What Happened In 2020 Anyway?

Happy New Year from Cyclone Energy Group!

What a journey 2020 was! Unfortunately, we didn’t all wake up on January 1st and realize the last 10 months were just a dream. COVID-19 created one challenge after another this year, but for our team, the challenges we faced in 2020 actually resulted in greater adaptability and resilience. In order to promote health and safety and to do our part to flatten the curve, we transitioned early on to a remote work policy. This didn’t require any new policies or technology as we’ve had a flexible work culture since Cyclone was established. However, working remotely full time can be isolating, so we stayed connected with weekly virtual happy hours: sharing our favorite recipes, discussing what shows we were binge watching, what hobbies we took on during quarantine, seeing each other’s children and pets, and generally just encouraging each other to keep going! As we reflect on 2020, we are most thankful for our resilient team that not only adapted and flowed with all of the challenges, but excelled.

While the pandemic has slowed many sectors of the design, construction and real estate industries, we are fortunate that we have a broad and diverse group of clients that kept us incredibly busy last year. In fact, 2020 was the largest revenue year in our company’s history! We’re grateful to all of the new clients we took on this year and for all of our existing clients whom we were able to safely assist with their projects.

The pandemic did shed light on one of our services that had seen little to no attention since establishing it in 2018, indoor air quality monitoring. Our airPLAN monitoring service rapidly expanded to monitoring over 12.3 million square feet of building space in real time, providing valuable insights and safety notifications to users.

As 2021 begins, we wish all of you great success and hope you feel a sense of optimism going into this new year. As we leave 2020 behind, we would like to share highlights and successes for the Cyclone team and our clients:

Awards

• ComEd Energy Efficiency  Two Awards for highest energy savings: RCx Award for Central Park of Lisle and RCx Building Tune-Up for CICS Ralph Ellison, Chicago International Charter School
• Retro Rumble  Cyclone won two of the four categories in this EMA/ENERGYSTAR sponsored competition: Multifamily Sector Award for 340 On The Park and Office Sector Award for 70 W Madison

Cyclone Team Personal and Professional Achievements

• Robert Rugala joined the Cyclone Team as Senior Commissioning Project Manager
• Paul Blair was promoted to Director of Finance
• Sumayyah Theron earned Fitwel Ambassador Designation
• Sumayyah Theron earned WELL Performance Testing Agent Designation
• Allen Mei was promoted to Senior Energy Engineer
• Allen Mei won the 2020 CIBSE Young Modeler Award
• Allen Mei received his CEM from the Association of Energy Engineers
• Karl Walsh earned Fitwell Ambassador Designation
• Karl Walsh was promoted to Building Analyst II
• Kelly Majewski was promoted to Energy Engineer II
• Aaron Kachler earned LEED AP Accreditation

2020 Innovation Rodeo – Virtual Event

• Our 5th Annual Innovation Rodeo was a virtual event, held over three Thursdays in September. We had over 280 registered attendees
• This year’s theme, “All It Took Was A Pandemic: Innovations That Are Changing How We Design, Build and Inhabit Buildings” guided our discussions around current innovative technologies, designs and policies that impact how we use and experience our environments, both inside and out. Between nine guest speakers, we covered everything from zero energy buildings and decarbonization to optimization for energy performance to COVID and indoor air quality

Virtual Learning

• In the spring, we launched our Virtual Learning Series, and to date we have 10 episodes available on our YouTube channel
• Team members were panelists or moderators in four Illinois ASHRAE webinars
• Team members were panelists in two Illinois Green Alliance webinars
• Ben Skelton was a moderator and a panelist in two Bisnow webinars
• Cyclone hosted our first ever Virtual LEED Ceremony for our client, NEMA Chicago

Project Certifications 

• Pullman Community Center LEED v2009 NC Certified 
• William Blair NYC LEED v4 CI Silver Certified 
• 1201 West Lake LEED v2009 CS Gold Certified 
• Belmont Village Lincoln Park LEED v2009 NC Gold Certified 
• Old Main Post Office LEED v2009 CS Gold Certified 
• Albion Oak Park LEED v2009 NC Silver Certified 
• Knoll-Fulton Market LEED v4 CS Gold Certified 
• NEMA Chicago LEED v2009 NC Silver Certified 
• Project Jupiter LEED v4 Warehouses and Distribution Centers Certified 
• Albion Evanston LEED v2009 NC Silver Certified 
• One South Wacker LEED EBOM Gold  
• President’s Plaza  LEED EBOM Gold 
• CDB IL Youth Intake Center  LEED v4 Gold 
• 333 N Green  LEED v3 Gold 
• 145 S Wells  LEED v3 Gold 
• 717 S Clark  2 Green Globes 
• 14th & Wabash 2 Green Globes 

Utility Incentives 

• Cyclone assisted clients in earning more than $400,000 in ComEd energy efficiency incentives 

Retro-Commissioning Project Outstanding Achievements 

• Central Park of Lisle 160% of estimated savings target 
• CICS Ralph Ellison 400% of estimated electric and natural gas savings target 
• 939 W North Ave  190% of estimated savings target 
• Wheaton College 160% of estimated savings target 

Energy Modeling 

• Our energy modeling team has completed 102 modeling projects, some of which have earned Green Globes, ENERGY STAR and LEED Certification

Special Projects 

• 3950 N Lake Shore Drive Bid out and are overseeing the $20 million replacement of domestic hot and cold water risers, including special COVID protocols to ensure contractor/resident safety.
• 680 N Lake Shore Drive Bid out and managed the replacement of a 4,160 volt, 1,000 ton chiller and commissioned for overall chiller plant optimization
• 65 E Monroe Studied the conversion of the building from purchased district chilled water to an independent cooling plant as well as the addition of boilers in lieu of using electric resistance coils in make-up air handling units
• 4 E Elm Troubleshooting domestic hot water issues

Cyclone Energy Group Day of Service

• In light of the pandemic, we were not able to gather as a group and perform our annual service project. In the past we have volunteered as a group at The Ronald McDonald House, Sarah’s Circle and most recently The Night Ministry. Instead of an onsite day of service, we have made a donation to the Greater Chicago Food Depository in support of their Food Pantry
• We also made charitable donations throughout the past year to ASHRAE research; BOMA; Black Lives Matter, Chicago; My Block, My Hood, My City; Equality, IL