Robert Berninger (Bob) is the Director of Plant Operations, Energy, and Engineering at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He is responsible for nearly four million square feet of facility space in New York City. He oversees managers and supervisors who support a staff total of approximately 90 employees. He was named the 2016 Energy Manager of the Year by the Association of Energy Engineers and honored as 2008 Corporate Energy Management of the year by the New York chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers.
His recognitions are well deserved for the $23million dollars saved in energy for the vast amount of projects completed during the past 10-years. However, as impressive as those numbers are, I asked Bob to be a guest for a different reason. Bob encourages his staff to continue their education! For years operators were kept in the dark and were never allowed to be involved in the decision making process. Bob depends on his team to provide feedback on what they believe will or will not work. He wants everyone to understand the common efficiency goals, accountability and for all operators to have a voice.
The staff works with construction design teams and upper management to ensure all development meets efficiency and environmental standards and leads an effort in securing electric rate reductions.
In our interview Bob discusses the top three projects he focused on to obtain the most energy savings. You’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear how he and his team did it.
I hope you enjoy the interview and are inspired to take initiatives within your facility. For anyone who has already taken similar steps and would like to share your story please contact us.
Enhanced Building Solutions LLC, offers a “train and retain” turn key solution for training and development that embraces staff involvement around operations and maintenance. Building equipment technology is advancing faster than operators can keep up with and buildings account for approximately 40% of CO2 emissions in the United States alone. Training staff to operate buildings efficiently is necessary. Enhanced Building Solutions offers consulting services, virtual walk-throughs, producing mini video clips, in addition to online learning. Our training methods provide consistent information, saves on employee turnover, and minimizes liabilities. Nothing will ever replace hands-on learning but a blended learning approach will create an ultimate training solution.