There is a need for systems design in HVAC education but there is a serious lack of qualified faculty, who are for the most part trained in research. A partial answer is for interested faculty to spend a sabbatical year working in and learning from the HVAC system-design community of professionals. The author undertook such a sabbatical with a prominent consulting engineering firm in a major city. Describes what was learned on the sabbatical and the resulting curriculum improvements that were made, it also makes recommendations for other faculty who might wish to pursue this approach. There are definite advantages to the firm, the college, and the professor in using a sabbatical arrangement in this way. Curriculum improvements that were made include the addition of a senior systems-design laboratory that uses a modified case study approach. Perhaps more surprisingly, recommendations were made for improving the basics as well, which include the addition of a senior course in fuels and combustion.

KEYWORDS: building services, designing, education, engineering, universities.