What Employers and Operators Are Saying
Mark Stein, Chief Facilities Officer at Bethlehem Area School District, and Sean McKenna, the school district’s Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds, discuss how BOC training helped the school district meet their energy efficiency goals and put millions of dollars back into their classrooms.
Jess Miller, Director of Facilities and Security at Umpqua Community College, discusses the impact of BOC’s holistic approach to building management and why it is “absolutely critical to help you improve.”
Tom Javins, Associate Director of Engineering and Utilities at the University of Montana, recommends BOC training because “in our industry, if you’re not learning, you’re falling behind.”
Tom Coles, Facilities Maintenance Supervisor at Boise Airport, talks about the BOC’s hands-on approach and the immediate applicability of his training at one of his 123 facilities.
Dennis Bursell, Facilities and Maintenance Manager at Clark Fork Valley Hospital in Plains, Montana, talks about his BOC training and the value of certifying his staff.
Don Larson, director of engineering at a major medical center, tells how BOC training builds a competent and confident workforce.
Teresa Rogers, journeyman building engineer, talks about how Building Operator Certification (BOC) training helped advance her career in building operations and maintenance.
Chris Hunsaker, HVAC Lead and Building Engineer at Safeco Field in Seattle, WA tells his story of how an energy efficient upgrade project to his facility’s boiler system saved the organization a quarter of a million dollars in less than six months.
“I work as a Sustainability Planner for the City of Bellevue, working on sustainability in municipal operations. This course gave me some ideas for updating our goals so we can make our buildings more efficient and sustainable. I would like for us to assess our indoor air quality at our facilities to establish a baseline so we can implement measures to improve where needed. In this course I was able to broaden my knowledge on HVAC system’s general layout and sequence of equipment which helps to influence others when you can speak their language. I used to work at a lighting efficiency company and an electrical contractor, so I have a good knowledge bank when it comes to lighting, but the layout of the information helped me to develop a preliminary lighting standard for our facilities, so project teams have details regarding the minimum requirements for our lighting projects.”
Allison Lammerts, Sustainability Planner
“I enjoyed this class very much. I am a Facility Services Coordinator and I oversee our work order system and equipment management for about 23 buildings. As we are in the middle of improving our procedures and policies specifically for our equipment management, this class helped in a great way where it brought my attention to focus on the important aspects of building operation. This class made me think of questions to ask our maintenance team in regards to regular maintenance and energy efficient equipment and helped me to understand why we have some of the procedures in place at the moment. Being a part of the operations team here at the county, we have specialists in certain fields (HVAC, plumbing, sustainability, Energy Specialist), I look forward to communicating what I have learned in this course with them. Thank you!”
Rita Saephanh, Facility Services Coordinator
“In Southern Oregon I feel a little isolated, alone among my peers. I am happy to know that there are professionals throughout the country that have interests in efficient building operations. This class was exactly what I would need to get started in the career I have now. I am a 13 year employee for the same company, and I wish I had gotten involved earlier.”
Devon Cole, Building Operator
“I work for a consulting firm that partners with various organizations to reduce their energy use with low or no-cost operational recommendations. While I don’t manage a building myself, I’m expected to provide advice and energy reduction expertise.
This course provided an excellent foundation of knowledge to help me understand how building systems operate. In addition to an informative overview or major energy consuming systems, I appreciated the preventative maintenance tips and troubleshooting group activities we completed. The case studies and examples covered in class were helpful in providing practice with applying the information learned in class.”
Monique Bourdeau, Energy Consultant
“The BOC Program offered through Lane Community College provides a comprehensive and unique opportunity in learning. The instructors are a collection of highly experienced professionals, many at the engineering level with years of field experience working directly with Facilities Managers and Staff. The instructors’ ability to convey the advanced curriculum quickly and effectively was amazing. Combined with the input and questions from the other students (peers from my region whose facilities were different, but systems and struggles were very similar) made this program great. The only problem is that I should have taken the course years ago.”
Richard Smutz, Blue Mountain Community College
“The BOC information is an investment in better maintained buildings, better educated building operators, and gratified customers. The cost of the coursework is worth every penny because the knowledge and quality of the instructors is second to none. The knowledge gleaned from the coursework will only improve a person’s ability to perform building maintenance.”
John M. Haran, California State University Northridge,
Physical Plant Management Department Safety/Training Coordinator
“I found BOC to be one of the most knowledgeable learning experiences I have had in a classroom setting. At that time, I had decided to send my department and they all could not say enough about the classes,”
Noreen McKinley, Chief Engineer, Marriott Santa Clara, California
“BOC is the type of program that produces real benefits for our communities. City staff who go through this training and certification are well prepared to improve operational efficiencies in municipal facilities.”
Jane Cummins, Senior Staff Associate, League of Oregon Cities
“A hospital customer of PSE was participating in a commissioning project. Its building operators, some of whom are BOC participants, were an integral part of the commissioning crew. Now that their building is tuned up, they are taking pride in operating at an efficient level. In fact, they are using some of the things they learned about the building to improve operation beyond the commissioned state.”
Bill Steigner, Senior Energy Management Engineer, Puget Sound Energy, Olympia, Washington
“After I took the training several years ago, I interviewed for a position with three other qualified candidates. The only difference between us was my BOC certification. I’m not saying the BOC was solely responsible for me getting the job but it was a very significant factor in me being chosen over the other two candidates. At my current position with Granby Public Schools, I had my lead mechanic take the course.”
Santi Camarotti, Director of Facilities, Granby Public Schools, Granby, Connecticut
“The program is the best thing that has happened to public facilities maintenance people in years. Whether you are an experienced journeyman or, as in my case, have limited trades skills, the BOC has tremendous value. On the surface, you would think that having one- or two-day classes in a technical area such as electricity might not be very useful to those with no background in the area. For the experts in that area, you might think the instruction is going to be too simplified, and too much of an overview. Well, you will be wrong on both counts!”
Duncan Crump, Senior Facilities Planner, Washington State General Administration
“BOC certifications bring a level of trust for the customer that we have training and expertise that can help them in areas where they need utility assistance. The knowledge the staff members gain about building systems is value-added in term of their audit reporting capabilities and the training is also an opportunity for energy efficiency staff to talk with customers directly and explain our programs.”
Tom Lienhard, Lead Energy DSM Engineer, Avista Utilities, Spokane, Washington
“By taking the BOC courses, I was able to learn about in-depth real world equipment and scenarios. While you may learn theory in a lot of classes, I was able to come away with a better picture of a multitude of disciplines used in a building and tie them together overall.”
Rick Gideon, Data Center Facilities Engineer, King County, Washington