Perry England is your "Building Performance Ambassador."

In this episode, show host Jeff Nichols speaks with Perry England, VP of Building Performance at MacDonald-Miller, one of the largest mechanical contracting companies in the Pacific Northwest. Perry brings decades of experience and a passion for helping his clients evaluate and ensure their buildings operate more efficiently and comply with ever-evolving standards. Perry reveals his biggest fear for building owners along with tips for staying ahead of the policies, standards, and fines that can be assessed for buildings that fail to meet these standards.   

Most To Gain and Most To Lose

Who’s accountable when buildings fail to meet energy efficiency standards?  Balancing building performance with climate policy is complicated. But with so much information available and an assortment of incentives designed to kick-start clean energy projects, why are we seeing continued resistance? Perry outlines what resources are available to help commercial building owners understand the policies, standards, and improvement options, and the skills that are needed to implement a plan.

States like Washington and Oregon have begun to establish stricter guidelines and standards. And compliance with these standards is binary–either you meet them or not. Once fines are assessed, they remain in place until compliance is confirmed which can be a 48-month cycle after the project is completed. Building owners who can get ahead of these policies and successfully implement energy-saving initiatives are uniquely positioned to take advantage of lucrative tax incentives and deductions that can offset their project costs by as much as 70%.   

Acknowledge Reality Instead of Ignoring It

Building sustainability has evolved into a matter of survival for both commercial and public building owners and operators. But where does this journey start?  Perry recommends several starting points including a comprehensive building evaluation using tools such as Energy Star Portfolio Manager.  Building owners must take the time to learn and consult with experts to understand how their buildings can operate more efficiently.

Perry stresses the importance of empathy to have constructive conversations with the “3 types” of building owners and how to make sure these discussions are productive rather than ‘prickly’.  And it’s not just about building a rapport with building owners, you’ll learn what role public utilities play along with local municipalities and the Dept of Commerce and discover where Perry sees the most buy-in and support for clean energy reform.  

Listen and Connect

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