operating.

Energy Trust of Oregon has partnered with the Smart Buildings Center, a regional resource for energy efficiency, to give commercial and industrial building owners and managers free access to diagnostic tools that gather performance information on their systems and buildings. By borrowing the tools at no cost (with free shipping thanks to Energy Trust), users can get a baseline level of building performance and actionable information to finetune their system without the steep investment of purchasing tools that are only used once or twice a year.

The Tool Lending Library offers 85 different types of tools for loan—more than 1,000 pieces of equipment—including data loggers, power meters, lighting loggers, infrared cameras, liquid and air flow measurement devices, and much more. Borrowers also get help with proper tool use and access to an online library of tutorials.

JELD-WEN, manufacturer of energy-efficient doors and windows, is a believer in the library’s value. Energy is in high demand across the company’s 80-acre Klamath Falls campus to power buildings, mechanical equipment, compressed air systems, motors and more. As participants in Energy Trust’s Strategic Energy Management offering, the company is committed to reducing energy use and improving operational efficiency. JELD-WEN’s internal energy team has leaned on the library’s resources to help them identify energy-saving opportunities throughout their facilities.

Jim Knolle, plant electrician, and Kyle Grant, swing shift lead, have worked side-by-side on JELD-WEN’s energy team to implement the company’s energy-saving initiatives. Over the past year, they’ve relied on the Tool Lending Library to help them gather deeper information on system operations and identify areas of improvement.

Recently Knolle borrowed data loggers to help evaluate real-time power consumption and performance in the company’s dry kilns “In some cases, we were shocked to learn how much energy we were using, and in other cases, how little.”

Data collected about temperature swings and fan speeds in the dry kilns helped Knolle address a problem with over-drying wood that was causing unnecessary product loss. The evaluation led JELD-WEN to upgrade the kiln system controls, which has helped to streamline the drying process, improve schedule efficiency and reduce waste.

Knolle is so pleased with the Tool Lending Library that he’s recommended it to others. “It is a great place to get resources that most companies don’t have. As we continue to seek energy efficiency improvements, we’ll take advantage of the library’s tools to help us do so.”

To borrow tools for your site, visit www.smartbuildingscenter.org/tool-library.

Careers in the energy efficiency industry are booming. To grow our nation’s workforce of building managers, operators, and technicians, we have teamed up with the U.S. Department of Energy. Check out the Better Buildings Workforce Development Portal to get career guidance, curriculum/credentials, continuing education and training, and internship opportunities.

Energy Management Analyst Supervisor, Seattle City Light
Location: Seattle, WA

Seattle City Light, a department of the City of Seattle, is one of the nation’s largest municipally owned utilities in terms of the number of customers served. Over the years we have worked very hard to keep Seattle’s electricity affordable, reliable, and environmentally sound. Today, City Light is a recognized national leader in energy efficiency and environmental stewardship.

Customer Care & Energy Solutions (CCES), the longest continuously operating municipal energy conservation initiative in the country, is seeking an Energy Management Analyst (EMA) Supervisor for the Project Development team. This supervisor will lead a team of multi-disciplinary energy management professionals who promote and deliver the utility’s portfolio of demand-side management programs to its commercial, industrial, multifamily, and institutional customers. The portfolio has historically been predominantly comprised of energy efficiency programs, however it is evolving and expanding to include distributed energy resources, such as demand response, distributed generation, electric vehicles, as well as building electrification. CCES is responsible for acquiring/delivering all cost-effective energy efficiency (kWh) to the utility (a least-cost resource) in support of I-937 targets – preserving and extending the benefits of Seattle City Light’s low-cost, carbon-neutral resources. The Project Development team, comprised of 18 EMAs, is responsible for delivering roughly 60% of the division’s resource acquisition target and processes several hundred customer energy management projects annually.

The Project Development team delivers programs and services that help our customer owners and community partners meet their evolving energy needs, while striving to be their most valued and trusted energy partner. The group works with business customers across all sectors to conduct program outreach, opportunity assessments, and project development activities. The team also works closely with owners, developers, building operators, property managers, tenants, and a network of contractors, distributors, architects, engineers, design consultants, and other service providers that enable this work. The team helps customers maximize the performance of their existing buildings (across capital, O&M, and behavioral improvements) and new construction projects (to exceed energy code requirements) and through equipment incentives at distributor channels. In addition, the team contributes heavily to program design & development with a focus on enhancing customer experience, implementing continuous process improvement, and minimizing evaluation risk.

This position is one of two EMA Supervisors who report to the Project Development Section Manager.

View the full job description and application requirements HERE.

Director of Energy Programs, Energy Trust of Oregon
Location: Portland, OR

About Us
Energy Trust of Oregon is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to energy efficiency and renewable energy development. We serve 1.6 million Oregon customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural, Cascade Natural Gas and Avista. These customers are renters, homeowners, commercial business owners, property managers, schools, agricultural operations, small to large industrial facilities and communities.

Since 2002, customers have saved $3.4 billion on energy bills from efficiency retrofits, high-performance new construction and renewable energy systems installed at 718,000 locations and purchased through retail and distributors. These dollars recirculate in Oregon’s economy, driving broader economic benefits for all.

Energy Trust is overseen by the Oregon Public Utility Commission and is accountable for meeting annual minimum performance measures set by the commission. A non-stakeholder, volunteer board of directors sets the strategic direction, policies
and annual budgets, and offers independent perspectives.

About the Director of Energy Programs Position
We’re looking for a visionary, innovative, strategic and collaborative individual to lead and advance Energy Trust’s energy efficiency and renewable energy programs into the dynamic energy future. The Director of Energy Programs is a senior leadership position at Energy Trust, managing the organization’s program teams in the direction, design and implementation of all of the organization’s energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. The Director of Energy Programs reports directly to the Executive Director and is a member of the executive management team.

Download the recruitment flyer for this position (PDF).

We will be accepting applications in January 2021. Please visit www.energytrust.org/about/careers beginning in January for the full position description and instructions on how to apply.

Marketing Manager – New Markets and Innovation, McKinstry
Location: Seattle, WA

At McKinstry, we’re proud to be a diverse and passionate group of innovators and problem-solvers, builders and engineers, mentors and students. We believe the world needs curious, forward-thinking, solutions-oriented people who want to make our planet better. We are committed to strengthening our diversity through recruiting, developing, and retaining professionals from all backgrounds, and we believe that promoting diversity, equity, and inclusivity is an integral component of our continuing quest To Build a Thriving Planet. If you are looking to leave a purposeful mark on the world, then McKinstry is the place for you.

Here’s where you come in:
We are currently seeking a Marketing Manager to join our team as a member of our sales engagement and enablement team.  Join an established and dynamic team and make an immediate impact. This role will initially focus on new start-ups within our organization and strategic enterprise initiatives requiring specialized go-to-market expertise. It will further build our capacity to develop new offerings and accelerate new ventures against our 2025 plans and Aspirations.  We are looking for candidates with strong AEC business acumen and multi-disciplined communications and marketing skills.

You’re great at:
Marketing Management
You know how to work in a fast-paced environment that requires juggling multiple deadlines concurrently and are looking for a dynamic role that provides new challenges and growth opportunity.  You are competitive, self-motivated, and want to be a part of a winning team.  You are an excellent facilitator, working across leaders and teams to develop winning strategies and differentiators for new products, services, or approaches to the market. You seek to understand our industry and client trends deeply, and the strategies needed to connect to clients effectively and build lasting relationships. You are comfortable managing others, but are also motivated to dig in and do the work yourself. You are an influencer with excellent relationship-building skills that bring people together to make an impact.

Communications
You know how to utilize all means to effectively communicate. Your storytelling ideas, strategies for how to best position digital mediums, and writing influences the way customers and markets see and connect to us, and sets up our vision of Building a Thriving Planet.

Leadership
You’re not only great at leading and managing people, but you like people. Being a great leader is important because we are a People First employer that values emotional intelligence, kindness, and trust. You understand and place value in recruiting, hiring, developing, inspiring, and retaining people. You know how to set performance goals and conduct performance evaluations for assigned team and provide supervision, mentorship, and motivation to assigned staff as required.

View the full job description & apply here