The International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL), and Laney College in Oakland, California, a National Science Foundation-funded Building Efficiency for a Sustainable Tomorrow (BEST) Center, are collaborating to identify education and training needs and strategies for high-tech facility operators. Through our interactions with industry stakeholders on multiple occasions, it is apparent that available education and training paths do not adequately address the increasingly complex knowledge and skills needed to operate and maintain high-tech facilities. Compared to commercial facilities, environmental health and safety liabilities and worker risks are much greater, the building energy use intensities are higher, and the building occupant needs are more volatile and complex. With many more high-tech facilities being created and their energy and sustainability performance requirements becoming more stringent, we expect an even greater shortage of qualified building technicians for high-tech facilities.
I2SL and Laney College together developed a survey to gain the opinions and expertise of high tech facility managers, operators, and others as to whether specific types of training and a certification for high-tech facility professionals are warranted. Please take the survey at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/high-tech-O-M
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
2009 Judging Panel
A Matthew H. Johnson, PE Associate Principal Simpson Gumpertz & HegerWaltham, Mass. B K. Nam Shiu, SE, PEVP Walker Restoration Consultants Elgin, Ill. C David P. Callan, PE, CEM, LEED APSVPEnvironmental Systems DesignChicago D Ken Osmun, PA, DBIA, LEED AP Group President, ConstructionWight & Company Darien, Ill.
| Aug 11, 2010
Inspiring Offices: Office Design That Drives Creativity
Office design has always been linked to productivity—how many workers can be reasonably squeezed into a given space—but why isn’t it more frequently linked to creativity? “In general, I don’t think enough people link the design of space to business outcome,” says Janice Linster, partner with the Minneapolis design firm Studio Hive.
| Aug 11, 2010
BIM school, green school: California's newest high-performance school
Nestled deep in the Napa Valley, the city of American Canyon is one of a number of new communities in Northern California that have experienced tremendous growth in the last five years. Located 42 miles northeast of San Francisco, American Canyon had a population of just over 9,000 in 2000; by 2008, that figure stood at 15,276, with 28% of the population under age 18.
