EVENT ASHRAE SUMMER CONFERENCE
COME
SHAPE OF THINGS TO
Bill Bahnfl eth launched his ASHRAE presidential term at a lively Denver meeting with a call to join him in shaping the next generation of building systems. Tim Dwyer reports
T
his year’s ASHRAE summer conference was held in Denver, Colorado – the mile-high city (although the rarifi ed atmosphere had no
apparent moderating effect on the frenetic meeting). There were nearly 1,900 attendees, making it one of the largest ASHRAE summer gatherings for years. The meeting is used to launch the new ASHRAE president into his year’s tenure – this year, Bill Bahnfl eth from Pennsylvania State University. He opened his term with the intriguing theme of ‘Shaping the next …’ This was appended by: ‘our world’ – making buildings safe, healthy, productive, and in harmony with nature; ‘ourselves’ – relating to the human resource in the professional community; and fi nally ‘our work’ – transforming what and how we do our work, and who we do it with. Bahnfl eth is keen to encourage a
more divergent, broader and global, but collaborative, approach. This undoubtedly worthy aspiration sets him a tough agenda. He quoted Walt Disney – ‘The way to get
ASHRAE President Bill Bahnfl eth
started is to quit talking and begin doing’ – and his apparent tenacity may well deliver. As the new leader takes offi ce, his predecessor, Tom Watson, has an opportunity to refl ect on his year as president (see right). Watson has focused on developing ASHRAE’s links with the community and, in at least one instance, has demonstrated this by providing a toolkit for those wishing to set up ASHRAE community sustainability projects. The opening plenary session was more
muted than previously as, unusually, an inspirational speaker had not been engaged to galvanise the audience of more than 300. However, ASHRAE chief executive Jeff Littleton’s polished ‘state of society’ address hooked the crowd. He reported on a slew of new publications, including the most recent edition of what many regard as the fl agship of ASHRAE publications, the Fundamentals Handbook – a mammoth work that combines the input of 24 technical committees. He also announced free online access to the ASHRAE Indoor Air Quality Guide, at
iaq.ashrae.org. The sessions ranged from the practical application of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) technology to workshops on interpretation and application of building physics, and prophetic sessions exploring cutting-edge developments and research. This year, for the fi rst time, the
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CIBSE Journal September 2013
www.cibsejournal.com
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