As part of the evolving effort to grow the programs and opportunities for smart and efficient building operations, NEEC recently encouraged the development of a new non-profit – the Smart Buildings Center Education Program (SBC-EP). The SBC-EP is a 501(c)3 organization with an educational mission to increase awareness and understanding of smart building technologies and practices. The public launch of the organization was held October 26th at the Smart Buildings Center in Pacific Tower on Beacon Hill. The event called, “Empowering Smart Buildings: Improving Productivity and Reducing Operating Costs,” featured a moderated panel of the SBC-EP board. The SBC-EP Board is comprised of business, utility and governmental leaders that span the stakeholders and constituents of smart building practices and technologies. The panel led an engaging discussion of the opportunities for adopting smart building practices and technologies, as well as some of the challenges we face in bringing these ideas to market. Panelists were:
- Perry England, VP Building Performance, MacDonald Miller
- Dan McConnon, DCYF Project Director, WA Dept. of Commerce
- Chris Roe, Energy Procurement Manager, Amazon
- Cal Shirley, VP of Customer Solutions, Puget Sound Energy (retired)
- Bert Van Hoof, Partner, GPM Azure IoT, Microsoft
- Phil Welker, Executive Director, PECI
Jim Baggs, Customer Service, Communications & Regulatory Affairs Officer of Seattle City Light delivers a welcome address at the SBC-EP launch event.
Ash Awad, the Chief Market Officer for McKinstry is also a member of the SBC-EP board, but was unable to attend the event. SBC-EP will co-locate at the Pacific Tower with the Northwest Energy Efficiency Council (NEEC) who will continue to manage the physical space. SBC-EP will focus its efforts at the Pacific Tower and around the region on the development and implementation of informational and educational programs related to smart buildings.
