Energy Efficiency Learning Lab and Excellence in Action Award

 In Fall 2019, the Facilities Management & Campus Operations Department (FMCO) received the inaugural Excellence in Action Award from the Urban Green Council for creating a Learning Lab focused on energy efficiency training.

The Weill Cornell Medicine’s Facilities Management & Campus Operations team is responsible for forty buildings spread across the city (most of which are located on the Upper East Side). These buildings have different energy use and needs. Research and patient care spaces are especially highly energy intensive due to process loads, high ventilation rates, and special pressurization. Due to this complexity, mechanics, and electricians must be trained in various equipment and energy conservation techniques. To faciliate the training, FMCO enrolled in the GPRO@Work™ program offered by the Urban Green Council and funded by the NYSERDA’s Building Operations and Maintenance Workforce Development and Training program.

Led by Angela Mu, Associate Director of Energy & Sustainability, and Michael Murphy, Senior Director of Facilities Management & Campus Operations, the Learning Lab project was designed to help the department meet its energy efficiency goals and to boost employee skills and retention through training, skill-building, and efficiency in daily operations. The result of this project was a space for FMCO staff to practice maintenance techniques on equipment, develop trainings, and deepen the culture of energy conservation and sustainability. The space was created by WCM mechanics and electricians who reused campus equipment as much as possible. The Learning Lab includes customized versions of two building management systems that connect to sample HVAC equipment, a fume hood like those found in WCM’s laboratories, and examples of daylighting and occupancy sensors, all to approximate real-life conditions.

The training framework developed as part of the program included topics such as communicating temperature standards with occupants, introductions to building management systems, tools use and maintenance, and troubleshooting HVAC systems.

Thanks to the GPRO@Work™ program and the created Learning Lab, the FMCO team achieved:

• 28 trainings attended
• 709 hours spent actively in training
• 11 new GPRO O&M certificate holders, in addition to 13 who were trained previously
• Staff participation increased by 90-95% annually, from approximately 50% in previous years
• 10% reduction in annual water consumption
• 5% reduction in annual electricity consumption
• 8% reduction in annual natural gas consumption in one building