David Forney
Chicago,IL
Summary
Critical facility commissioning and operations expert with over 10 years experience, expert in energy management and electrical safety. Spearheaded innovative LOTO and electrical safety programs, enhancing efficiency and safety across multiple projects. Experienced with all aspects of commissioning and energy management from pre-construction to turnover and operations. Adept at vendor management and fostering a strong safety culture, uniquely skilled at combining knowledge of human performance and technical systems to drive safety and quality.
Overview
12
12
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Commissioning Project Manager
Mortenson Construction
01.2021 - 01.2025
- Led energy isolation and LOTO program for multiple hyperscale data center construction and commissioning projects from planning through turnover.
- Conducted field audits to ensure isolations were performed, tagged, and documented correctly, and that all affected personnel understood the boundaries.
- Facilitated daily coordination meetings to communicate energy risks and planned isolations. Upcoming energizations reviewed with field teams and deconflicted with Superintendents and upcoming planned isolations deconflicted with commissioning teams.
- Investigated energy-related incidents or near misses and implemented effective corrective actions that were implemented as required best practices for all projects.
- Utilized extensive knowledge of and experience in commissioning practices and system interactions to eliminate common risks and poor practices with energization, isolation, and troubleshooting of all energy systems.
- Developed and implemented automated application for generating LOTO procedures that drastically improved efficiency and nearly eliminated the aspect of human error for energy isolation planning and execution.
- Developed holistic energy management program incorporating best practices and lessons learned from collaboration with expert peers at other companies and in other industries. Job site electrical safety, commonly missed hazards, clear guidance on requirements for commonly misunderstood NFPA 70E standards, LOTO, and energization plans for phased construction / commissioning clearly covered in one place, giving new project teams every resource they needed to avoid energy-related issues or near misses and increased the team’s level of knowledge.
- Promoted a strong safety culture through coaching, training, and proactive engagement.
Critical Facility Engineer
Disney Data Center Orlando
Orlando, USA
01.2020 - 01.2021
- Executed and oversaw all vendor and employee work on critical power systems, ensuring maximum reliability and zero downtime.
- Developed new procedures to eliminate inconsistent and errant versions.
- Developed and implemented training and certification programs, significantly increasing effectiveness and readiness of facility staff engineers.
- Identified and quickly developed measurable solutions to process and documentation issues, eliminating wasteful labor and systems, and increasing productivity and efficiency of engineering staff.
Senior Field Engineer
ABB Power Solutions / Cyberex
New York, USA
01.2015 - 01.2020
- Managed large data center startup and commissioning projects, driving quality control and productivity with fewer man hours and increased safety and efficiency.
- Developed software, procedures, test and calibration equipment, and updated multiple processes to greatly increase safety and efficiency and decrease re-work and labor costs and overhead.
- Proposed and developed LOTO program that eliminated errors and audit misses across multiple projects, increasing safety and enabling 100% efficient and up-to-date reporting, work permit, and audit processes.
- Repeatedly called in to save failing projects, repairing relationships and technical issues to meet and exceed client needs. Consistently requested by critical customer accounts for quality and effectiveness.
Electrical SME
Microsoft Data Center Boydton
Boydton, USA
01.2014 - 01.2015
- Planned and oversaw all maintenance operations for low and medium voltage systems, ensuring effective and safe execution without unexpected downtime.
- Authored and/or approved MOPS, SOPs, EOPs for all critical switching operations.
- Authored or approved isolation (LOTO) procedures for planned switching or emergent corrective actions due to system faults.
- Planned and led retroactive and re-test commissioning on all power systems.
Critical Facility Technician
Microsoft Data Center Boydton
Boydton, USA
01.2013 - 01.2014
- Operated and maintained all low and medium voltage critical power systems, critical cooling systems, building automation and management systems.
- Executed and oversaw all vendor and employee scheduled or emergent work.
- Planned and drafted MOPS, SOPs, EOPs for all critical switching operations.
Skills
- Energy Management
- LOTO (Lockout Tagout)
- Commissioning Management
- Electrical Safety Expert
- Critical Facility System Design
- Critical Power Systems
- Data Center Operations
- Vendor Management
Certification
Certified Electrical Safety Compliance Professional (CESCP)
Timeline
Commissioning Project Manager
Mortenson Construction
01.2021 - 01.2025
Critical Facility Engineer
Disney Data Center Orlando
01.2020 - 01.2021
Senior Field Engineer
ABB Power Solutions / Cyberex
01.2015 - 01.2020
Electrical SME
Microsoft Data Center Boydton
01.2014 - 01.2015
Critical Facility Technician
Microsoft Data Center Boydton
01.2013 - 01.2014