WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- The Northwest Energy Efficiency Council (NEEC), the national sponsor of the Building Operator Certification (BOC) program that trains and certifies workers in best practices for energy efficiency, has been chosen by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a 2014 ENERGY STAR Award.
Pennsylvania College of Technology’s National Sustainable Structures Center is part of the network of licensed providers nationwide helping to administer the BOC program.
The EPA honored NEEC with a 2014 ENERGY STAR Award for Excellence in ENERGY STAR Promotion for its outstanding contributions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through significant consumer-education efforts promoting energy-efficient products.
NEEC’s accomplishments will be recognized in Washington, D.C., on April 29. The BOC program trains and certifies commercial and institutional building facility staff in best practices that include benchmarking building performance through ENERGY STAR’s Portfolio Manager software tool and in specifying the purchase of ENERGY STAR products and equipment.
“ENERGY STAR’s Portfolio Manager is integrated into the BOC curriculum to provide building operators a valuable tool to benchmark and measure energy savings,” said John M. Wilson, NSSC’s BOC program manager. “Also, using energy-efficient ENERGY STAR products is a great way for building operators to save money and reduce their building’s carbon footprint.”
Building Operator Certification offers facilities personnel the improved job skills and knowledge to transform workplaces to be more comfortable, energy efficient and environmentally friendly. Certification is competency-based and offered at two levels.
BOC Level I emphasizes energy-efficient building operation and maintenance practices; BOC Level II emphasizes equipment preventive maintenance and troubleshooting.
More than 10,000 building operators have received BOC certification across the United States. The national BOC program is administered through a network of licensed providers in 35 states and Washington, D.C., who train building technicians.
The NSSC at Penn College is the licensed administrator of BOC training in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia). NSSC’s mission is to provide building science and energy conservation training in both the commercial and residential fields. Since its inception in 1985, the NSSC has taught more than 14,000 individuals in building-science standards and energy-efficient retrofit techniques.
For more on Building Operator Certification and NSSC, visit www.pct.edu/nssc.
For more on Penn College, which is celebrating its Centennial throughout 2014, visit www.pct.edu, email admissions@pct.edu or call toll-free 800-367-9222.