The Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MEEA) has been the facilitator of Building Operator Certification® (BOC) training in the Midwest for over 20 years. Now responsible for facilitating the training in 15 states, MEEA is committed to educating building operators and maintenance personnel and promoting building energy efficiency across the Midwest. BOC emphasizes the importance of upskilling and career development of those who already have experience working in building operations and maintenance, but MEEA also understands the need to educate the next generation of building operators.

Recognizing this need, MEEA’s curriculum partner, Building Potential, developed a new BOC curriculum, which is now available in the Midwest: Fundamentals of Energy Efficient Building Operations (Fundamentals) course. The Fundamentals curriculum is “…designed for those looking to start a career in building operations and maintenance, existing facilities personnel who are looking for a solid foundational understanding of energy efficiency and building systems, and those whose work intersects with facilities and the built environment.” (theboc.info). This curriculum serves a different, but equally important, audience than the BOC Level I and II curricula. While Level I and II are designed to enhance the already present skills and knowledge of a building operator, the Fundamentals curriculum is designed to introduce students to the systems present in buildings and the skills that they may need to interact with them. Graduates will walk away from a Fundamentals class having a greater understanding of building systems, new building optimization skills, and an overall awareness of energy-smart decisions in standard tasks.

MEEA recently trained its first cohort with the new curriculum. The participants of the class were mainly individuals who work closely with energy efficiency programs for ComEd. These utility outreach team members work closely with building operators responsible for managing energy usage in their buildings. The students hoped to walk away with a better understanding of the very systems they help people improve. Upon completion of the course, one student noted, “I was able to learn more about efficient building operations that will allow me to better discuss building management pain points with my customers and help me with providing helpful recommendations to them.” The knowledge - building systems, preventative maintenance, energy saving opportunities and more - that these individuals gained from their time in the class will help them engage with clients in a more informed manner and lead to a more energy efficient building environment.

MEEA aims to host many more cohorts of this training in the coming months with a focus on multiple target audiences, including students who are new to building operations and maintenance. The Fundamentals course can provide these students with the tools they need to understand the systems in the buildings around them, developing in-demand skills that employers value. Regardless of a student’s background, they should leave the Fundamentals class armed with a basic knowledge of concepts that can unlock energy-efficient practices in the built environment.

If you are interested in signing up for BOC classes in the Midwest, partnering to host a Fundamentals cohort, or learning more about BOC, please visit boccentral.org or email boc@mwalliance.org.