HVAC 360 - Episode 031 - ASHRAE Chicago 2012

In this episode of HVAC 360 I talk about the recent ASHRAE Winter Meeting I attended in Chicago. Specifically I cover the ASHRAE rebranding, their new website, and touch on a couple of the technical sessions that I sat in on. 

A couple of the links that I talk about are:

ASHRAE.org

ReTuning.org

There is just a whole host of material and presentations at the Re-tuning website so take some time to look around.

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HVAC 360 - Episode 030 - ASHRAE Virtual Conference

The week I talk with Dennis Wessel, the chair of ASHRAE's Conference and Exposition Committee, about the Virtual Conference that occurs along side the Winter and Summer meetings.  I try to cover everything that a potential attendee might want to know, from signing up to length of access.  Compared to other virtual conferences, I feel this one is really well done, combining a fresh and broad choice of sessions and even some way to ask questions to the presenters.  I even like Dennis's idea of having a firm purchase a corporate access to the conference and use it as a in-house lunch and learn series.  This is really the next best thing to being at the conference and for a lot of professionals really the only viable option.  For more information about this conference and previous conferences check out this link:

ASHRAE's Virtual Conference Page

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HVAC 360 - Episode 026 - CIBSE President Andy Ford

The week I'm talking with the President of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, Andy Ford. As engineering is an international endeavor I wanted to voyage away from North America to give a broader perspective as to British Engineering and its institutions.  I really enjoyed talking to Andy and getting to know a little bit about him and his background.  If you wanted to find out more about the Insitution you can find it at www.cibse.org .  Or if you want to get in touch with Andy himself you can do it by emailing him at andy.ford [at] mottmac.com.  If you like this episode please forward a link to it to your friends or co-workers.

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HVAC 360 - Episode 025 - Indoor Environmental Quality

For this week's episode I talk with Robert Bean, an Indoor Environmental Quality and Energy Consultant about Indoor Environmental Quality. We talk about the difference between IAQ and IEQ, along with some of the codes that surround this topic.

If you would like to learn more about the code side of things you can get that info at the ashrae.org website or following these links:

ASHRAE Standard 55-2010

ASHRAE Guideline 10-2011

If you are interested in touching base with Robert Bean, you can email him at info [at] healthyheating.com or just visit his site www.healthyheating.com .

On a housekeeping topic, I would like to thank my friend Kris for pointing out the audio distortion in my previous podcasts.  Although my original recordings were clean it seems that the final conversion to the mp3 file format got distorted.  I have now found a work-around for this and I hope you enjoy the change.  Thanks for the feedback Kris!

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In Memory of Lynn Bellenger

Today, it was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of our immediate past president, Lynn Bellenger.  I had the great privilege of interviewing Lynn a couple months back, a few weeks after she had talked with our local chapter.  She had a great passion for engineering and that came through in the way she represented herself and ASHRAE, she will be truely be missed.

My deepest sympathies go out to her family.

The following is a statement issued by ASHRAE public relations:

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Immediate past ASHRAE President Lynn G. Bellenger, who served as the first woman president in the Society's 116 year history, passed away Wednesday, Oct. 19. She was president for the 2010-11 Society year, with her term ending in June 2011.

Bellenger, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, was a recognized expert in energy management, with a strong focus on the need for energy modeling to help create and refine more efficient buildings. She was a partner, Pathfinder Engineers & Architects, Rochester, N.Y.

"We at ASHRAE are greatly saddened by the death of our former president and our friend," Ron Jarnagin, ASHRAE president, said. "Her lifelong passion for engineering excellence resonated within our membership and our industry, inspiring us through her belief that engineers will lead an energy revolution with innovation. Through her service, she showed that there is a path available to all who wish to extend the influence of engineering principles to better serve the world we live in."

As ASHRAE president, Bellenger focused on Modeling a Sustainable World, sharing her thoughts about the role of modeling tools and how all involved in the built environment industry must come together to take advantage of "the rich opportunities for optimizing building performance through a collaborative approach from the beginning."

In an interview last year, Bellenger talked about her involvement in energy efficiency and how much has been put in recent years on the need to save energy.

"One of the cool things about the sustainability movement is that it has ignited a passion in people that is changing the world. That passion has brought a sense of energy and excitement to the industry and attracted people who are committed to designing and operating sustainable buildings. I don't see that changing in the future," she said.

Bellenger is a recipient of an ASHRAE Exceptional Service Award, a Distinguished Service Award, two first-place ASHRAE Technology Awards and the Lincoln Bouillon Membership Award.

She received a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Principia College and a Master of Science in environmental science from Rutgers University.

Funeral arrangements are private.

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HVAC 360 - Episode 019 - David Underwood

In this episode I go international, talking to Canadian David Underwood.  David is a professional engineer, a retired owner of a sucessful business practice and an ASHRAE fellow.  We learn from him his story in engineering, how he started and some wisdom that he can share with our listeners.  If you like this episode, let me know and share it with a friend or two.  Have any suggestions? Drop me a line at matt (at) buildingx.co .  Enjoy the show.

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HVAC 360 - Episode 014 - ASHRAE 189.1 with Dennis Stanke

In this episode we talk with current chair for ASHRAE's 189.1 committee regarding the current status of the standard and what to expect in the future.  If you're not familiar with ASHRAE's lastest "Green" Standard give this episode a listen.  Also feel free to pass on the episode to others that may find this material useful.

As with last week's podcast here are some quick links that hopefully should help you.

Here's a link to the ASHRAE 189.1-2009 standard at the ASHRAE Bookstore.

Here's a link to the ASHRAE 189.1-2009 User's Manual at the ASHRAE Bookstore.

I looked and didn't find anything specifically about 189.1 training. So I would suggest contacting ASHRAE directly for the next available training session. If you would like help, please contact me, and I will see what I can find out.

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Until next time know what you build, and share what you know.

HVAC 360 - Episode 012 - Lynn Bellenger

Finally the wait is over!  A new episode and with an ASHRAE President none the less!

In this episode of HVAC360 I am talking with Lynn Bellenger, ASHRAE President for the 2010-Lynn Bellenger2011 society year.  In addition to the recent Building Modeling Summit in Atlanta this past spring, we talk a little bit about how her Presidential year was going and how she became involved in the engineering field.  One of the pieces of advice that had been given to her when she started still holds true, "If you want to be in the HVAC profession, then you need to be involved in ASHRAE."  I couldn't agree with this more.  All over the world building owners are looking to ASHRAE to provide guidance for an energy efficient future and I'm proud to see ASHRAE not shying away from such an important task and such a critical juncture.

As I get this podcast ramped back up please feel free to send me any show suggestions or comments.

 

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How do I join the ASHRAE Chapter in Nigeria?

This was a question that I had posed to me a few days ago, so I did some digging.  As some background the society of ASHRAE down at a chapter level is grouped into Regions.  There are 13 numbered regions and one Region-At-Large.  This Region-At-Large in general includes: Africa, UK, Ireland, Middle East, Europe and Western Asia, and specifically it includes ASHRAE Chapter #187 Nigeria, located in the city of Lagos.  With no webpage currently available I had two ways of getting the contact information for my friend, namely contacting ASHRAE directly or talking with the Director of the Region-At-Large.  Both ways were very successful and responsive.  So here are some fun facts about the ASHRAE Nigeria Chapter.  It was registered with the Society in 2009 and the Chapter was inaugurated in March 2010 at the Sheraton Hotel, Lagos. As at March 2011, they have 135 members and 18 students.If you need to contact them, their official email address is:  ashraenigeria@gmail.com

Also another word about joining ASHRAE.  You need not belong to a chapter to belong to this international society of over 50,000 professionals, but upon signing up you will be assigned to the nearest one.  I have always been a strong believer in the networking at a local ASHRAE chapter thought, so I would carefully select a chapter that makes sense to you.  Also there are typically two fees that can be associated with joining a local chapter.  First are the fees that you must pay for the society membership (note that registration and payment can be done conveniently online).  The second fee would be associated with the local chapter to cover operating expenses and possibly meals.  This second fee would need to be paid directly to the chapter when you first sign up (along with any registration paperwork, this varies) but after the first year members may be able to send in all fees to society (although I do not know how that works internationally) but contact your local chapter to make sure.

The new Green Standard - ASHRAE 189.1

Dusting off my notes from my January trip to Las Vegas for the ASHRAE Winter Meeting I came across a session with Past ASHRAE President Kent Peterson talking about Standard 189.1.  This is ASHRAE's Green Standard which has recently published it's user manual.

The big news about this standard is that it's written in a codified language, which means that it is enforceable by code officials, and it is meant for high performance buildings.  

Now before I go any futher let's back up two steps so that I can paint a broader picture.  ASHRAE's superstar standard has long been 90.1, which governs the minimum energy code compliance. It too is also written in codified language and has been updated on a three-year cycle (2001, 2004, 2007, 2010).  It wouldn't be stretch to say that this code is the least that an engineer could design to without breaking the law (a little food for thought). But ASHRAE has also been raising the bar on standard 90.1 with each new version.  

Now that we have talked about the minimum bar for all buildings let's move on to the minimum bar set for High Performance Buildings, Standard 189.1.

Today when people think about high performance buildings, they think green, they think LEED.  But the LEED process is no more than a guideline, a "paint-by-numbers" points system that doesn't always get you a high performance building. Enter Standard 189.1.  Those familiar with the LEED guidelines will look at this standard and do a double-take.  They look the same.  But be careful, they may have the same structure and some of the same goals, but the ASHRAE committee that developed this has taken a lot of care in structuring it into an enforceable language. One of the real keys that is in the standard is the requirement for high performance building operation.  Time and time again the operation of a building is reduced to the level of understanding of the building operators, but this standard has taken steps that this cycle is broken.  Specifically the steps include commissioning throughout the design and construction process, owner training that focuses on system operation not just equipment operation, and plans for operation that incorporate benchmarking, useage, and maintenance.

Putting 90.1 and 189.1 together you will see that they are not independent.  As standard 90.1 becomes more stringent so to will 189.1.  With the ultimate goal for standard 189.1 to become the net-zero standard for buildings.

Other tidbits from the session:

- Standard 189.1 now adopted as an optional path of compliance for the new Internation Green Construction Code

- Water comsumption is quickly becoming more of an issue than energy consumption for most buildings.

- Studies of existing buildings showing that US power consumption is leveling off, despite improvements in efficiencies.  This is primarily due to the fact that we are plugging more stuff in.

- Newest version of standard 62.1 (the ventilation standard) is coming out requiring less ventilation.