ASHRAE Celebrates Incorporation of IEQ-GA
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Sherri Simmons
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ATLANTA (Oct. 15, 2019) – ASHRAE announced the incorporation of the Indoor Environmental Quality Global Alliance (IEQ-GA) as a legal entity. The announcement of IEQ-GA’s incorporation took place at a ceremony during the 40th AIVC conference, Oct. 15 in Ghent, Belgium.
The mission of the IEQ-GA is to promote and advocate for acceptable indoor environmental quality (thermal environment, indoor air quality, lighting and acoustics) for building occupants globally, while ensuring the knowledge from IEQ research is implemented in practice.
At the ceremony, the founding members celebrated with short speeches about the establishment of the alliance and presented its vision for achieving a healthy indoor environment in the building industry.
Founding members of the corporation are the Italian Association of Air Conditioning, Ventilation and Refrigeration (AiCARR), the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), the Air Infiltration and Ventilation Center (AIVC), the Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE), the Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (REHVA) and ASHRAE.
“We are inspired by the forward-thinking approach IEQ-GA has in the building industry,” said 2019-20 ASHRAE President Darryl K. Boyce, P.Eng. “It is critically important that we advocate for the well-being of the people who occupy our buildings. Through the collaborative efforts and resources of IEA-GA’s member organizations, we will continue to provide safe buildings for generations to come.”
The creation of the IEQ-GA was the result of a presidential initiative of Bill Bahnfleth, 2013-14 ASHRAE Presidential Member and current IEQ-GA Vice President, based on the report of a presidential ad hoc committee chaired by Bjarne Olesen, 2017-18 ASHRAE Presidential Member and current ASHRAE IEQ-GA Alternate Director. The committee was tasked with exploring ways in which industry groups could work together to address all aspects of indoor environmental quality and health.
A memorandum of understanding was established between the Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA), the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA), AIHA, AIVC, REHVA and ASHRAE to form IEQ-GA. AiCARR and ISHRAE later became members of the alliance.
“An important attribute of IEQ-GA is that it is a non-industrial alliance among societies representing members that promote IEQ” said Olesen. “The intent of IEQ-GA is to work with all partners of the value chain for indoor environmental quality including building research, comfort and health research, building design, installation, commissioning, operation and occupant behavior. Furthermore IEQ-GA will work with industry organizations to help their members to provide products and services that promote IEQ.”
The founding members represent professionals from various disciplines linked to indoor environment and are committed to work together and promote education, research and knowledge exchange at a global scale, to develop standards, codes, guidelines and advocacy of the general public in indoor environments around the world.
The IEQ-GA is currently seeking new members from all the involved sectors and disciplines to join forces. Sectors include architects, engineers, environmental professionals, industrial/occupational hygienists and health section specialists, among others.
For more information on IEQ-GA, visit https://ieq-ga.net/.
About ASHRAE
Founded in 1894, ASHRAE is a global professional society committed to serve humanity by advancing the arts and sciences of heating ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and their allied fields.
As an industry leader in research, standards writing, publishing, certification and continuing education, ASHRAE and its members are dedicated to promoting a healthy and sustainable built environment for all, through strategic partnerships with organizations in the HVAC&R community and across related industries.
For more information and to stay up-to-date on ASHRAE, visit ashrae.org and connect on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
About AiCARR
Since 1960, AiCARR (Associazione Italiana Condizionemento dell’Aria, Riscaldamento e Refrigerazione), the cultural network for energy efficiency, has created and promoted culture in the field of technological systems for production, distribution and use of thermal energy in both residential and industrial buildings (http://www.aicarr.org/).
About AIHA
The American Industrial Hygiene Association is the premier association of occupational and environmental health and safety professionals. AIHA’s 10,000 members play a crucial role on the front line of worker health and safety every day. Members represent a cross-section of industry, private business, labour, government and academia (http://aiha.org/).
About AIVC
The Air Infiltration and Ventilation Center is one of the projects/annexes running under the Energy in Buildings and Community Systems implementing agreement, within the context of the International Energy Agency. With the support of 17 member countries as well as key experts and two associations (REHVA and IBPSA), the AIVC offers the building sector, policy makers and research organisations technical support aimed at better understanding the ventilation challenges and optimising energy efficient ventilation (http://aivc.org/).
About ISHRAE
The Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, has over 12,000 HVAC&R professionals as members and additionally there are 10,500 Student-members. ISHRAE operates from over 40 Chapters (http://www.ishrae.in/).
About REHVA
The Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning associations was founded in 1963. It is an umbrella organization that represents over 120,000 HVAC designers, building services engineers, technicians and experts across 27 European Countries (www.rehva.eu).
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