BEST Center Building at Laney College

There’s a new building currently under construction at Laney College that will bear the BEST Center name. Lots of progress has been made since the groundbreaking in February 2016.  View the progress first hand when you join us for the 2017 Annual Institute.

From the February announcement:

Both Test Houses are designed to reflect typical conditions encountered in market-rate housing and the Classroom will meet rigorous “Passivhaus” standards; aiming to achieve Net Zero Energy, meaning that it must produce as much energy as its systems consume. Environmentally beneficial features include harvesting of rainwater for gardens; windows and roof vents that provide natural ventilation; windows located to maximize daylight & views; solar technologies; efficiencies in mechanical and HVAC systems; and many others.

Notably, this building, is designed to achieve a LEED Platinum certification , and perhaps will be the first classroom in California to meet Passive House standards. It is also designed to meet and exceed standards for zero-net energy design, using building-integrated photovoltaic panels.

27 College Faculty from Around the Nation Learn about Advancements in Lab Design and Exercises

June 11, 2016 – ATLANTA – BEST Center, a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Center, and Georgia Piedmont Technical College, both leaders in building automation systems (BAS) education, convened faculty from around the country for the semi-annual Building Automation Systems Workshop.

Now in its fifth installment, the BAS Workshop convened 27 faculty and program administrators from 23 technical and community colleges from around the U.S. for a four-day workshop about laboratory development best practices. The workshop featured speakers from GPTC staff and student graduates, Siemens national and regional executives, Laney College and BEST Center. It covered topics such as the connection between labs and curriculum, subnetwork wiring, BACnet MS/TP installation, lab building experiences, and development of train-the-trainer sites. Participants came from Oregon, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Florida, among many others and convened at the beautiful Georgia Piedmont Conference Center and BAS laboratory in Clarkston, GA.

“By demand, this year’s workshop was designed to assist colleges that are planning to build or enhance BAS instructional laboratories by providing recommendations on everything from garnering administration support to partnering with industry to lab design concepts for optimal student learning”, said Brian Lovell, Co-Principal Investigator, BEST Center and event organizer. “Each presentation delved into different aspects of setting up a lab and was paired with hands on exercises to demonstrate best practices and industry expectations.”

“Our workshop enables colleges to plan and build laboratory environments that mimic likely real-world scenarios so college graduates are career ready”, said Peter Crabtree, Principal Investigator for BEST Center and Career and Technical Education Dean, Laney College. “High functioning labs are the key ingredient to successful deployments of a well-trained workforce prepared to monitor, maintain and improve buildings for energy efficiency.”

“Georgia Piedmont is a leader in providing affordable pathways to high demand, high paying careers. This BAS workshop with the BEST Center is the latest example in our continued commitment to our students to be a model in the industry and for colleges around the country, not to mention a necessary resource for the Greater Atlanta community”, said Dr. Jabari Simama, Georgia Piedmont’s President.

“This workshop was the result of significant work and time by Georgia Piedmont’s building automation faculty and the BEST Center team.  It is one of the major examples of how successful partnerships between community/technical colleges and industry partners can result in providing relevant and vibrant learning experiences for current and future students. Georgia Piedmont is proud to be on the cutting edge of instruction in the building automation area,” stated Dr. Ivan Harrell, Executive Vice President of Academic & Student Affairs at Georgia Piedmont.

About BEST Center

The Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) Center supports publicly funded 2- and 4-year colleges with programs in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R), building automation controls, and energy/facilities management. Sponsored by ATE 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. Technical and community college faculty in HVAC and building automation programs are encouraged to join the BEST Center’s Network of Colleges.

About Georgia Piedmont Technical College

Established in 1961, Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) is one of the top technical colleges in Georgia.  As a student-centered institution, GPTC prepares individuals with the skills necessary to succeed in a rapidly changing, global economy.  GPTC’s graduation rate is more than 63 percent, and its graduates secure employment at a level resulting in a 97.3 percent placement rate. The college has 12 learning centers in DeKalb, Newton, Rockdale and Morgan counties. Georgia Piedmont Technical College is an equal access/equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, marital status, age, religion, national origin, ethnicity, pregnancy, disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, or genetic information. Contact the ADA Coordinator at 404/297-9522, ext. 1154, petersl@gptc.edu or the Title IX Coordinator at 404/297-9522, ext. 1176, gordond@gptc.edu for assistance.

www.bestctr.org

www.gptc.edu

www.nsf.gov/ate

###

Groundbreaking for the BEST Center at Laney College, Oakland, CA.

On February 25, BEST Center joined Peralta Community College District and Laney College in a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction on a new set of buildings to be known as the BEST Center, an Ultra-Low Energy Building for Community Education, Local Economy, and the Environment.

Laney students and the East Bay community will soon benefit from a unique, state-of-the-art, active learning laboratory in sustainable building design, construction and operations. Students will learn how to apply conceptual theory in environmental control technology in a hands-on learning environment; and gain advanced skills for emerging careers in high performance buildings and building automation systems that will have a direct impact on occupant health, security, carbon emissions and energy use of our built environment.

The BEST Center will feature three distinct structures: two “Test Houses” of approximately 1250 gross square feet each ( the Electrical Lab House” and alternate mechanical systems “Lab House”); and the “Passive Classroom”, approximately 2500 gross square feet, designed to meet or exceed zero net energy use using building integrated photovoltaic panels.

Both Test Houses are designed to reflect typical conditions encountered in market-rate housing and the Classroom will meet rigorous “Passivhaus” standards; aiming to achieve Net Zero Energy, meaning that it must produce as much energy as its systems consume. Environmentally beneficial features include harvesting of rainwater for gardens; windows and roof vents that provide natural ventilation; windows located to maximize daylight & views; solar technologies; efficiencies in mechanical and HVAC systems; and many others.

Notably, this building, is designed to achieve a LEED Platinum certification , and perhaps will be the first classroom in California to meet Passive House standards. It is also designed to meet and exceed standards for zero-net energy design, using building-integrated photovoltaic panels.

The program included remarks from Laney College President, Dr. Elnora Webb; Peralta Community College District Chancellor, Dr. Jowell C. Laguerre; Peralta Board President, Dr. William “Bill” Riley; VP, Peralta Community College District Vice Chancellor, Dr. Sadiq B. Ikharo; and BEST Center Principal Investigator and CTE Dean, Laney College, Peter Crabtree.

###

Thank you to those who participated in the Collaborative call: Career Video Distribution. A special thanks to Paul Flor and Ted Wilinski for being early adopters of the video and for sharing distribution experiences so far. The call was not recorded so here are quick notes on the ideas shared.

The Videos:

BEST Center produced a career video called “Building a Better Tomorrow”. The original version is available now to anyone in our network of colleges. This video runs about 6:38 and is meant for a more captive audience. Here it is: https://youtu.be/Ohti1aHHK7g

The videos can be customized with contact information and logos specific to your schools. Once created, the customized version can be downloaded as an MP4 file and/or hosted on the BEST Center Youtube channel as an unlisted link. The link can then be shared publicly.

If you would like a customized video, download and edit these PPT slides.

Send edited slides to info@bestctr.org.

The Distribution:

This video is an opportunity to educate and inspire prospective students and their families as well as administrators, counselors and program faculty and staff. It is a starting point and frames a broader perspective on the impact of your work in the classroom.

While the videos themselves are important, having a description and a call to action is also important. They help viewers understand what you want them to do after watching the video.

Here are some ideas when it comes to distributing your video to promote your school and program.

Paul Flor, Raritan Valley: Paul attaches the video link in email responses to prospective students and sends the video link to high school guidance counselors then offers to visit the high school to personally introduce his program to students.

Ted Wilinski, MATC: Ted added the video link to the bottom of his signature line and intends to leave it there to align with the timing of a rollout of a new program. He also screened the video at a Career Day where high school students visited the MATC lab. He asked the students to complete a 3 question survey to what messages of the video piqued their interest.  He also sent the video to MATC’s recruiting department to help them learn about it as well as throughout his department.

Pamela Wallace, BEST Center: BEST Center partnered with Laney’s Associated Student government for a screening of “This Changes Everything”. The career video was shown as a trailer beforehand. Associated Student President, Laney College President, BEST Center PI, and ECT Department head all addressed the audience and stayed for the screening. ECT and other faculty brought their students in for class credit. Also, we showed the video at the groundbreaking ceremony for the BEST Center building. We plan to hold another film night for local high school students and families and to show it at an upcoming open house.

Jeryll McWhorter, GPTC: Jeryll had a chance to show the video at a resource fair with a veteran focus sponsored by a local congressman.

###