Plenty of "Cool" ASHRAE Topics.(American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-conditionnig Engineers winter conference)

CHICAGO-Energy efficiency, indoor-air quality (IAQ), education, and key business issues were among the primary topics of discussion on tap at the 51st annual winter meeting of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) held here in January.

ASHRAE President George A. Jackins set the tone for the meeting in his opening address by stressing the need for members to focus more on the timely transfer of information and being more responsive to heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) technology and issues.

"It is going to take a commitment to learning so that our members have the knowledge and skills to design, build, and operate buildings that are energy-efficient, have healthy indoor environments, and do not harm the outdoor environment," he said during his state-of-the-society address.

In addition, Jackins challenged ASHRAE leaders to take a proactive role in developing and revising multidisciplinary standards and finding ways to bridge the gap between technical and grass roots efforts to promote awareness of ASHRAE initiatives during the next century.

"ASHRAE is in a period of transition as we try to define our role as an organization [that develops] controversial, high-profile standards," said Jackins. "We are also finding it is more important for us to achieve consensus on the standards …