Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) Center

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This project is developing the Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) National Center to support improvements in the field of building systems technician education. With the large scale transformation underway in the building industry, building systems technicians must be educated and prepared to manage the increasingly complex building automation and energy management systems now being installed or under development. The Center is: 1) creating a national network of industry advisors and research laboratories tasked with helping to define emerging industry skill requirements, validate model courses and curricula, and advocate for the mission of the Center to the larger community of industry stakeholders, 2) advancing the knowledge base of community college educators by providing opportunities and resources in the following priority areas: curriculum development, professional development, career pathway development, and dissemination of research, and 3) strengthening the national STEM pathway for educating building technicians and engineers starting in high school.Intellectual Merit: Educators are advancing their knowledge and understanding of this multi-disciplinary field through professional development workshops that present best practices in building system technician education. Students are benefiting from enhanced industry-validated curricula and well-honed instructional strategies, as well as expanded program offerings and hands-on labs. The Center is creating links to research from national laboratories and research institutions on its website to inform curricular improvements. The project is leveraging the work of other centers funded by the National Science Foundation, as well as Department of Energy-funded research and development activities.Broader Impact: The Center responds directly to research conducted by the Building Intelligence Group that identified broad workforce trends and gaps in training for building system technicians. The Center is providing professional development and resources to improve classroom instruction and learning, as well as disseminating information on research and new technologies developed by national laboratories.