Development and Validation of Smart Building Technology Modules for Academic and Professional Education

Smart building technologies can improve building energy efficiency and resilience, reduce carbon emissions, and provide load flexibility to the grid. However, in both college curricula and building professionals' continuing education, there is a lack of systematic instruction on smart building technologies.

Slipstream, partnering with Texas A&M University (TAMU), the Society of Building Science Educators (SBSE), and the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), developed a semester-long smart building curriculum for college students and 16 training videos for building professionals and the general public.

This report describes the project approach, provides outlines of the training materials, along with links to resources, and identifies lessons learned in creating the content. We also suggest ways to scale the instruction of smart building concepts to empower the workforce to accelerate the adoption of smart building technologies in the real world.

Learn more about the project and see the video series at our Smart Buildings Technology Education page.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Building Technologies Office (BTO) under the Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) – 2020, FOA# DE-FOA-0002196, Award Number DE-EE0009703.