Return to Dallas Sees High Attendance, New Technology at ASHRAE Conference

ATLANTA ‘From technology in the palm of your hand to technology from around the world, the ASHRAE Winter Conference brought attendees all the latest updates in the building industry.

Some 2,840 people attended the Conference, held Jan. 26-Jan. 30, in Dallas, Texas.  Attendees came from around the globe, including India, Latvia, Romania, Thailand and even Uganda, to name just a few.

Also taking place in conjunction with the Conference was the ASHRAE co-sponsored Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigerating Exposition, which set new all-time records for a Southwest Show. The Expo attracted 51,337 attendees, including nearly 34,000 visitors. The Show also saw the most exhibitors, 1,951, and largest square footage, 397,000 sq. ft., for any Southwest Show.

New to the Conference was the ASHRAE Event App. Some 2,000 Conference attendees accessed education courses and social events with the touch of a button; had maps and floorplans in hand to find their way around; added sessions to their personal schedules and created one-touch custom agendas of events from their smartphones and tablets.

The Winter Conference technical program featured nearly 200 presentations, with the top attended session in the systems and equipment, facility management, energy conservation and fundamentals and applications tracks.  The top-attended sessions were Introduction to the ASHRAE/REHVA Chilled Beam Design Guide; Desiccant Enhanced Air Conditioning; The FM Perspective: Reducing Energy Consumption and the True Cost of Maintenance; Innovative Energy Efficiency Strategies for Commercial Buildings; and Decoupling the Latent Load Through Psychrometrics.

Other Conference highlights included the Technical Plenary, which drew 330 attendees, with its focus on ethics and engineering. 

These, and additional sessions, from the Technical Program are part of ASHRAE’s Virtual Conference, which provides access to more than 250 presentations.  Register or access presentations at www.ashrae.org/dallasvirtual. 

The Conference offers an opportunity for ASHRAE to strengthen its relationships with other associations from around the world. ASHRAE took advantage of the diverse group of attendees to sign Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with the Council of American Mechanical and Electrical Engineers (CAMEE); the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO); and the Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning and Sanitary Engineers of Japan (SHASE). The Society also signed a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). The MOUs and MRA highlight the shared goals of ASHRAE and the organizations and promote mutually beneficial partnerships between the signing parties.

ASHRAE also furthered its existing relationship with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), launching its third biennial Work Plan for 2013-2014, based on a global cooperation agreement signed in 2007.

Also offered were five Professional Development Seminars and 14 short courses from the ASHRAE Learning Institute (ALI). The most popular courses were Energy Management in New & Existing Buildings; Humidity Control Applications, Control Levels and Mold Avoidance; and Laboratory Design: The Basics and Beyond. Additionally, ALI offered a special session of its in-depth HVAC Design: Level I’Essentials training. The session was held Jan. 30-Feb. 1 and saw 39 attendees.

Top selling publications included ‘Performance Measurement Protocols: Best Practices Guide;” ‘Handbook of Smoke Control Engineering;” ‘Thermal Guidelines for Data Processing Environments, 3rd edition;” Standard 90.1-2010, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings; ‘A Practical Guide to Seismic Restraint, 2nd edition;” ‘ASHRAE Papers CD: 2013 ASHRAE Winter Conference;” and  Standard 90.1-2010 User’s Manual.

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 and sustainability within the industry. Through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education, ASHRAE shapes tomorrow’s built environment today.