Watt’s Happening

     What’s TEESS? It’s the Tennessee Energy and Environmental Spring Study 2001 taking place May 9 and 10 on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University!

    Good news. The Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers presents an energy expo about every two years, and it’s that time again. Previous expo events have been leading forums on best energy practices and well received by those who attended. The diversity and talent of the many presenters support AEE’s goals of helping its membership increase energy efficiency, utilize energy service options, enhance environmental management programs, upgrade facilities operations, and improve equipment performance. The last event was Energy Impact ‘99.

    This year, AEE is presenting the Tennessee Energy and Environmental Spring Study 2001 or TEESS. Not an expo with a "trade show" air, but a Spring Study-- a learning opportunity. AEE’s invitation to the event encourages participation from facilities professionals interested in energy-related design, management, and maintenance of their facilities. TEESS comprises two days of classroom instruction, peer exchanges, and vendor participation. TEESS is offering an opportunity to join in a comprehensive learning environment stressing applications over awareness.

    The two-day event, set for May 9 and 10 in MTSU’s Bragg Mass Communication Building, offers core courses for everyone to attend plus several elective courses on varied topics. The core courses are designed to promote awareness of the importance of communication among facilities people, education through best practices in capital maintenance management, and environmentally responsible sustainable design.

    Elective course choices include IAQ assessments and solutions, financing options for your energy projects, assessments and audits of your buildings, HVAC test and balance in energy projects, the importance of metering, and some of the hottest "whiz bang" technologies currently available. Local K-12 projects will be discussed by a panel of representatives from three Tennessee school systems, and the short-term/long-term outlook of the natural gas situation is among the workshop choices.

    The strength of this Spring Study lies in the importance of these subject areas in today’s challenging energy environment. Energy and facilities professionals are facing increasing challenges with design issues, maintenance problems, environmental and code concerns, and start up how-to’s, not mention out of sight energy costs. The TEESS offers a rare opportunity to meet with energy peers, to find out what others are doing, to learn, and to exchange information on these issues. This is a great chance to keep up with what’s pertinent to the ever-changing energy industry.

    Sponsors and vendors are encouraged to help make the TEESS a success by sponsoring at a gold, silver, bronze, or participating level, and also to register for the courses. Opportunities for unmanned vendor displays and established vendor assisted education sessions are available based on sponsorship levels. For gold level, space is available on the event website for sponsor logos and links to company information. Or events, such as lunches, breaks, or the reception, can be sponsored. For more information about sponsorship packages and opportunities, check the event website at www.mtsu.edu/teess or contact Kirk Whittington at (615) 837-0245 or Linda Hardymon at (615) 904-8096.

    It’s a new concept. It’s a learning opportunity. It’s the place to be May 9 and 10.

    Pre-registration is strongly recommended, and full registration entails the completion of three forms-- registration, course selection, and an occupational survey. All necessary forms are available on the event website at www.mtsu.edu/teess or by calling the Center at (615) 904-8096.

    The first of the three is the Spring Study Registration Form with name and payment information. Secondly, each registrant must pre-select their elective courses, indicating 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices on the Course Selection Form. Course placement will be assigned on a first requested basis. The third form to complete and submit is the Occupational Survey which will help AEE planners determine who is attending and how to focus the sessions.

    A bonus to pre-registration is saving money. So register before April 30 and save on the session fees. There is also a discount for AEE members.

    Don’t miss this unique opportunity. Register now.

The TEESS Agenda

www.mtsu.edu/teess/agenda.htm  

Strategic Space Planning

    Effective planning for organizational facilities expansion and use is usually considered desirable normal practice. However, in practice, the logical imperative to plan well often runs into practical and perceptual difficulties. A strategic space planning process, that effectively links all the sub-processes involving:

· definition of user and project requirements;

· design;

· construction;

· commissioning;

· post-occupancy evaluation;

· management, use, and maintenance;

· building/facility-in-use evaluation; and

· comparison with peers

in order to develop:

· knowledge of in-use performance and user satisfaction;

· lessons learned to feed forward;

· best practices to feed forward; and

· performance enhancements

is rarely seen in practice even partially. As a result we often hear claims that, despite desires and requirements for "quality assurance" throughout the construction industry, building standards are declining. Building performance evaluation experts have been heard to claim that the more experience they have with evaluating building planning and delivery practices and actual building performance achieved, the more they are convinced that what predominates today is a very irrational process.

There are many hindrances to attaining a strategic space planning environment that allows significant improvements to be made in how buildings and facilities are delivered and used. Fragmentation and isolation of the parties involved means there is limited participation in the learning moments of each sub-process, with resulting limits on communication of what could be learned and used to improve. Difficulty in translating experience to lessons learned and best practices also reduces the potential information available. Disincentives, combined with only limited incentives to improve, severely limit changes to "stuck in a rut" practices and processes. Since "no news is good news" in many instances, the ability to improve is crippled by both the weight of ingrained conformance to the status quo and the obscurity of not wanting to know any news that is not positive.

Without support for key activities that include some levels of monitoring, assessment, analysis and interpretation, continuous transfer of knowledge gained, and cementing the knowledge gained into organizational memory, transition from a typical space planning process to a truly strategic process is likely to be very slow.

Strategic space planning is a way to improve the rational basis for space planning, the overall quality of delivered facilities, and some level of continuous improvement in facilities already in use. Active assessment in all the sub-processes listed here, together with a commitment to transfer knowledge gained from assessment to practice, will lead to increases in the strategic nature of facility planning, delivery, and use. Quality, knowledge, and performance improve, so "Go Strategic!"

• Our staff is growing! In December, Rob Reasonover joined us as a project manager.

• Southface Energy Institute (Boone, N.C.) brought a great "Building the High Performance Home" workshop to campus in February. They plan to provide the commercial buildings version in June. Contact the Center if you are interested.

• Don’t forget Earth Day on April 23, 2001. Do something nice for your Earth.

• The TNAPPA Conference is scheduled May 23-25, 2001 at Tennessee Technological University.

• Send your comments, requests, or concerns to Watt’s Happening c/o the Center for Energy Efficiency.

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   Center for Energy Efficiency | MTSU Box 57 | Murfreesboro, TN 37132
Phone 615-904-8096 | Fax 615-904-8093 | e-mail cee@mtsu.edu

MTSU is a Tennessee Board of Regents Institution. MTSU is an equal opportunity, non-racially identifiable, educational institution that does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities.