[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 34 (Monday, February 26, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E179]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL BERNING

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL R. TURNER

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 26, 2024

  Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to honor the 
career of Michael Berning, a dedicated member of my community in 
Dayton, Ohio, and a close personal friend. Michael will retire this 
month after 44 years of service at HEAPY, an engineering firm that has 
its fingerprints all over Ohio and throughout the country. Michael 
started at HEAPY when he was still a Mechanical Engineering student at 
the University of Dayton, but he will end his tenure as its Chief 
Innovation Officer.
  Michael was an early pioneer for the development of `green design' 
and sustainable building practices, and his efforts culminated in 2015 
when he was named a LEED Fellow. This prestigious recognition is much-
deserved because of Michael's leadership in HEAPY's regional 
sustainability conferences, assisting Montgomery County in establishing 
the Dayton Regional Green Initiative, and for his contributions to 
Environmental Design+Construction Magazine as both a writer and member 
of the magazine's Editorial Advisory Board.
  Outside of Michael's work, he has served his community through 
multiple Boards, including Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Wright State 
ARTSGala, and the U.S. Green Building Council Ohio Chapter. Michael 
served as chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party in the 
early 1980s, and he managed my first campaign for public office when I 
ran for mayor of Dayton in 1993. He put together a great team for my 
election victory that year, in a predominantly Democratic city, and led 
my successful reelection effort four years later.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in thanking Michael 
Berning for his years of service to our community. Although retirement 
signals the end of his 44-year career with HEAPY, his legacy of success 
and leadership certainly serves as a model for others to follow. I 
congratulate Michael and wish him all the best in a well-deserved 
retirement, and look forward to many more years of continued 
friendship.

                          ____________________