A New Technician Training Program for Advanced Building Technologies

This project aims to prepare future Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration (AHR) technicians for the rapidly changing technological advances in Building Automation Technology. Knowledge and skills in Building Automation Technology are not included in traditional AHR training. This project intends to address a serious workforce shortage in AHR by training skilled technicians to install and maintain advanced building technologies. The project team will work with industry to develop educational materials, equip a new laboratory, recruit students into the Building Automation Technology pathway, and share best practices. Qualified Building Automation Technology technicians will serve the national interest by ensuring that buildings reach their potential energy efficiency, contributing to energy savings that have positive environmental impacts and national security implications. Properly implemented building controls, which students will learn in apprenticeships and in a new Building Automation Technology laboratory, will also improve occupants' productivity and health.

This project will create a new Building Automation Technology program to prepare students for new and high-demand technical careers. Goals include developing four new Building Automation Technology courses and a building technology laboratory to support the courses; providing faculty professional development opportunities; and recruiting new students into the program, especially women and underrepresented minorities. The project will work with the Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow Center and industry partners to ensure that the program will be aligned with industry workforce needs and will result in high quality educational resources, including a Building Automation Technology laboratory that emulates actual building conditions. The Building Automation Technology program will support life-long educational pathways including work-based learning, apprenticeships, and four-year options. Upon validation of the curriculum and laboratory best practices, materials will be disseminated across the North Carolina Community College System and through the Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow Center. This project will help inform the technical education community about effective practices for recruiting women and underrepresented minorities, implementing apprenticeship programs, and developing Building Automation Technology programs.