The Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) Center was founded in 2012 to support publicly-funded 2- and 4-year colleges with programs in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R), controls, building automation, and energy/facilities management. Sponsored by Advanced Technological Education grants from the National Science Foundation, this national collaborative promotes state-of-the-art building technician education and dissemination of the latest research, technology, and industry collaborations in energy efficient buildings.
CA Institute for Energy & Environment, UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA
Peter Crabtree, BEST Center Principal Investigator (PI); Larry Chang, BEST Center Founding Director
• PI is responsible for BEST Center administration and management
• Internationally-recognized building science expertise supports certificate and associate degree programs in Commercial HVAC, Building Automation Systems, and Commercial Energy Management
• Guides development of multi-vendor Direct Digital Controls & Commercial HVAC/R labs
• PI’s past NSF projects include 1) Educating Technicians for Building Automation and Sustainability 2) Environmental Control Technology Education for Adv. Building Operation and Management
• CIEE has been conducting, leading, and managing energy research for thirty years to help shape energy science, technology and policy.
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Berkeley, CA
Mary Ann Piette, Co-PI & Director of Building Technology and Urban Systems Division & Director of the Demand Response Research Center (DRRC)
• LBNL will provide cutting-edge building technology & energy management tools for instructional use
• Success stories include: windows and daylighting, lighting sources & controls, commissioning & diagnostics, energy-efficient data centers, DOE-2 & EnergyPlus, cool roofs, aerosol duct sealing, Home Energy Saver, and energy information systems
• DRRC recently developed the Open Automated Demand Response Communications Specification, a key element of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Smart Grid standards helping to deliver over 150 MW of demand response in the U.S.
Milwaukee Area Technical College Milwaukee, WI
Ted Wilinski, Co-PI, Center for Energy Conservation & Advanced Manufacturing (ECAM)
• MATC’s ECAM is a showcase for the latest in HVAC, controls, renewable energies, micro-grid, and manufacturing technologies
• Recipient of Dept. of Energy grant to expand training programs for commercial commissioning agents and energy auditors
• Innovative curricula in Automated Building Systems, Energy Engineering Technology, Sustainable Facilities Operations, Energy Modeling, Energy Auditing, Measurement & Verification, Commissioning, LEED, and renewables
• Annual Sustainability Summit – a regional, national and international collaboration of business, education and government
Robert Nirenberg, Co-PI, Principal at EduControls. Formerly Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Technology Instructor at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha.
• Organizer and host of Building Automation Systems workshops on behalf of BEST
• Past recipient of NSF-ATE grant to support project “Automate!”
Georgia Piedmont Technical College Clarkston, GA
Brian Lovell, Former Co-PI & Founder, Building Automation program
• Among the first community colleges to establish an A.S. degree in Building Automation Systems in addition to existing Commercial Refrigeration & Sustainable Technologies programs
• New courses developed in Building Information Management, Energy Auditing, Energy Modeling, Lighting Systems & Controls, Geothermal Systems, Solar PV, and Solar Thermal
• Living Lab with classroom/lab building & state-of-the-art conference center using energy dashboard and advanced controls
• Industry support from major companies such as Kele, Johnson Controls, Siemens, Trane, Honeywell, Schneider Electric, and Delta