Fall 2016 Newsletter

Fall Greetings!

 
As fall arrives, we hope you enjoyed your summer and are diving into the new school year with gusto! The team at BEST Center is busy with a number of projects and initiatives to support your programs. Here’s an update:
 

Colleges Receiving Grant Awards!

Let’s congratulate the colleges that were recently awarded grants to support and expand their programs. The National Science Foundation has awarded Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey, Valencia College in Florida, and Lane Community College in Oregon. Perkins Funds were granted to Laramie County Community College in Wyoming to construct BAS trainers similar to the trainer featured at Georgia Piedmont Technical College. We look forward to the great things to come from these programs.
 

5^th Building Automation Systems Workshop

BEST Center held the latest BAS workshop this past June at Georgia Piedmont Technical College in Clarkston, GA. Thanks to the GPTC team and Co-PI Brian Lovell for curating an inspiring and educational event. Workshop catchphrase: “repeatable, reliable terminations”. Read more.
 

New BAS Lab at Georgia Piedmont Technical College

GPTC’s new lab, finished in time for the BAS V workshop, was a BEST Center priority. It showcased a well-planned and fully integrated commercial HVAC and controls lab in a compact space of 1600 sf.
 

Virtual Lab Videos to Aid Program Development

Developing an instructional lab can easily inundate lone faculty. BEST Center created lab tours to offer glimpses into different kinds of labs from all corners of the country. Check out the GPTC virtual lab tour. College of DuPage and Lane Community College lab tours will be coming soon. Hopefully, these videos will help keep you motivated, connected, and efficient.
 

Siemens Commitment

BAS V attendees heard first hand from Siemens representatives who announced an educational discount on equipment purchases nationwide. Additionally, Siemens is eager to develop student internships with their regional offices. 
 

HPBOP/DACUM

BEST partnered with Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric, and San Diego Gas & Electric to design and deliver a California High-Performance Building Operations Professional (HPBOP) Training program to enhance the skills of incumbent building technicians.
 
Before designing the HPBOP training, BEST conducted a DACUM (Developing A Curriculum) with subject matter experts from public and private sectors who identified the duties and skills required by technician-level jobs.
 
The DACUM results are being validated nationally by the industry organizations with the assistance of BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association). Read more.
 

Sporlan Training

Thanks to Bob Clark of College of DuPage for coordinating the involvement of BEST Center members at the Sporlan training event at their Washington, MO headquarters in early August.  Six colleges (three BEST members) attended the in-depth technical instruction designed to help educators understand the complexities of their products. Attendees also toured Sporlan’s manufacturing and research facilities and were given copies of the educational materials used during the training.  The training was an educator pilot program that is expected to be offered again.
 

News to share?

Please add info@bestctr.org to your email lists so we are in the loop on news in your programs.
 

Contact Us

As always, please contact us if you are in need of support and/or resources to advance your HVAC and building automation programs.