News Release: NSF Funded BEST Center Convenes Community College Faculty Nationwide to Advance Building Performance Education in Partnership with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center

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BEST Center 2016 Annual Institute Press Release (3350 downloads )

Oakland, California, December 18, 2015 – The BEST Center (Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow) will host community college faculty from 16 states at a 4-day Annual Institute to be held at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center and Laney College. The event will be held from January 6 – 9, 2016 and is organized by the BEST Center, a National Science Foundation (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Center of Excellence based at Laney College.

Day One will be at Berkeley Lab, an internationally recognized global leader in energy-efficient technologies and home to FLEXLAB™ the world’s most advanced building efficiency test bed. Faculty attending the Institute will tour FLEXLAB™ and hear about the latest research, technology and tools from leading scientists to improve their own curriculum and better prepare students on building efficiency and ultimately its contribution to the fight against climate change. The day will culminate with a presentation by Steve Selkowitz, Berkeley Lab Senior Adviser for Building Science.

Mary Ann Piette, Director of the Building Technology and Urban System Division and Director of the Demand Response Research Center at Berkeley Lab states, “We are thrilled to engage with the BEST Center’s network of colleges so that faculty in building science programs can benefit from the lab’s research in energy efficiency, providing them with tools, knowledge, and new approaches to train their students on managing buildings efficiently, promote new technology adoption by industry, and address building performance issues in the face of a changing environment.”

Day Two of the Institute will be at the UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center (EEC), where faculty will learn from experts about research and emerging technology from Western Cooling Efficiency Center, California Lighting Technology Center and Center for Water-Energy Efficiency. The visit will include a tour of the UC Davis West Village, the Zero Net Energy Community so faculty can see first-hand the future trend to new living communities where efficiency and comfort are in balance. The day will conclude with a tour of a ‘living lab’ at Sacramento City College where students learn through manipulation of environmental controls of the building they are occupying.

Days Three and Four of the Institute will be at Laney College and focused on synthesizing the content from the previous days and how it translates to developing skills required by tomorrow’s high performance building technicians which have evolved to include computer proficiency, analytical thinking and the ability to understand the interrelationships between building systems to manage high performance buildings.

Peralta Community College Chancellor, Dr. Jowel Laguerre believes that, “As the largest of the Peralta Colleges with 14,000 students, Laney illustrates stewardship in career technical education as demonstrated through the work of the BEST Center providing exemplary professional development programs for community colleges throughout the nation. This center will educate and train the workforce of the future and we are proud that Peralta is among the institutions exerting environmental and social leadership.”

Dr. Celeste Carter, National Science Foundation Lead Program Manager for Advanced Technological Education, (ATE) indicates that, “The BEST Center is leveraging the country’s centers of excellence in advanced technology by working with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California to share their expertise with faculty who are training our future workforce of high performance building technicians.”

The BEST Center is helping community colleges nationwide expand building technician education in residential and commercial HVAC and building automation control as their primary objective. Engaging science and industry furthers this goal by keeping educators apprised of cutting edge technology in their field. BEST Center also works actively to increase the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) pipeline of high school students coming into this field.

 
For more information go to: www.bestctr.org; www.laney.edu; www.nsf.gov; www.lbl.gov

 
Media Contact: Pamela Wallace, BEST Center Director
900 Fallon Street, Library 307
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 464-3248
pwallace at peralta.edu

News Release: Community College Faculty Nationwide Attend BEST Center’s Building Automation Workshop hosted at Siemens

Posted by & filed under Building Automation, News.

BEST Center BAS IV Workshop Press Release.pdf (3964 downloads )

 

Oakland, California, November 19, 2015 – Siemens and the BEST Center (Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow) located at Laney College and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) are bringing together community college faculty from 18 different states around the U.S. to attend a Building Automation Workshop at the North American headquarters of Siemens’ Building Technologies Division, located in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. These faculty members will learn about Siemens’ latest building automation control systems so they may better instruct students seeking to learn how to improve building efficiency and make a contribution to the fight against climate change.

Participants in this professional development workshop will tour a teaching lab at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Instructors will examine the types of HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and automation control system labs and equipment that best facilitate delivering building science curriculum. The skills required by modern building technicians have evolved to include computer proficiency, analytical thinking and the ability to understand the interrelationships between building systems to manage high performance buildings.

Peter Crabtree, Dean of Career Technical Education at Laney College and Principal Investigator for the BEST Center had this to say regarding the workshop, “We are pleased to assemble this group of instructors who can teach technicians not only how to manage high performance buildings but ensure that the buildings are safe and healthy environments that also maximize occupant comfort and employee productivity.”

It is estimated that up to 50% of the current skilled workforce is nearing retirement age. This creates a more urgent need to fill the impending gap of technicians qualified to manage over 6 million commercial buildings in the U.S. Dr. Elnora Webb, President of Laney College stated, “Collaborating with corporate partners like Siemens is a very effective way of leveraging funding by the National Science Foundation to expand the capacity of community colleges nationwide that are offering this type of vital training to help grow the nation’s building technician workforce.”

Steve Hoiberg, Global Education Market Manager for Siemens’ Building Technologies Division commented, “We are excited to share the latest innovations in building automation technology with community colleges so they, in turn, can train their students to apply these systems’ capabilities to the buildings they will soon manage. As buildings represent about 40% of this country’s total energy consumption, this is extremely important to mitigating the nation’s environmental impact.”

The BEST Center is helping community colleges nationwide build and expand building technician education in HVAC and building automation control as their primary objective. Engaging industry furthers this goal by keeping educators apprised of cutting edge technology in their field. BEST Center also works actively to increase the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) pipeline of high school students coming into this field.

For more information go to: www.BESTCtr.org; www.Siemens.com/buildingtechnologies

 

Webinar: Resources for Building Technician Educators

Posted by & filed under News.

“Resources for Building Technician Educators” Webinar now available.

 

On October 7th, the BEST Center hosted a webinar with HVAC Excellence that covered a lot of available resources for educators from finding advisers to web resources to available National Science Foundation (NSF) grants among others. The recording can be found on our video page. Here’s the link. Check it out. www.bestctr.org/videos/

Laney College Receives $3.5 Million National Science Foundation Award

Posted by & filed under BEST Center, News.

Laney College Receives $3.5 Million National Science Foundation Award: Goal to Create National Center for Building Efficiency Technician Education

 

(Oakland, CA – Nov. 20, 2012) Laney College and its partners recently were awarded a prestigious $3.5 million, 4-year Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grant from the National Science Foundation. Together with several other community colleges and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Laney will start up and lead the new Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) Center. The BEST Center is the first National Science Foundation center to be dedicated to building systems technology and operations.

The aim of the Center is to promote building technician education which improves energy-efficient and sustainable building operations in the United States. Technicians include building operators/ engineers and specialists in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC/R), lighting, controls, building automation, and energy management. Because homes and commercial facilities consume over 40% of energy used in the United States, technicians are vital for ensuring that buildings perform with comfort and reliability while reducing environmental impact and carbon footprint.

“The National Science Foundation award will allow Laney College to become a national hub for advocacy in this crucial area of climate change abatement through efficiency,” says Peter Crabtree, Principal Investigator and Dean of Career and Technical Education at Laney College. “Building technicians are becoming increasingly important agents of sustainability efforts. Having been supported by NSF for the past eight years to develop cutting-edge curriculum, we are honored to offer our expertise along with our partner institutions to make a significant impact in this country.”

To carry out its mission, the Center is partnering with a network of colleges from around the country. Key partners include Georgia Piedmont Technical College in metro Atlanta and Milwaukee Area Technical College. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley are also key partners. The Center will advocate for energy-efficient buildings, advance community college programs in building technician fields, work with businesses and research labs, and strengthen STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) pathways from high school to college. The BEST Center will develop and distribute educational resources, host instructor workshops, and support collaborations to meet the urgent need for skilled workers in sustainable building operations.

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Spring 2011 Bulletin

Posted by & filed under Network of community colleges.

 

Congratulations to all faculty on completing another school year!!
Here are some highlights from our members:

Northwest Mississippi Community College (Senatobia, MS)

– NMCC’s HVACR program is PAHRA-accredited and a member of the Council of Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Educators (CARE).

– The full-time instructors are NATE-certified, and Josh Buchanan and Whit Perry attended AHRI’s 16th annual Instructor Workshop in Lansdowne, VA.

– A new building will house the HVACR department, along with the Tool and Die & Welding programs. With additional space available, they hope to add some more advanced courses.

Whit Perry – Senior Instructor, HVACR Technology
Northwest Mississippi Community College
4975 Hwy 51 North; Tech 3 AC Shop
P.O. Box 5362
Senatobia, MS 38668
662-562-3888, wperry@northwestms.edu

Upper Valley Joint Vocational School (Piqua, Ohio)

 – The Applied Technology Center (Adult Ed) of the Upper Valley JVS in Piqua, Ohio, has partnered with HRAI Skilltech Academy to provide their students an opportunity for training and certification as Residential Mechanical Ventilation installers. The training is based on the National Building Code, ANSI/ASHRAE standard 62.2-2007 and 2008 Supplement and the CSA F-326 Standard “Residential Mechanical Ventilation Requirements.” At the conclusion of this course the students will be given the opportunity to take a certification exam.

Bill Tegeler – HVAC/R & Industrial Engineering Coordinator
Upper Valley JVS
8901 Looney Road
Piqua, Ohio 45356
937.778.8419, tegelerb@uvjvs.org

Georgia Piedmont Technical College (Clarkston, GA)

 – For its Building Automation program, GPTC has developed a distance-learning option combining live, online video lectures with multiple-day, intensive lab sessions on campus.

– To foster interdisciplinary collaborations, HVAC students work on projects with engineering majors as well as students and faculty from other campuses such as GA Tech.

Brian J. Lovell – Director, Sustainable Technologies Academy / Bldg.
Automation Systems
Georgia Piedmont Technical College
495 N. Indian Creek Drive
Clarkston, GA  30021
404-297-9522 ext. 1265, lovellb@dekalbtech.edu

Laney College (Oakland, CA)

 – Its Commercial HVAC major was accepted for articulation to Penn College of Technology’s B.S. program in Bldg. Science and Sustainable Design. Meanwhile, the new Building Automation Systems program became fully state-accredited in March and will articulate with Penn College’s Bldg. Automation Technology major as well as Bldg. Science and Sustainable Design.

 – Laney also hosted a national workshop for HVAC, building automation, and energy management instructors/coordinators, Jan. 6-7, 2011. Discussion centered around each school’s respective programs, developing industry partnerships, certifications & accreditations, and current trends in bldg. operations & the bldg. performance industry.

Guest attendees included Patrick Heeb (Long Beach CC), Rick Creed (Mt San Antonio College), David Schmidt (Mt. Wachusett CC), Angela Lewis (Building Intelligence Group), Fariborz Saniee & Keith Mueller (City College SF), Brian Lovell (DeKalb Technical College), Joanne Chu (GA State Univ.), Craig Barnett (LA Trade-Tech), Greg Jourdan (Wenatchee Valley College), George Berghorn, Sean Huberty & Stephen Vossler (Lansing CC); representatives from Laney included Dean Peter Crabtree, Nick Kyriakopedi (ECT Dept Chair), Barbara Widhalm, Larry Chang, Chuck Frost, Adan Rosillo, Hadley Hartshorn, Roger Goetsch, & Bruce Douglas.

 – The completion of the HVAC/R lab was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 21, 2011. Faculty, students, industry advisors, and Laney College president Dr. Elnora Webb toured the lab and discussed how best to move forward together with technician training both in and outside of the classroom.

Nick Kyriakopedi – Environ. Control Technology department chair
Laney College
900 Fallon St.
Oakland, CA  94607