OT-88-08-3 -- Improving HVAC Education — A Case Study PDF

There is great concern in the HVAC industry that HVAC education has been neglected at academic institutions. A workshop on research needs in HVAC systems was held in February 1986 under the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation, The National Society for Professional Engineers, ASHRAE, and others. The major needs identified by the participants included improving HVAC education in the nation’s universities, increasing the level of cooperation between industry and academia, updating design data bases, developing new methods for sizing and performance evaluation of mechanical systems, integrating computer usage in HVAC systems design, providing more research support for control systems in dynamic systems behavior, and encouraging the design and use of expert systems for building control.

The authors have realized the problems mentioned above and have undertaken steps to alleviate some of them. This paper reports in part on these efforts as well as on the authors’ experiences regarding HVAC education.