ASHRAE, JSRAE Advance Mutual Interests

Illustrating that concerns about the built environment are shared worldwide, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Japan Society of Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (JSRAE) recently made a commitment to collaborate by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU).

The MOU was signed in May at ASHRAE Headquarters in Atlanta. The two groups are agreeing to advance and promote the mutual interests of engineering and built-environment professionals. ASHRAE currently has 157 members in Japan.

JSRAE is building an industry infrastructure for refrigerant tracking and management that it hopes eventually will be adopted into law in Japan. ASHRAE is tracking the initiative closely. JSRAE representatives are interested in the ongoing development of ASHRAE Standard 147, Reducing the Release of Halogenated Refrigerants from Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Equipment and Systems, which is closely related to the refrigerant management issue. Standard 147 is currently under revision.

Other items discussed at the MOU signing were:

• Establishing liaisons within each organization’s technical committee structure as a means for collaborating in research, standards development, etc.
• Sending speakers to each other’s annual conference to keep a good ongoing exchange of information.
• Making respective members aware of new technical publications and documents.