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5 Things To Know From The 2017 ASHRAE Annual Conference

5 Things To Know From The 2017 ASHRAE Annual Conference

From eSociety, July 2017

By Mary Kate McGowan, Associate Editor, News

ASHRAE members and guests participated in technical paper sessions, committee meetings, and meet-and-greets during the 2017 ASHRAE Annual Conference. The conference, held in Long Beach, Calif., from June 24 to 28, propelled Society business and progress and highlighted ASHRAE members’ latest work in creating a more sustainable world.

Not every ASHRAE member could make the trip to California. Here are five things to know from the 2017 ASHRAE Annual Conference.

 

1. Incoming 2017-18 ASHRAE President, Bjarne W. Olesen, Ph.D., Fellow/Life Member ASHRAE, announced the formation of a new European Region and supporting agreements.

Olesen announced the creation of Region XIV in Europe during his inaugural address.

“By creating a new region and strengthening our relationships with associate societies in Europe, our members will be even more empowered to continue producing and sharing technical guidance worldwide. This will, in turn, bolster our industry’s global diversity as we work toward a more sustainable world,” he said.

Previously, the European chapters were housed in the Region-At-Large that includes parts of Africa and Asia. The Society is establishing the ASHRAE Global Training Center for Building Excellence in Dubai that will serve members and other building systems professionals in the Gulf Region and surrounding areas, Olesen announced.

The new region will be important for industry collaboration throughout Europe and comes with the addition of a new chapter in Ireland.

 

2. ASHRAE Announced its Leaders for 2017-2018

The 2017 Annual Conference ushered in new officers led by Olesen, who will also serve as a professor at the Technical University of Denmark and the chair of ASHRAE's Board of Directors and Executive Committee during his presidential term.  

Olesen announced his term’s theme, “Extending Our Community” during his inaugural address. He plans to focus on extending ASHRAE’s global community, overall value, and technological boundaries.

ASHRAE also announced other elected officers who will serve one-year terms in positions:

President-Elect: Sheila J. Hayter, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, Group Manager, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colo.
Treasurer: Darryl K. Boyce, P.Eng., Fellow ASHRAE, Assistant Vice President, Facilities Management and Planning, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ont.
Vice President: Michael Schwedler, Fellow ASHRAE; Principal and Senior Applications Manager, Trane Co., La Crosse, Wis.
Vice President: Ginger Scoggins, P.E., President, Engineered Designs, Raleigh, N.C.
Vice President: Edward Tsui, Managing Director, Intelligent Technologies Ltd., Hong Kong
Vice President: Julia A. Keen, Ph.D., P.E., BEAP, HBDP, Associate Professor, Architectural Engineering and Construction Sciences, Kansas State University
In addition, nine people were introduced as the newest ASHRAE directors. They will serve three-year terms, from 2017-2020. Meet the newest ASHRAE directors.

 

3. 111 ASHRAE members were honored for their work.

A total of 111 ASHRAE members were recognized for their contributions to further energy efficiency in the HVAC&R industry during the Annual Conference. The ceremony included 19 awards such as: the Louise & Bill Holladay Distinguished Fellow Award, given to an ASHRAE Fellow for continued preeminence in engineering or research work; and the Andrew T. Boggs Service Award, which recognizes an Exception Service Award recipient for continuing unselfish, dedicated and distinguished service.

 

4. BACnet Celebrates 30-Year Milestone

Thirty years ago, when ASHRAE Standing Project Committee (SPC) 135 had its inaugural meeting in Nashville, Tenn., the goal for the proposed "BACnet" standard was to achieve interoperability among DDC products for building automation, unlocking owners from a particular vendor. At that time, it was unsure if such a standard could ever be developed, how it would be adopted by vendors and finally requested by owners. With the initial publication of the BACnet standard in 1995, ASHRAE started assigning Vendor Identifiers, or Vendor IDs, to organizations implementing BACnet products. At the Annual Conference in Long Beach, the committee celebrated its 30th year and has just recently assigned Vendor ID 1,000.

 

5. Program Highlights

A total of 1,685 ASHRAE members and guests attended the 2017 Annual Conference including the diverse technical program. The Annual Conference’s technical program spanned four days and included 61 seminars, 20 conference paper sessions, six technical paper sessions, nine workshops, and six forums. The sessions focused on different aspects and specialties of the HVAC&R industry such as Net Zero Energy Buildings, refrigeration, Standards, and Building Life Safety Systems.

The top three attended sessions were all seminars. The most attended seminar at the 2017 ASHRAE Annual Conference was “Best Practices for Employing VRF Systems,” which 180 people sat in on. The “Smart Buildings, Smart Cities” and “Designing, Operating, and Living at a Net Zero Energy and Net Zero Water Building” seminars were the second and third top attending sessions with 161 and 150 participants, respectively.

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