2021 40 Under 40: Michael Flemming, PE, LEED AP, BD+C, CxA, CEM, 33

Associate Principal/Commissioning Agent, Interface Engineering Inc.; MBA, University of South Dakota

By Gary Cohen, Chris Vavra and Amara Rozgus May 17, 2021

From a young age, Flemming has been interested in learning how things work — and breaking things to rebuild them better. He began his professional career working on mostly retro-commissioning projects and making energy efficiency and operational improvements to older buildings. Through this, he was able to see how often operations teams inherit problems from the construction process and are just trying to keep up. He transitioned to working on new commissioning projects with the goal of ensuring they are successfully delivered and can be properly maintained from the start. Flemming has completed projects throughout California and Hawaii as well as more than 30 LEED-certified projects (including 4 LEED Platinum). He has another 30 LEED projects in progress, as well as multiple CHPS, Living Building Challenge and net zero projects. With his combination of engineering and business acumen, Flemming has worked on streamlining the commissioning process to meet clients’ operational goals while remaining on schedule. Beyond his role at Interface Engineering, Flemming is involved with several professional associations and has presented at various conferences, including ASHRAE and GreenBuild. Outside of work (and after the pandemic), he strives to finish at least three Olympic- and half Ironman-distance triathlons each year. With this comes a great deal of training, so he spends a lot of time swimming, biking and running, including occasionally jumping off a boat near Alcatraz and swimming back to shore. He also enjoys taking long weekends to head out on multiday backpacking trips with his girlfriend and dog.