A Workshop for Educators in Energy Efficiency
held on June 25-26, 2009
University of California, Davis
The Energy Efficiency Center at UC Davis was pleased to host a workshop for graduate and undergraduate educators in energy efficiency from the U.S. and abroad.
Background
Most climate mitigation strategies—and many business strategies to regain profitability—rely on more efficient use of energy. The demand for expertise in efficient energy use is growing and likely to continue growing in the foreseeable future. These experts will play key roles in government and business.
However, even though demand for efficiency skills is increasing, students cannot prepare for these new jobs by simply enrolling in classes; there are only a few scattered courses around the country. Most people learn about efficiency on the job.
Universities are responding to this shortage by establishing new courses and re-structuring existing courses so that students in graduate and undergraduate programs are able to acquire the necessary and critical skills and knowledge base necessary in energy efficiency. These programs, courses, and internships are still disorganized, often without clear objectives. This workshop was an initial attempt to help provide a platform for discussion, develop a network of educators and facilitate a dialogue amongst academics working in this area.
Workshop Goals
Educators concerned with introducing the concepts of energy efficiency to graduate and undergraduate students gathered to exchange information and ideas on curriculum, resources and strategies. The long-term goal was to establish a consensus on how to introduce this new, cross-disciplinary topic into university programs. Although energy efficiency concepts are already taught as a subtopic in existing, on-going courses that address traditional tropics (such as engineering, economics, or architecture), they have not yet, except for a few rare cases, formed the basis for a series of new courses focused specifically on energy efficiency.
The short-term goals of this workshop were to explore collaborative opportunities for developing curricula, textbooks and other resources to facilitate education of energy efficiency within a university setting.
What Was Discussed?
Some of the topics for discussion are listed below:
- What are the key concepts in energy efficiency that need to be taught?
- What existing courses have an energy efficiency component? How is it being integrated into traditional courses?
- Should efficiency and renewables be taught in the same course?
- What should a textbook on efficiency include?
- Should there be a masters degree program offered in energy efficiency?
- How can we better link efficiency to closely related courses in energy forecasting, utility economics, heat transfer, and environmental science?
- Is it critical to establish a network of efficiency educators?
For a complete summary of what was discussed at the workshop, see the link below.
For Further Information
Please contact Alan Meier at akmeier@ucdavis.edu