On Monday, April 15, 2019, Steve Mummey, Boland's General Operations Leader, and Jessica Cremen, Energy Engineer at Boland, served as guest instructors at the University of Maryland's Sustainability Fundamentals class, geared towards graduate students in the College of Engineering.
The course addresses the fundamentals of sustainability for project managers, including best practices of modern sustainable construction and project management.
Commercial and residential buildings consume about 40 percent of the energy used in the United States. The course therefore emphasizes the application of the sustainable development standards to the built environment, including the practical operational aspects of sustainable facility project management.
The course works to move toward economic prosperity, environmental protection, and social equity, taking all three dimensions into account to achieve sustainability.
Steve and Jessica covered sustainability topics in HVAC systems, energy optimization strategies, energy management systems, and equipment life cycle analysis.
"This was a good way to give insight into the industry to students who haven’t left academia yet," Jessica said. "Personally, I enjoyed the public speaking practice."
Boland got involved in the class when the professor, Neil Schulman, reached out to Steve. They had first met while working with NAVFAC (Naval Facilities Engineering Command) on a project at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Later, by coincidence, Steve took two of Neil's graduate engineering classes at UMD. Sustainability Fundamentals happened to be one of them.
"Dozens of Boland associates are alumni of the University of Maryland. These alumni have helped Boland to become the premiere provider of sustainable solutions, optimal building performance, and industry-leading client service. Giving back to the University that has given us so much is the least we can do," Steve said.