Staff Spotlight: Charley Haupt

Charley describes the central operating idea behind SEM in one clear sentence: “Energy use has to be aligned with building activity.” People routinely turn things off when they leave home, but commercial buildings are more complicated. The person accountable for a facility is not always the person who starts it each morning, closes it at night, or sees what the controls are doing throughout the day.

SEM gives students the tools, data, and coaching to help close that gap. They learn to examine when and how a building uses energy, make data-informed recommendations, and work with the operators who can act. Charley sees the students as energy and conservation coaches. Building staff want the students to succeed, and that relationship can make practical operating changes easier to discuss and sustain.

The model did not begin in Wenatchee. Charley traces its roots to work started in Kentucky in 2014, followed by expansion into commercial facilities, including JCPenney locations. Many utility programs were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team later restarted the student approach in Tacoma, with the hope that school buildings could serve as practical classrooms for energy-management skills.

Wenatchee became the place where the pieces came together. Career and technical education leaders recognized the real-world business skills students could gain, while facility staff saw that the students could help with work their departments needed. Students were not treated as observers. With support, they became young professionals who could contribute to school facilities and then bring those skills to commercial buildings in the surrounding community.

The results gave the model credibility. The Wenatchee School District source data show a 31 percent reduction across the measured portfolio. At Wenatchee High School, the source charts show a 50 percent reduction, an EUI of 48 against a target of 49, no capital investment for that result, and avoidance of a documented $443,543 noncompliance penalty. An investment grade audit had outlined a capital approach of more than $20 million, which makes the operational result especially important context.

The timing matters because Washington’s Clean Buildings program now reaches buildings over 20,000 square feet. Tier 2 owners must benchmark, establish an energy management plan, implement an operations and maintenance program, and report by July 1, 2027. Charley believes the existing professional workforce is not large enough to serve every smaller building that needs support, especially when many established firms focus on larger capital projects.

SEM’s answer is a local partnership model. School districts provide a pathway for students, utilities can support customers and energy savings, and commercial buildings provide real projects where skills can develop. The result is not simply a student internship or a compliance service. It is a way to build local capacity while helping owners reduce waste and respond to a public requirement.

If your organization can help build that local pathway, contact SEM to discuss a partnership.