ASHRAE Insights

Region I

Connecticut Chapter held a dinner presentation on power line harmonics: their cause and control. A tech session on variable-speed energy savings in HVAC theory, application and pitfalls was also held. Both programs were presented by Ken Fostad, Danfoss Drives… Long Island Chapter sponsored a field trip to Newsday Auditorium. Timothy McGarry Sr., Manager of Plant Operations and Joseph Marino, manager of Facilities Engineering, led the tour which included seeing the newspaper printing press systems and related support areas necessary to produce the final product.

Region III

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, city councilman James F. Kenney and other Philadelphia leaders spoke to ASHRAE, DVGBC and other associations at an event sponsored by the Pennsylvania Environmental Commission and organized by Philadelphia Chapter. The Commission presented a report identifying the relatively slow rate of Philadelphia’s Green Building growth when compared to peer cities…Roanoke Chapter hosted student night. Scholarships were presented to students from Virginia Western Community College and Virginia Military Institute. Steven Heiser of Mitsubishi Electric conducted a program on variable refrigerant flow.

Region IV

Atlanta Chapter held its semiannual product show. The event featured new products from top vendors in the Atlanta area. Steve Tom, director, Automated Logic Corporation, presented an educational seminar entitled Controls Interoperability: What Is BACnet ® and How to Specify It. The presentation featured an overview of BACnet, describing some of the problems BACnet was designed to overcome, as well as some of the problems it was not intended to address. Amanda McMahan, a recent UGA grad and former officer in the UGA chapter, made a presentation called What I Wish I Learned In School (Beyond Engineering). The talk presented an opportunity for students to hear from a recent grad about life in the real world.

Region VI

Distinguished Lecturer Tom Werkema addressed global climate change, both the “knowns” and the “unknowns” at the LaCrosse Chapter meeting. In addition to his presentation on global climate change, he also shared the current status of international Kyoto Protocol negotiations, U.S. voluntary programs, current U.S. state and federal initiatives, European Union Commission-derived programs, member state programs, Canadian programs, and their possible impacts on U.S. industry. The Minnesota Chapter held the first Young Engineers of ASHRAE event on March 5. The group of over 20 ASHRAE members under the age of 35 met at the Intermediate District 287 South Education Center in Richfield, Minn. Project engineer Paul Dvorak, formerly of TSP Engineers, led a tour of the facility and discussed the unique mechanical design and systems used to pursue LEED ® certification for the facility. The facility features a geothermal central plant system with displacement ventilation, chilled beams, energy recovery ventilation systems and infloor heating. The facility also pursued extensive daylighting and lighting control to reduce electrical lighting loads. Following the tour, Ross Nelson of Harris Mechanical Contracting led a presentation on where the Minnesota Chapter is headed with YEA and the group shared some pizza and had an opportunity to mingle with other event attendees.  

Region IX

Kansas City Chapter sponsored a tour of the Johnson County Sunset Office Building, including a presentation on the building design and energy-efficiency features. The Sunset Office Building was the first LEED ® Gold-certified building in Johnson County and only the second in the state of Kansas… The Student Chapter at the University of Nebraska—Omaha (UNO) presented a program at the monthly meeting of the Nebraska Chapter. Two of the students presented an overview of their masters projects. As part of this meeting, three scholarships of $1,000 each were presented to students at UNO with a fourth scholarship in the same amount being presented to a student at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln…The Rocky Mountain Chapter held their 16th Annual Technical Conference, “Engineering for Sustainability.” Attendees could attend any of the 24 lectures and discussions. The conference set a new record with over 250 registered attendees and vendors. Over $25,000 was raised at the event for ASHRAE Research.