Thanks to a special partnership with Energy Association of Iowa Schools (EAIS) and Southwestern Community College (SWCC), MEEA awarded 20 Building Operator Certification® (BOC) Certificates to Iowa high school students and staff members this spring through the Building Operator Pathway (BOP) program. Utilizing a combination of classroom work and on-the-job, hands-on experience, the BOP pilot guided students and staff members through a two-year career-oriented training that included the BOC curriculum.

MEEA is proud to announce a partnership with the Energy Association of Iowa Schools (EAIS) and Southwestern Community College (SWCC) to pilot a two-year apprenticeship for high school students. The Building Operator Certification (BOC®) training curriculum will be utilized as part of the classroom component during the first year and a half of the program.

The Energy/Health Connection

One in every 13 Americans has asthma, and we spend over $50 billion each year treating it. But did you know asthma attacks (and several other health issues) can be alleviated with better energy efficiency?

Energy efficiency policies and programs reduce pollution by offsetting the need for additional generation from power plants. Increasing energy efficiency and targeting programs to those most vulnerable for health issues (e.g. the elderly, people with existing chronic conditions, residents living in areas of higher pollution) improves public health while avoiding additional healthcare costs.

To most outsiders, the world of energy efficiency probably appears static with slow, incremental changes. A furnace rebate here, light bulb swap-out there, maybe an updated building energy code every few years. But it should come as no surprise to industry insiders that this isn’t the case at all. An explosion of new technology across every part of our economy is rapidly changing our energy savings goals and the ways we identify and capture those savings.