William Valentine

William Valentine, ASHRAE 50 Year Member and president of Valentine, Fisher and Tomlinson until his retirement in 1980, passed away August 14, 2011.

Of all his engineering accomplishments, he was probably proudest of his work on the International Fountain for the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle. He was able to solve the problem of how to make the water, lights, and music perform together – without the help of computers. Friends still refer to that fountain as “Bill’s Fountain.”

The following obituary appeared in The Seattle Times on August 18:

William VALENTINE October 16, 1915 ~ August 14, 2011 William (Bill) was born in Seattle, attended Garfield High School and The University of Washington.He was the president of Valentine, Fisher and Tomlinson-a Consulting Engineering firm he established in Seattle until his retirement in 1980. He was preceded in death by his wife of 66 years, Flo Valentine. He is survived by his daughter, Kathy Valentine and partner Jani Stonington, son, Tom Valentine, brother, Robert Valentine. He also is survived by his granddaughter, Megan Valentine and nieces Linda McLaughlin, Sherry Gibb andPatty Valentine and nephew, Jim Valentine. A memorial service will be held Saturday August 20th at 4:00p.m. at Flintoft's Funeral Home,540 E. Sunset Way, Issaquah, 425-392-6444. Friends are invited to view photos, get directions and share memories in the family's online guest book at http://www.flintofts.com/.

Donations in Bill’s name may be made to Colie’s Closet, P.O. Box 18776, Boulder, CO 80301 which is an organization that deals with depression and suicide in youth or a charity of your choice.

D. J. "Dinty" Moore

D. J. "Dinty" Moore, who served as ASHRAE Puget Sound Chapter President in 1964, passed away August 23, 2011.

The following obituary appeared in The Seattle Times on August 27:

D.J. "Dinty" MOORE Dinty Moore passed away peacefully August 23, 2011. He was85 years old. Dinty was born April 6, 1926, on a ranch in Bozeman, Montana, overlooking the Gallatin Valley. He received the nickname 'Dinty' from a ranch hand when he was a child and could always be heard telling people that the real 'Dinty Moore Beef Stew' had horsemeat in it. Dinty graduated from Montana State College with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He married his college sweetheart, Nancy, in 1948 and was happily married for 50 years until she passed away in 1998 from diabetes. He spent the past 13 years missing her terribly. Determined that he did not like 'putting lines on paper' as an engineer, Dinty (a natural born salesman) founded D.J. Moore, Inc. in 1961. He spent 30 years building the business before gladly turning it over to his son so that he and his beloved Nancy could travel. He was a former president of the local chapter of ASHRAE and active in various United Methodist Churches in the Renton area. Dinty was a talented Euphonium player who played many years in the Renton City Band. He was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and active in Boy Scouts. He was a Lieutenant in the Navy. Most importantly, Dinty was a devoted and loving husband, proud parent, and selfless supporter of family. He is survived by his son and daughter, and their families: Randy and Shawn Moore and their sons Bryant, Kyle, and Tyler; Marilyn and Kerry Bunday and their children Eric, Susie, and Shelley. He is also survived by three great-grandchildren. He was much loved and is already missed. Dinty was a good, honest and caring man who had a wonderful 85 years full of life. His family thanks the staff and his friends at Lakeshore Retirement Center in Renton and is grateful for the loving care provided him by For Seniors Sake adult family home in Shoreline.

Contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Association, PO BOX 11454, Alexandria, VA 22312, a charity near to his heart.

https://donations.diabetes.org/site/Donation2?df_id=4362&4362.donation=form1&s_src=legacy&s_subsrc=obit&set.TributeFirstName=D.&set.TributeLastName=Moore
A graveside service to be held at a later date.

2010-2011 Chapter Volunteers Recognized at May Meeting

Chapter Officers, Board of Governors and committee chairs were recognized at the May meeting. These individuals, with the support of many other volunteers, made 2010-2011 a very successful year for Puget Sound Chapter.

Thank you for your service!

2010-2011 Chapter volunteers recognized at the May chapter meeting (L-R): Rand Conger, Honors & Awards Chair, Directory & Roster; Alan Burt, Chapter Treasurer, YEA Chair; Scott Schorn, Punch List Editor; Tamas Bencsik, Governor, PAOE Chair; Brian Wolford, President-Elect, Programs Chair; Jim Sinclair, Nominations Chair; Kathi Shoemake, TEGA Chair; Gary Robertson, Membership Promotion Chair; Leslie Jonsson, Past-President/Governor, Research Promotion Chair; Scott Sherman, Audit Committee Chair, Webmaster; Luna Michael, Chapter Historian; Michel Sotura, Governor, Receptions & Arrangements Chair; David Landers, Chapter President.

Obituaries: Past-Presidents Phalen & McFeron

As our 2010-2011 year comes to a close and we celebate Past Presidents of Puget Sound Chapter at our May 11 meeting, we pause to remember two leaders who have recently passed:

Richard Phalen
Chapter President 1981-1982

Richard C. PHALEN Born in Bremerton, January 18, 1939, to Dorothy Sidam Phalen and Lester C Phalen. Attended school in Bremerton and graduated from West High School in 1957. Received an Associates Degree in Engineering from Olympic Community College in 1959. Married to Barbara Crittenden in 1960. Surrounded by his family, Richard passed away on April 26, at age 72. He was a member of the Army Reserve from 1957 to 1965. At Paco Pumps he excelled as a Sales Representative and retired after 44 years. Richard was a long time member of the Association of Heating, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Engineers, where he served as president and was honored for his contributions. He enjoyed attending the symphony and other musical events, camping, hunting and fishing, trips to Alaska and Lake Chelan, and numerous family dinners and barbeques where he refined his skills as a chef. Richard is survived by his two daughters, Janis and husband John Wilds, Ginger and husband Jeff Chan, his sister Patricia and husband Edward Pieper, granddaughter Flora Wilds, nieces Vicki Koehly & Cindy Samson, and nephew Steve Pieper. Memorial services will be held on Monday, May 30, at 1:00pm at the Graham Visitors Center, Washington Park Arboretum, 2300 Arboretum Drive East. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Fare Start in Seattle, or the Seattle Symphony.

Published in The Seattle Times on May 1, 2011

Dean McFeron
Chapter President 1982-1983

SEATTLE, Wash. – Dean E. McFeron died peacefully on Wednesday (March 2, 2011), surrounded by his family, from injuries sustained in a recent fall while he was out for a walk on a beautiful day.

Dean was born on Christmas Eve, 1923, to Ruth and Wallace McFeron and was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, Victor, his sister, Carolyn, and his daughter, Phyllis Ann in 1970.
He is survived by his wife, Phyllis; sons and daughters-in-law, Dave and Lexie, Doug and Diane, and Don and Joey; grandchildren, Jesse, Scott, Katie, Elise, Shira, Erin, Ian, Colin and Devin; and great-grandchildren, Molly, Owen, Ryan, Lucy and one baby on the way.

The day after the end of World War II, Dean spotted a cute and lively Navy Wave on a train in New Jersey, introduced himself and married her soon after. They celebrated 65 years of marriage last fall.

He was a WWII Navy veteran and retired as commander. He received mechanical engineering degrees from the University of Colorado and the University of Illinois at Urbana, completing his doctoral studies at the UI where he was also an ME professor.

He moved his family to Seattle in 1958 to join the ME faculty at the University of Washington, served as chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department, and retired as professor emeritus of mechanical engineering about 30 years ago.

He was national president of Sigma Xi, a national officer of ASHRAE, and active in several other professional societies. He enjoyed skiing, was an avid sailor, and a great reader. He was a gatherer and decipherer of data and maintained an active interest in all things scientific.
The family extends thanks to the exceptional doctors and nurses at Harborview Medical Center ICU whose care of Dean and his family provided guidance, support and comfort during his last days with us.

Donations may be made to the Children and Family Ministry at UPC (4540 15th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98105) where Molly enjoys Sunday school, or Young Life NE Seattle (P.O. Box 19853, Seattle, WA 98109), a longtime favorite family ministry.

Published in The News-Gazette in March 2011.





Dean McFeron (standing)
and Dick Phalen (seated)
lead a Puget Sound Chapter
meeting in 1981

PSA Chapter History

Click on the image below to see a bit of our chapter history (it may take a little time to load):

Lloyd Lennart WALLSTROM, P.E.

Lloyd Lennart Wallstrom, Professional Engineer, was born October 25, 1921, in Seattle, WA. He passed away peacefully, following medical complications from a fall,on January 23, 2010, in Bellevue, WA. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 62 years, Betty-Jeane (Wesseler) Wallstrom, a brother, Ira C. Wallstrom, a sister, Rhoda K. Nyland, and a son, Bruce L. Wallstrom. He is survived by two sons, two daughters, ten grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. Lloyd spent his 38 year career with Bouillon Christofferson & Schairer in Seattle, WA. He was a Distinguished 50-Year Member of ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration andAir-Conditioning Engineers). He became a Fellow of ASHRAE in 1981 and participated in the writing of numerous ASHRAE Standards.

Meetings South of Seattle Are “Tradition”

This month’s tour of Weyerhaeuser’s Headquarters Building in Federal Way provides an opportunity for chapter members located south of Seattle to participate in an event closer to home. Meetings south of Seattle were highly attended forty years ago and even became a tradition, eventually culminating in the formation of Puget Sound Chapter’s Rainier Section.

Puget Sound Chapter meeting held at The Poodle Dog restaurant in Fife, November 4, 1968

In November 1968, ASHRAE members from the Tacoma area hosted a chapter dinner meeting at The Poodle Dog restaurant in Fife. Tacoma attorney James V. Ramsdell spoke on the legal liability of engineers. With 97 members and 8 guests attending the meeting, it was decided to make the event an annual tradition. A chapter meeting was held each year at The Poodle Dog from 1968 through 1972. These meetings featured a variety of topics, including a mechanical systems overview of the new (in 1972) 22-story Pacific National Bank Building in Tacoma which was fully air conditioned and featured a heat reclaim system.

“For years there has been a desire for the Tacoma ASHRAE members and non-members associated with the HVAC industry to have a more active participation with ASHRAE.”

--Punch List, October 1987

In October 1987, the monthly Puget Sound Chapter meeting featured a tour of the Tacoma Dome. Prior to the tour, a presentation on the design, negotiation, and construction of the facility was provided by Keith Davidson, mechanical design engineer; Sam Grubb, mechanical contractor; and Ray Laurendeau, owner’s representative. Equipment featured on the tour included the reciprocating water-cooled chillers (200 tons each), two electric boilers (4.1 million Btu/hr each), four centrifugal fans (100,000 CFM / 100 hp each), the ice rink chiller (four compressors at 100 hp each), three water-air heat pumps (42 tons each), and a “state of the art” controls and energy management system.

Puget Sound Chapter members tour the Tacoma Dome on October 14, 1987

Please join the “tradition” on April 23 by attending the tour of Weyerhaeuser’s Headquarters Building in Federal Way, a high-performance building conceived 40 years ago…a time when Puget Sound Chapter members could be found gathered at The Poodle Dog restaurant.

Puget Sound Chapter - 30 Years Ago

March 1978

Under the leadership of chapter president L.F. Laatz, another busy year was under way for the Puget Sound Chapter ASHRAE.

Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

These items were no less a topic of discussion than today. The March workshop focused on reducing energy consumption of large cooling systems. The evening program featured Charlie Stocker of Washington Natural Gas, who reported that the United States had developed a "mini" solar industry within three years time. The Solar Energy Industries Association reported 5,000 to 10,000 solar water heaters in operation and 300 to 400 structures receiving a portion of their space heating or cooling from the sun. Mr. Stocker demonstrated a new solar clothes dryer at the March meeting.

Frank Gallagher leads

songs at the March 1978

workshop

The Treasures of Tutankhamun

One of the nation's most popular traveling exhibitions came to Seattle in 1978. Seattle was one of five U.S. cities to host "The Treasures of Tutankhamun" (King Tut). The chapter's February social event featured a slide show by Grace Morgan of the Seattle Art Museum highlighting artifacts that would be on exhibit when the show arrived. The preview created such interest in the exhibit that chapter First Vice President Bob Wells arranged a special ASHRAE night at the King Tut exhibit from 11:00 PM - 12:00 AM on September 17, 1978. Admission price was $7.50 per person and 150 Puget Sound Chapter members and family/friends attended the viewing. When the Seattle showing closed in November 1978, The Washington Post reported "The 1,293,203 people who saw his exhibition prior to its Tuesday closing at Seattle’s art museum outnumber by more than two to one the population of that city."

Roderick R. Kirkwood Award

John Proctor was presented with the 1977 Roderick R. Kirkwood Award for his outstanding service to Puget Sound Chapter. His accomplishments noted in the March 1978 Punch List included raising sufficient funds in the 1977 ASHRAE Research Drive to rank Puget Sound Chapter as the second highest contributer in the nation. John was also recognized for serving two years as Punch List editor and for bringing advertising to the yearly roster, making it a profitable venture. John was also recognized for serving on numerous chapter committees and as banquet program director for the 1976 ASHRAE Annual Meeting held in Seattle.

History of February Social Events

Puget Sound Chapter’s February social event was started in 1970 with the first-ever chapter Valentine’s Party. The event was held at the Sea-First Bank Building with entertainment provided by the Seattle Sea-Chordsmen, members of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA). A Punch List article was quick to note this organization had a name longer than ASHRAE!

The Seattle Sea-Chordmsen provided entertainment at the first two February social events in 1970 and 1971.

Chapter “Sweethearts Night” February 1973

The second Valentine’s Party (1972) provided an encore performance by the Sea-Chordsmen. In 1973 musical entertainment was provided by the Sweet Adelines, a nationally known ladies chorus. In 1974, KOMO-TV newscaster Rod Chandler presented his film A Journey to Changing Russia.

Many socials in the 70s and 80s simply consisted of cocktails, dinner, and dancing. However, notable guest speakers included Jean Enersen, KING-TV 11 PM news co-anchor (1976) and University of Washington professor Angelo Pellegrini (1979) who spoke on “Wine in American Life”. It was noted in the Punch List that Dr. Pellegrini was one of the first to urge Americans to accept wine as the appropriate dinner beverage (thus making him an appropriate speaker for the ASHRAE dinner event).

February socials have also consisted of tours including Ste. Michelle Winery (1985), Seattle Aquarium (1988), and the Museum of Flight (1993). Other social events have included a dinner cruise on The Spirit of Puget Sound at Pier 70 (1991, 92). Mystery Café “Set Your Dial to Murder” (1995), and the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train (1996).

In 2007, the chapter elected to use the annual social meeting time as a volunteer opportunity by helping the Mountains-to-Sound Greenway pot plants for future reforestation efforts. This was an extremely successful event with a large turnout of Puget Sound Chapter members and families. This new tradition will be continued in 2008 with a volunteer day at the Washington Park Arboretum, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM, Saturday, February 23.

Jeff Sloan inspects the work of Chapter President Tim Burns at the 2007 Puget Sound Chapter February Social Volunteer Activity. A new tradition that will be repeated this year at the Washington Park Arboretum on February 23.

January Meetings of the 1970s

1970 – Boeing 747 Assembly Facilities
Bayne Lamb, Director of Facilities – Boeing 747 Division, provided an overview of Facilities Department operations at Everett over dinner at the plant cafeteria. Following the presentation, a factory tour was conducted during normal second shift operation. This was one of the highest attended chapter meetings in Puget Sound Chapter history, with more than 190 guests pre-registering for the event.

The meeting is touted as one of the chapter’s best in history, with attendance exceeding 190, in the February 1970 Punch List (left).

Chapter members dine at the Boeing Everett plant cafeteria (left) prior to Mr. Lamb's presentation and a plant tour during normal second shift operations.

1971 – Cancelled Due to Snow
Don Owens and Bill Erdelyi were scheduled to discuss performance and operations of the Seattle First National Bank Building on January 12, but inclement weather resulted in cancellation of the meeting. This was to be a preview of their upcoming presentation at the Advanced Air Conditioning Course underway at the University of Washington.

Punch List promotion of the January 1971 chapter meeting that didn't occur.

1972 – Community Colleges vs. Four-Year Degrees
In conjunction with Student Night, Rix Mallonee of Shoreline Community College spoke on “Technical Education for Our Industry”. Mallonee discussed the importance of “hands on” engineering, pointing out that community colleges teach their students what a bolt looks like, while the University of Washington no longer required drafting for an engineering degree, resulting in good engineers who do not know hardware. Mallonee stressed the importance of ASHRAE sponsorship for student chapters at community colleges.

This cartoon appeared in the January 1972 Punch List in anticipation of the lively conversation expected at the upcoming meeting.

1973 – Naval Surface Effect Ships
Joe Sublett of Aerojet-General Corporation spoke on surface effect ships and Aerojet’s two major contracts to develop a 100-ton rigid sidewall ship and a 150-ton amphibious air cushion vehicle.

Social hour at the 1973 chapter meeting

1974 – Draw-Thru vs. Blow-Thru Systems
James Tilbury of Mammoth Division, Lear Siegler Inc, presented an energy consumption analysis of Draw-Thru versus Blow-Thru multi-zone systems. According to the February 1974 Punch List, Mr. Tilbury, “armed with slides, graphs, and appropriate responses from John Proctor of Proctor Sales”, delivered a graphic presentation showing that while blow-thru units reduce first costs, draw-thru systems provide significant operational savings at part-load operation.

Excerpt from the February 1974 Punch List touting Tilbury’s dynamic presentation.

1975 – Threshold Limits of Exposure
Pete Preysse and Dick Hibbard from the University of Washington spoke on National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health exposure limits for 35,000 known toxic chemicals used in industrial processes. The presentation covered design standards for controls and monitoring devices, as well as Mr. Hibbard’s rationalization as to why he still smoked.

Pete Preysse discussed exposure limits for known toxic chemicals.

Dick Hibbard discussed design standards and rationalized his smoking habit.

1976 – Design Considerations for Alaska
J. Donal Krocker spoke on unique design considerations in the 49th state. For example, low solar angle and continuous solar heat gains during long summer days results in greater air conditioning needs in Anchorage and Juneau than Eureka, California. Mr. Krocker also discussed strategies for dealing with permafrost.

J. Donal Krocker emphasizes that Alaska is still the untamed land it was when Robert Service penned “The Cremation of Sam McGee”, and that although we’ve become more sophisticated, some projects are still shut down when winter sets in.

1977 – Economic Outlook for the Year
Edward McMillan, Sr. Vice President and Chief Economist of Rainier National Bank, discussed the economic outlook for 1977 with an emphasis on new construction. In summary, McMillan claimed “on balance, considering all factors, it’s pretty hard to interpret what we’re looking at as anything but a quite favorable outlook”.

Edward McMillian
Sr. Vice President and Chief Economist
Rainier National Bank

1978 – Variable Air Volume System Fan Control
Dick Querns of Cambridge Filter Corporation discussed flow measuring stations, extraction of control signals, and use of these signals to control fans in VAV systems. Querns also spoke on area pressurization control and constant volume control systems.

Dick Querns
Western District Sales Manager
Cambridge Filter Corporation

1979 – Reversible Reactions for Heat Storage
Dr. Eckart Schmidt of Rocket Research Co. discussed thermal energy storage and transmission systems for solar energy utilization, explosive stimulation of geothermal steam wells, and inflatable safety system “air” bags.

Members attend the January 1979 chapter meeting.

Puget Sound Chapter - 40 Years Ago

December 1967

A Single Fuel for the Built Environment

Forty years ago, the December chapter meeting topic was “Total Energy Systems” and focused on the use of a single fuel for the built environment. The guest speaker was Frank Gething of Cleaver-Brooks Company’s Heat Recovery Division. Frank, who learned power systems as a British Royal Navy Engineering Officer during World War II, discussed combining engine-driven generators with exhaust heat recovery and ebullient engine jacket cooling to provide on-site electric power, heating, and cooling.

Frank Gething

Cleaver Brooks Co.

Heat Recovery Division

1967

Puget Sound Chapter History Published by Founding Members in 1967

The written history of Puget Sound Chapter had its beginning in 1962 with Chapter President Rod Kirkwood’s appointment of former presidents from the merged Pacific Northwest Chapters of ASHVE and ASRE to record their first-hand experiences of the formation of each predeceasing chapter, and their merger into Puget Sound Chapter ASHRAE. The committee consisted of Carl Anderson, Charles Hall, Clarence Pangborn, and Ernie Weber. This history was published in a series of Punch List articles in 1967-68.

Chapter history has since been amended, but is not fully up to date. Puget Sound Chapter history is viewable on the chapter website at http://www.pugetsoundashrae.org/history.htm. If you have an interest in continuing the tradition of maintaining our chapter’s history, preserving artifacts in the chapter library, or researching historical installations of HVAC&R systems in the Puget Sound region, your assistance is greatly needed. Please contact David Landers, Chapter Historian, at 425-456-2381 or david.landers@pse.com.

Ernie Weber

1929 President

Pacific Northwest Chapter

ASHVE

Charles Hall
1950 President
Pacific Northwest Chapter
ASRE

Clarence A. Pangborn

1950 President

Pacific Northwest Chapter

ASHVE

Not Pictured: Carl Anderson, 1946 President, Pacific Northwest Chapter ASRE

Photos from Fall 1967 Chapter Meetings

Puget Sound Chapter’s Focus on Energy Efficiency & Sustainability – 30 Years Ago

Puget Sound Chapter’s November 2007 meeting will feature ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer Ron Jarnagin speaking on net zero energy buildings. ASHRAE’s leadership and Puget Sound Chapter's participation in promoting energy efficient and sustainable design is not new.

Members of Puget Sound Chapter have shown leadership in energy efficiency at the local and national level for more than 30 years. The following is a brief glance at chapter activities regarding energy efficiency and alternative energy, as told by Punch List newsletters of the 1970s.

Going into the Energy Crisis

Sept 12, 1973 - “Energy conversation (and that word is not misspelled) is all there is today” said Erlinger Hallanger of Honeywell’s Building Automation Division. As speaker at the September meeting, Hallanger said “we need to get building energy use out of the talk stage and into some definite action”. He commented that “the control industry is primarily a bunch of hardware peddlers bidding on specs which result in only minimum performance”. While our past solution has been to find more energy, Hallanger claimed that it is now time to get better energy use by improving the design of HVAC and lighting systems and integrating their control. Hallanger pointed out that future sources of energy, except the breeder reactor, are very vague. Geothermal energy is available only in some very small areas, and solar energy has the very real problem of storage.

Addressing Impending Legislation

May 15, 1974 - At the May chapter meeting a panel representing members from both ASHRAE and IEEE discussed impending energy legislation. The forum was titled “Design and Evaluation Criteria for Energy Conservation in New Buildings, or The Octopus and You”. Panelists agreed that legislation was imminent at all levels, from local building codes to national policy, and the regulatory octopus could entangle us all. The panel concluded by calling for support to the technical committees providing guidance for legislation.

Panelists representing ASHRAE and IEEE admit "the regulatory octopus could entangle us all" in their discussion of impending energy conservation legislation at the May 1974 Puget Sound Chapter meeting.

Nov 15, 1978 - Bob Johnson, Chairman of Puget Sound Chapter’s Energy Committee, and other members of the committee presented a review of the City of Seattle’s proposed energy code at the monthly workshop to a standing room crowd.

Bob Johnson, Chairman of Puget Sound Chapter Energy Committee, addresses a standing room only crowd at the November 1978 workshop regarding the City of Seattle's proposed energy code.

Puget Sound Chapter members receive news about the proposed City of Seattle energy code at the November 1978 workshop.

Evaluating Alternative Resources

Sept 10, 1975 - “Wind Energy Machines and Application” was the meeting topic presented by Robert Wilson, professor of mechanical engineering at Oregon State University. Professor Wilson spoke of the $12 million in federal funding allocated to wind power research in 1975. He indicated expensive gearing units and short rotor life were major drawbacks to wind energy being an attractive form of alternative energy. According to Dr. Wilson, the maximum useful life of a rotor set was 1,500 to 5,000 hours. At the end of his presentation, price lists for several wind turbine units were distributed, along with calculated cost per installed kilowatt and according to the October 1975 Punch List, “bargains were missing”.

100 kW Experimental Wind Turbine Generator Display
Board from 1975.

Source: NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nov 12, 1975 - The monthly chapter meeting topic was “Design Criteria for a Residential Solar Heating System” presented by Harry Kier of Solarthermics Corporation. Kier indicated “the solar heating industry is in a similar condition today as that of the auto industry prior to the arrival of Henry Ford”. His presentation focused on a “solar furnace” that would store collected energy in a compartment containing 25,000 pounds of washed rocks. In Seattle, the solar furnace would provide an average daily output of 135,000 Btu.

Harry Kier, of Solarthermics Corporation, discusses the advantages of using a “solar furnace” for supplemental heating of Seattle residences.

The SUNPOWER solar heating unit presented by Harry Kier, could provide heating for 3-5 days, even when the sun wasn’t shining, by storing energy in 25,000 pounds of rock.

Source: Puget Sound Chapter ASHRAE Punch List, Dec 1975.

Conservation Becomes a Resource

Sept 15, 1976 - Gordon Vickery, Superintendent of Seattle City Light discussed Energy 1990, a study conducted at the direction of Seattle City Council to identify Seattle’s energy needs through the year 1990. Consisting of eleven volumes and weighing 27 pounds, Vickery said “it created more controversy, I guess, than questions it was supposed to answer”. Vickery discussed Seattle City Light’s involvement with three nuclear plants and two alternative hydro projects, High Ross and Copper Creek. Regardless of the new sources of energy, Vickery said “the big thing that we are going to bank on and it’s gotta be one of the great gambles of all time, ah, as I said somewhere once, the City Council with the audacity of a river boat gambler has decided we are going to take a different course, and I hope it works because I think it’s right, and I’m talking about conservation”.

35 Years Ago: Puget Sound Chapter 1972

Beginning in September 1972, the normal Puget Sound Chapter meeting location was changed to the AGC Building on Westlake Ave. The price of dinner was increased to $5.50, but free parking and 8-oz. top sirloin steaks on the menu kept complaints to a minimum.

A Lively Crowd Gathers During the Social Hour at a 1972 Puget Sound Chapter ASHRAE Meeting

1972-73 Meeting Topics

• Trends & Developments in Construction Manager Contracts
• Sizing Control Valves for Hydronic Systems
• Total Building Automation
• Contractor Use of Computers (see below)
• Navy Surface Effect Ship
• Rod Chandler, KOMO Television
• Northwest & National Energy Problems
• Variable Air Volume Systems
• Computerized Building Automation

Before the Internet and Chapter Blogs…

For rapid communication, a telephone committee was established to contact one member from each page of the 1972-73 Roster & Directory who would then call all remaining members listed on his page. The Punch List article announcing this plan asked “when will ‘Ma Bell’ come up with a computerized call system for this sort of thing?”

To reduce cost overruns, dinner meeting reservations were started in 1972 with a postage-paid reply card included in the Punch List. Those who waited too late to mail the reservation could phone in a reservation by calling AT 4-1424.

Reception Committee members Dick Phalen (later to become Chapter President, 1981-82) and Joe Schauff put away dinner receipts for safe keeping after a precise prediction of meeting attendance from the new meeting reservation system.

Contractors' Early Use of Computers

The December 1972 meeting topic was "Contractor Use of Computers". Bob Bowlin (a recent panelist at the September 2007 Puget Sound Chapter meeting on commissioning) and Dwight Specker discussed advantages of using computers on the job.

It was noted “the vast unknown and lack of faith” make many contractors and engineers wary of computer use. However, both presenters discussed the tremendous time savings from using their computer for administrative tasks such as client billing and pay-roll as well as for engineering load calculations.

The presenters highly recommended the WANG computer, at a cost of $5,000 to $20,000 depending on selected add-on features.

An early-70s era WANG computer system