The Smart Buildings Center (SBC) and Building Operator Certification (BOC) program are proud to announce the 2024 BOC Operator of the Year: Ron Frantzen, Executive Director of Facilities Management at the McFarland Clinic!

Each year, BOC requests nominations for people working to improve the energy efficiency of their work environment using skills they learned in the BOC program. We received many impressive 2024 nominations detailing how methods learned in BOC classes are helping people make improvements in their work environments, but Ron’s story stood out among the rest.

In his current role at the McFarland Clinic, Ron manages and oversees all new development planning, design and new building construction for the entire organization and serves as an owner representative for site selections, building designs, and operational design layouts. He has a strong focus on all aspects of building designs and focuses energy efficiency into each building to achieve long term operational energy savings.

Ron has received many awards for his efforts at McFarland Clinic. His diligent hard work contributed to the lauded energy efficient success of new constructions in 2018 and 2023. He’s also led efforts to install PV solar locations at clinics across Iowa and presented success stories to teach others how to effect change within the industry. Ron believes focusing on energy conservation will help McFarland Clinic save money and invest in a cleaner, greener energy future for us all.  His BOC training and hard work created the following real-world impacts for McFarland Clinic:

• Geothermal mechanical systems for heating and cooling
• PV solar for utility kWh usage reductions.
• LED lighting for exterior parking lots and exterior perimeter lighting that enable dimming of these fixtures when no motion is detected saving thousands of dollars annually. All interior LED lighting is controlled with unoccupied settings enabling zones or areas shut off automatically.
• Building automation systems designed with energy efficiency strategies during occupied and unoccupied. A fully tuned automation system is overseeing the facilities 24/7. Any critical alarms are sent immediately to Facilities Technicians on call to address any site mechanical problems.
• Building commissioning and system balancing develops baseline for further energy modeling as well as verifications systems are performed as designed by the engineering team to achieve the level of energy efficiency

Ron is a believer in the programs offered by the BOC.  It is a requirement in McFarland’s Facility Management Department that all Technicians be BOC certified. Ron wants each of them to have this experience and to follow the BOC path to energy conservation.

The SBC and BOC program applaud Ron on his efforts and congratulate him on being named as 2024 BOC Operator of the Year!

Know someone who deserves recognition for their work in the industry? Nominations will open for the 2025 BOC Operator of the Year award in April, so stay tuned!