Mr. Taneja holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, Master’s degree in Control systems and a Ph.D. degree in Systems Sciences and Operations Research from New York University. He is a licensed professional engineer and active in power generation and distribution, sustainability, energy-efficiency, innovative technologies, operations and maintenance issues.. Om has been active in discussing facilities, sustainability and energy-related issues at various professional organizations. He has been an Associate Professor at Kean University of New Jersey, Dean of HVAC/Facilities Management Divisions at Technical Career Institute and periodically takes adjunct teaching assignments in Building Systems. He organized All Day Seminars every year on important sustainability, commissioning, benchmarking & O&M issues in greater New York City area. . Om has presented more than 40 technical and management papers at different national and international conferences.
Dr. Taneja has more than 35 years of diversified experience in the area of design, construction, operations and maintenance of large facilities, including the United Nations Headquarters, General Electric Headquarters, US General Services Administration and a 17 years in the Infrastructure Development for hospitals, court houses and varied commercial, industrial and historical facilities. He was the Chief of Planning, Design & Overseas Properties, at the United Nations Headquarters, New York for 12 years, where he had the responsibility for coordination and management of facilities, security and technology implementation for the United Nations Headquarters and Overseas Properties worldwide. At the United Nations he had the supervisory responsibilities for the Architecture & Engineering Unit, Office Space Planning Unit, environmental and budgetary issues. He also worked as Senior Engineering Manager for long range capital improvements plan for the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, and Refurbishment of the Rockefeller Center for General Electric & National Broadcasting Company. Mr. Taneja has recently been the “Director of Manhattan Service Center” for the United States General Services Administration where he managed the Federally owned and leased Properties with diverse and growing portfolio of assets and with emphasis on greening, energy and water efficiency, analytics, technology adoption, alternate work space designs, emergency preparedness and improved operations, and maintenance.
Dr. Taneja was a student Member of ASHRAE starting in 1970 and has been a full time member of ASHRAE since 1976. He was nominated ASHRAE fellow in 2015. He has served on different Chapter and Technical Committees and has been a Member of the Board of Governors of ASHRAE NY Chapter since the year 2002. He was the Program and Student Committee Chairman and President of ASHRAE NY Chapter during 2008-2009. Thereafter, he was the “Regional Vice Chair” for Student Activities for ASHRAE Region 1. He served as a “Distinguished Lecturer” for ASHRAE for FY 2012-2014 and 2016-18 conducting seminars on technology adoption, smart buildings, transformation of facilities management, operations, maintenance and staff development.. In addition to being a Board Member of ASHRAE NY, Mr. Taneja was also a Board Member of the USGBC, New York Chapter which has lot of synergies in partnering with ASHRAE towards Energy Efficiency & Sustainability issues. He has been an active member of ASME, IFMA and USGBC.
Interest on relevant technologies is to help improve operations of infrastructure and buildings during “Normal and Emergency” situations as well as to allow a quicker reconstitution of spaces, equipment and technologies after emergency situations. This requires metering, sensors. remote monitoring and analytic tools for data monitoring and compilation, managing energy and water use, benchmarking, retro-commissioning and reporting. Innovations in HVAC systems that can help improve performance should be explored, such as, ductless cooling, “demand controlled ventilation", “dedicated outdoor air systems", “chilled beams”, “variable refrigerant flow unitary systems”, “geothermal heat pumps”, magnetic bearing for chiller compressors, wireless sensor networks for data centers, solar heating and cooling systems, and adaptive Building Energy Management systems. Greater use of Energy Analytics, Internet of Things (IoT) and collaboration with IT system administrators can help dynamically tune up or down the building operating parameters, based on occupancy, time of day, and other human, environmental, and business considerations.
This talk presents how to face challenges that could affect timely projects delivery of energy efficiency and smart buildings projects. Measures required for facility managers to face such challenges and maintain a balance between energy savings, safety and IAQ are having measurements and verification tools along with proper operator training. Innovative HVAC systems and technologies can create innovative problems. Facility managers need a tool kit incorporating networked "smart building technologies employing smart sensors, smart meters and facility automation systems" with analytics, diagnostic and fault detection capabilities. Information provided by such a technology enables discovery of leaking valves, stuck dampers or degrading equipment performance early to solve the problems before they become serious. Training of O&M staff with structured classroom and on the job training targeting energy efficiency, safety, occupant health and comfort and changing workplace needs is indispensable. US “Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act” is a good resource for developing the training program, inclusive of both the technical and soft skills of customer intimacy, behavioral changes and timely communications
This talk presents as to why the future of facilities is going to be governed by how effectively we can transform facilities planning, design and operations from short-term payback type decision-making to longer-term decisions based on business case for sustaining buildings with improved economic, environmental and social performance. The industry needs to develop well trained and motivated facilities leaders and operating and maintenance personnel who have the vision, the tools, measurements and verification devices to bring strategic improvements.
Buildings’ Mechanical, Electrical systems, including Chiller plants, cooling towers and fan rooms are heavy users of energy and water. These systems offer an enormous opportunity to transfer the sustainable technologies and practices on a large scale and help transform the marketplace. Having trained O&M staff involved from concepts stage through construction motivates them to adapt actions and changes to better satisfy customer needs and provide operational excellence to sustain high performance over the life cycle of systems and buildings.
Across the high performance buildings industry, unrealistic performance goals have come from, among other things, inadequate modeling and benchmarking practices, unreliable monitoring and equipment controls and significant changes in space usage and tenant improvements. This talk discusses the application of analytical, performance & prescriptive codes measures for life cycle assessment of resource efficiency projects which can help in making adaptive changes to buildings systems to suit changing uses, or other internal and external factors that affect performance.
This presentation first focuses on the extent and scope of structured classroom and on the job training to promote the life-cycle mix of preventive, predictive and reliability-centered operations and maintenance “Best Practices”. Traditional “Best Practices” need to be modified and strengthened for high performance buildings. It further emphasizes progressive efforts required for transforming existing and new buildings into “Smart Buildings” by installing sensors, smart meters and building automation systems and normalizing data. Use of Green Procurement, recycling program, regular sensor and equipment calibration, tracking and computerized maintenance management systems targeting reliability, safety, occupant comfort can facilitate meeting the goals
This talk provides the analytical, performance & prescriptive measures for life cycle assessment of resource efficiency projects which can help in making adaptive changes to buildings systems to suit changing uses, or other internal and external factors that affect performance. This paper outlines a framework for making a life-cycle qualitative or quantitative analysis of facility systems or projects so as to guide the decision-making process by cradle-to-grave total impact analysis.
Bridging the gap between great intentions in design and construction, toward building performance at the desired levels, is a major challenge. This presentation outlines some approaches for promoting an improved team approach for design, commissioning, systems turnover and periodic tune-ups to ensure that performance is restored to original design parameters. Field measurements of performance and understanding operational problems can lead to adaptive changes and can increase accountability amongst the design, build and buildings management groups.
Will include:
- How to manage and operate High Performance Smart Buildings
- An Approach to Facilities Operational Improvement
- Integrated Measurements, Operations & Maintenance Practices for High Performance Buildings
- Integrated Measurements, Operations & Maintenance Practices for High Performance Buildings
- Bridging the Knowledge, Technology and personnel Gap for High Performance Buildings
Will include:
- How to manage and operate High Performance Smart Buildings An Approach to Facilities Operational Improvement
- Integrated Measurements, Operations & Maintenance Practices for High Performance Buildings
- Integrated Measurements, Operations & Maintenance Practices for High Performance Buildings
- Bridging the Knowledge, Technology and personnel Gap for High Performance Buildings
- How to manage and operate High Performance Smart Buildings
- Specific steps to Facilities Operational Improvement
- Integrated Measurements, Operations & Maintenance Practices for High Performance Buildings
- Specific industry feedback steps for Bridging the Knowledge, Technology and personnel Gap for High Performance Buildings