BEST Center supports publicly-funded colleges with programs in heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R), controls, building automation, and energy/facilities management.
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/
(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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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