Page 1 Developing a Next-Generation Community College Curriculum for Energy-Efficient...

Developing a Next-Generation Community College Curriculum for Energy-Efficient High-Performance

Building Operations

Peter Crabtree, Peralta Community College DistrictNick Kyriakopedi, Laney College

Evan Mills, Philip Haves, Roland J. Otto, Mary Ann Piette, Peng Xu, Rick Diamond, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Joe Deringer, The Deringer GroupChuck Frost, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Outline

• Need for new skills• New curriculum• Approach to education • Computer-based education tool• Articulation with high schools and 4-year

colleges• Testing and dissemination

Need for new skills

• Growing awareness of operational problems • Operators and service technicians in front line • Community colleges the main source of education• Need to update ‘traditional’ curricula:

— controls— troubleshooting— commissioning

• Partnership:— Perralta Community College District— LBNL— The Deringer Group

• NSF-funded project

Focus group - I

Focus Group Participants (N=42)

Manufacturers, Installers and Service Contractors

Building Owners,

Operators and

Managers

Designers and

Consultants

Education

Utilities; Government;

Research

Focus group - II

Trades Represented

Refrigeration Equipment & ServiceResidential Design & ServiceEquipment ManufacturerMechanical ContractorControls Sales & ServiceCommissioningEnergy ManagementBuilding Owner; Facilities ManagerEngineering and SpecifyingEducators

New curriculum - I

Technical Skills: • Basic building science: physics and math and

theory of how buildings work• Information technology and networking• Diagnosing and trouble-shooting problems • Control system programming • Sustainable design - green buildings• Performance measurement and analysis • Safety and risk management

New curriculum - II

Business Skills: • Working with people, reporting, etc. • Economic and financial analysis (including

assessment of non-economic benefits)• Communicating analyses and recommendations

to decision makers • Critical thinking• Problem solving

Educational approach - I

Problem-based learning:

• premise: learning more effective in context

• employers provide ‘real world’ problems –

complexity and ambiguity are pluses

• students work in teams to solve problems:

— define actual problem

— identify information and other resources

required

— almost no lectures

Educational approach

Concept-based learning:• Assignments due before class• Use text books etc for majority of

learning• Use class to fill in the gaps• Use personal response system to

pose simple problems that test concepts – lecture, discuss or move on depending on response

Combine problem-based learning, concept-based learning and computer-based educational tools

Computer-based education tool - I

Simulation-based tool, based on SPARK:• Understand the operating principles of HVAC

system components• Diagnose basic equipment problems at the

component level• Use goal-oriented, problem-solving methods at a

systems level to find solutions to more complex equipment problems

• Focus on problem-solving methodologies in finding system

Software-only tool

Animationof system

Mouse overfor Status

VirtualInformationResourcefor Ņdrill-downsÓ

Simulationenginecomplexitycan behidden

‘Hardware-in-the-loop’ tool - I

Virtual Building/HVAC system Real Control System

AlgorithmsHardwareA/D

D/A +

SPARK + EnergyPlus

Virtual Building/HVAC system Real Control System

AlgorithmsHardwareA/D

D/A +

SPARK + EnergyPlusSPARK + EnergyPlus

‘Hardware-in-the-loop’ tool - II

Actuator

VAV box

Control signal

SupplyAir

PIDcontroller

roomT

Temp set-point

Room temp

P I D

A/D

D/A

Virtual Real

Control signal

Articulation with high schools and 4-year colleges

High school:• Parallel project to develop a high school applied

physics course • Inform and engage prospective college students• Most physical phenomena occur in buildings

4-year colleges:• Encourage bright students to move on • Universities welcome motivated students• Provide disadvantaged students with opportunities

Testing and dissemination

• Curriculum materials and computer-based tools to be tested:— Laney College— Other community colleges in CA

• Summer training programs for instructors• Materials and tools to be freely available and

widely distributed• Tools will be open source to encourage further

development and customization

Page 1 Developing a Next-Generation Community College Curriculum for Energy-Efficient...

Documents

Transcript of Page 1 Developing a Next-Generation Community College Curriculum for Energy-Efficient...