In April, three more veterans earned their Building Operator Certification (BOC) in Chicago and are now actively seeking new career opportunities. As part of the BOC program, MEEA and the State of Illinois connect unemployed and underemployed graduates with a network of Employment Partners who work to assist these veterans with career development. In 2015, Employment Partners Franklin Energy, CLEAResult, Ecova, Nexant, Lockheed Martin and Illinois AMVETS assisted with resume reviews and shared new job opportunities. Veterans Program Mentor ComEd assisted five veterans with homework completion during the course of the series.

MEEA is proud to highlight three recent graduates.

On April 21, 2015, the House of Representatives passed S.535, which establishes three separate programs to bolster energy efficiency measures in commercial, residential and/or mixed use buildings. This follows the Senate’s unanimous passage of this bill on March 27, 2015.  The President is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming weeks.

Chicago’s Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance calls on existing municipal, commercial, and residential buildings larger than 50,000 square feet to track whole-building energy use, report to the City annually, and verify data accuracy every three years. The data verification is required to be completed by an in-house or third-party licensed professional, and MEEA’s BOC credential is one of six credentials recognized by the City of Chicago for data verification.