Daylight Savings is Here, So it Must be Spring

The weather might make you think it’s still winter, but we can’t wait for spring so we are charging ahead to present new opportunities for you and your students. Here are the latest news and activities happening at BEST Center.
 

Apply Now for BAS VII Workshop

The Building Automation Systems VII Workshop will be held from June 7–9 at Metropolitan Community College, Omaha, NE. Applications are due on March 30. Read More.

HVAC Excellence Conference: Addressing the Skills Gap

Will you attend the 2018 National HVACR Educators and Trainers Conference at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas from March 26-28? Join Bob Clark, Jeryll McWhorter, and Larry Chang as they present at two breakout sessions “Current Developments in HVAC Instructional Lab Design” and “The ABC’s of BAS (Building Automation Systems)”. Read more.

“Women in Building Technologies and Trades” Webinar

Join us on April 26, 10am PDT (1pm EDT), for a webinar hosted by BEST and HVAC Excellence, and learn how to recruit more women into building technologies and the trades. Speakers include Dr. Deb Hall (Valencia College), Merry Beth Hall (PHCC), Telese Williams (technician, GA State University), and Samantha Lott (student, Sacramento City College). BEST Director Pam Wallace will facilitate.

BEST Center will Conduct HPBOP Training for the State of California

This year, Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and Southern California Gas will fund High-Performance Building Operations Professional training sessions for incumbent workers. Conducted for the State of California Department of General Services, Facilities Management Division, the sessions will be held during summer and fall semesters at Sacramento City College and Mt. San Antonio College, respectively. Read more.

2018 Annual Institute Recap

Thank you to the 32 colleges that made our Annual Institute a huge success. Be sure to read Berkeley Lab’s recap. If you were sad to miss Bob Clark’s live presentation on the “Fundamentals of Building Automation Networking”, he kindly recorded a more succinct version. As always, you can find recordings on our Workshop Materials page.

Focus on Students and Faculty at Bestctr.org

We recently made our website more student-friendly. Our student resources section features fresh Student Success Stories and a robust search tool for career and job opportunities nationwide. Faculty members also have a new page with teaching opportunities provided by other BEST colleges. Please share student profiles and career opportunities with us, and we will add them.

ACE Mentor Collaboration Spreads

ACE Mentor and BEST Center are building on their collaboration that has spread across the country to create pathways from high schools to building technology and trades programs at two-year colleges nationwide. Contact Larry Chang if you want to connect your college to ACE Mentor. Read more.

Fulbright Scholars Visit Laney College

BEST Center recently welcomed Fulbright scholars from Bosnia + Herzegovina and India. Laney College President Tammeil Gilkerson and BEST Center leadership met with the scholars for a dialogue on the role of community colleges within higher education in the US, and specifically, the role that career and technical education plays in addressing industry needs while helping adult learners prepare for careers in high demand. Read more.

BEST Hosts Association of Facilities Engineering

BEST Center hosted the February 22nd meeting of the Association of Facilities Engineering (AFE), San Francisco Chapter, at Laney College. The organization’s mission is closely aligned with the work of the BEST Center in promoting better building performance through building technician education. Peter Crabtree presented current work on developing a national certification and training for High-Performance Building Operations Professionals (HPBOP). Learn more.

Silicon Valley Working Group tours UCSF’s Sandler Neuroscience Center

On February 9, industry members of the Silicon Valley Working Group visited the Sandler Neuroscience Center, a 237,000 square foot, five-story laboratory and clinical research building in the UCSF Mission Bay Campus in San Francisco. The tour was conducted by two former students of the High-Performance Building Operations Professional pilot training program hosted by BEST Center. Read more. 
 

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
― Jane Goodall