ASHRAE Brings Technology, People Power in Support of Engineering for Change

ATLANTA ‘ ASHRAE has joined forces with an international engineering program to encourage its members to use their knowledge and technology to meet humanitarian challenges across the globe.

ASHRAE is now a network supporter of Engineering for Change (E4C). E4C is a growing community of engineers, technology professionals, designers, scientists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local community advocates who are working together to design, apply and share innovative and sustainable technical solutions to a broad range of humanitarian challenges in local communities around the world.

‘By partnering with Engineering for Change, our members can contribute their knowledge and our technology to help improve the quality of life for people around the world,” ASHRAE President Tom Watson said.  ‘Our involvement allows us to match the technology to the need, to find affordable solutions that benefit communities and ourselves.”

‘We are delighted to welcome ASHRAE to the E4C coalition,” Noha El-Ghobashy, president of Engineering for Change, said. ‘ASHRAE’s longstanding commitment to the promotion of engineering excellence in the service of sustainability and humanity makes it a natural ally for the work of the E4C coalition.  We look forward to working together with ASHRAE and its distinguished membership for years to come.”

The initiative is part of Watson’s presidential theme Broadening ASHRAE’s Horizons, which emphasizes the role of ASHRAE members as leaders in the application of sustainable design and practices in our communities worldwide.

Under E4C (www.ashrae.org/e4c), ASHRAE members can get involved with existing projects or start new ones. Watson noted that there is a wide range of projects ‘ from refrigeration to hospitals to indoor air quality ‘ to which members could contribute their technical expertise.

Watson also is encouraging ASHRAE members and chapters to examine ways to get more involved in their local communities. Another effort underway is ASHRAE’s Community Sustainability Project program (www.ashrae.org/community), which is designed to encourage members to volunteer with local non-profits or other associations for activities such as engineering and installation of energy efficiency measures for their facilities.

ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is a building technology society with more than 50,000 members worldwide. The Society and its members focus on building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration and sustainability within the industry. Through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education, ASHRAE shapes tomorrow’s built environment today.