The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and U.S. Department of Commerce announced selections for three Centers for Building Operations Excellence that will receive a total of $1.3 million to create and deploy programs aimed at training and expanding current and incoming building operators. The centers are part of the Obama administration’s Better Buildings Initiative, which is working to improve the energy efficiency of America’s commercial buildings 20 percent by 2020, with the potential to reduce American business’ energy bills by approximately $40 billion per year.
“Improving energy efficiency in business and manufacturing is critical for helping American businesses keep costs down and stay competitive in the global economy,” said Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. “The first step is ensuring we have well-trained buildings and facilities operators that know how to boost building performance and keep commercial facilities from wasting energy.”
The three Centers for Building Operations Excellence will work with universities, local community and technical colleges, trade associations, and the Energy Department’s national laboratories to build training programs that provide commercial building professionals with the critical skills they need to optimize building efficiency while reducing energy waste and saving money. The DOE and Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technologies’ Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP) are jointly funding the centers.
“These federal grants are an example of the Obama administration’s commitment to investing in cutting-edge, job-creating technologies that save money and improve energy efficiency as part of an all-of-the above approach to American energy,” said Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank. “These centers will help ensure that American workers have the skills they need to remain globally competitive in a 21st century economy.”
The Centers for Building Operations Excellence, chosen through a competitive grants process, utilize multi-organization partnerships and support from local and state governments. The selected centers are:
· The Corporation for Manufacturing Excellence in California, partnering with Laney College and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 39;
· Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center in Pennsylvania, partnering with Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania College of Technology, and Drexel University; and
· New York State Department of Economic Development in New York, partnering with City University of New York and Rochester Institute of Technology.
The Better Buildings Initiative program creates opportunities for current and future facilities staff of all levels to obtain valuable skills that support a clean energy economy. Specifically, the funding announced today will help the three centers develop curricula and pilot training programs for building operators, managers, and energy service providers, focusing on building re-tuning, energy management, and building operations in commercial, industrial, and educational buildings. The training will outline steps building operators can take to reduce energy consumption, save money and drive continuous improvement in a broad range of commercial buildings.
To learn more about the Better Buildings Initiative, visit http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/betterbuildings/. To learn more about NIST MEP’s work to support manufacturers nationwide, visit www.nist.gov/mep.
Related Stories
| Jul 18, 2013
LEGO takes on the iconic Sydney Opera House
This September, LEGO will expand its LEGO Creator Expert series with a 2,989-brick model of the iconic Sydney Opera House.
| Jul 17, 2013
Top Multifamily Construction Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Lend Lease, Clark Group, Balfour Beatty top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest multifamily contractors and construction management firms in the United States.
| Jul 17, 2013
Top Multifamily Engineering Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
STV, URS, AECOM top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest multifamily engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the United States.
| Jul 17, 2013
Top Multifamily Architecture Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
IBI Group, Niles Bolton, Perkins Eastman top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest multifamily architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the United States.
| Jul 17, 2013
CBRE recognizes nation's best green research projects
A rating system for comparative tenant energy use and a detailed evaluation of Energy Star energy management strategies are among the green research projects to be honored by commercial real estate giant CBRE Group.
| Jul 17, 2013
Should city parking space requirements be abolished?
Some cities are deliberately discouraging construction of new parking spaces by allowing the construction of buildings with a lower ratio of parking spaces to dwellings (as low as 0.75 spaces per residence).
| Jul 17, 2013
Retail store openings at five-year high
Analysis by RBC Capital Markets shows that U.S. retailers are planning to open 42,757 stores over the next 12 months, and some 83,700 locations over the next two years, both five-year highs.
| Jul 16, 2013
Amid single-family housing’s comeback, rental market not skipping a beat [2013 Giants 300 Report]
As the economy recovers and homeownership becomes a realistic option for more consumers, will it spell the end of the multifamily sector’s hot streak? The experts say no.
| Jul 16, 2013
As the U.S. economy sputters back to life, contractors wait for the green light on projects [2013 Giants 300 Report]
There are enough positive indictors in the economy to justify greenlighting projects, but building owners and developers remain reluctant to pull the trigger.
| Jul 16, 2013
Robotics: A new way to demolish buildings
A robot prototype uses water jets to break up concrete structures and then sucks up the water and debris for reuse and recycling.
