Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) Center

该项目正在开发“面向未来可持续发展的建筑效率”（BEST）国家中心，以支持建筑系统技术人员教育领域的改进。随着建筑行业的大规模转型，建筑系统技术人员必须接受教育，并准备好管理日益复杂的建筑自动化和能源管理系统，现在正在安装或正在开发中。该中心的目标是：1)建立一个由行业顾问和研究实验室组成的全国性网络，帮助定义新兴行业技能要求，验证模型课程和课程，并向更大的行业利益相关者社区倡导中心的使命；2)通过在以下优先领域提供机会和资源，提高社区大学教育工作者的知识库：课程发展、专业发展、职业路径发展和研究的传播，以及3)加强从高中开始培养建筑技术人员和工程师的国家STEM途径。智力优势：教育工作者正在通过专业发展研讨会提高他们对这个多学科领域的知识和理解，这些研讨会展示了建筑系统技术人员教育的最佳实践。学生们受益于经过行业验证的强化课程和完善的教学策略，以及扩展的课程提供和实践实验室。该中心正在其网站上建立与国家实验室和研究机构的研究的链接，以通知课程改进。该项目利用了由国家科学基金会资助的其他中心的工作，以及能源部资助的研究和发展活动。更广泛的影响：该中心直接响应由建筑智能集团进行的研究，该研究确定了建筑系统技术人员培训的广泛劳动力趋势和差距。该中心提供专业发展和资源，以改善课堂教学和学习，并传播国家实验室研究和新技术的信息。

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.