ATLANTA – A standard set to be a game changer in the industry was introduced at ASHRAE’s 2010 Winter Conference, while work continued on other programs and standards that will help the Society build a more sustainable future.
Some 2,500 people attended the conference, held Jan. 23-27, in Orlando, Fla. Also taking place in conjunction with the meeting was the Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition, which attracted nearly 45,000 registered visitors and exhibitor personnel. The Expo featured an 8 percent registered visitor increase from the last show in Orlando in 2005 and a new record for the Southeast. Other highlights included 1,823 exhibiting companies representing 29 countries and 206 first-time exhibiting companies covering 354,013 net square feet or more than eight acres.
The ASHRAE conference offered a technical program with more than 100 sessions, 22 educational courses and numerous social events. The meeting also featured more than 600 meetings of technical, standards and standing committees, developing guidance for the future of the industry and ASHRAE.
“These are exciting times,” ASHRAE President Gordon Holness said. “The industry reaction to our Building Energy Quotient program has been very positive. We are happy to have such distinguished partners as the General Services Administration join with us in piloting the program. The long-awaited Standard 189, which was published at the Orlando conference, will have a tremendous impact on the industry. In my travels this year, there has been much excitement about moving forward toward greater energy efficiency. As U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu told us last year, ‘energy efficiency isn’t just low hanging fruit; it’s fruit laying on the ground.’ The time has come for truly sustainable buildings.”
The biggest buzz at the conference centered on publication of the green standard from ASHRAE, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America and the U.S. Green Building Council. Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, is the first code-intended commercial green building standard in the United States. The standard provides a long-needed green building foundation for those who strive to design, build and operate green buildings. From site location to energy use to recycling, this standard will set the foundation for green buildings through its adoption into local codes. Learn more at www.ashrae.org/greenstandard.
Other conference highlights included the technical program, with its theme of Building Sustainability from the Inside Out, featuring more than 100 sessions. The most well-attended sessions were How to Assess the Performance of Sustainable Buildings, Standard 189.1 Overview, Enhanced Dehumidification Strategies with Energy Recovery in a Hot Humid Climate, High Performance HVAC Systems in LEED Platinum Projects: A Selected Showcase, Noise and the Mechanical System Design Process and High Density Cooling Issues Update. More than 400 people attended the technical plenary session addressing H1N1.
In addition, the two-part Standard 189.1 Overview seminar can be viewed for free at www.ashrae.org/greenstandard. The seminars are part of ASHRAE’s first-ever Virtual Conference, which provides access to more than 250 presentations and PDFs of posters. Register or access presentations at www.ashrae.org/OrlandoVirtual.
Also offered were the ASHRAE Learning Institute’s five Professional Development Seminars and 17 short courses. The most popular courses were Successful Solar Applications, Using Standard 90.1 to Meet LEED Requirements, The Basics of a Proposed Standard on High-Performance Green Buildings, Designing toward Net-Zero-Energy Commercial Buildings, Determining Energy Savings from Energy Efficiency Projects: Applying IPMVP and Guideline 14 to Performance Contracting and LEED, and District Heating and Cooling.
The Conference also served as the launch of ASHRAE’s newest certification program, the Building Energy Modeling Professional certification, with 62 candidates taking the exam. As building owners and developers become increasingly concerned about rising energy costs and potential obligations under climate change programs, building energy modeling helps provide a preview into a building’s likely energy use and allows decisions affecting energy use to be made before a shovel even hits the ground. The new certification ensures that professionals modeling a building’s energy use have the skills necessary to produce an accurate model.
Top selling publications included Standard 189.1-2009, The 2009 Pocket Guide and newly published books including the Indoor Air Quality Guide: Best Practices for Design, Construction and Commissioning; the Energy Efficiency Guide for Existing Commercial Buildings: The Business Case for Building Owners and Managers; and Dampers and Airflow Control.
ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is an international organization of some 50,000 persons. ASHRAE fulfills its mission of advancing heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education.
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Editors Note: Photos from the meeting can be obtained by contacting Jodi Scott at jscott@ashrae.org or Amanda Dean at adean@ashrae.org.
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