Image

ASHRAE Winter Conference Returning to Chicago in 2015

Oct. 13, 2014
Attendees will have the chance to go on technical tours, take ASHRAE Learning Institute courses, earn professional credits, and obtain ASHRAE certifications.

Registration for ASHRAE’s 2015 Winter Conference, which will be held Jan. 24-28 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, is open.

The technical program features more than 100 sessions and 300 speakers over eight tracks:
  • Systems and Equipment
  • Fundamentals and Applications
  • Industrial Facilities
  • Large Buildings: Mission Critical Facilities and Applications
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Life Safety
  • Design of Energy and Water Efficient Systems
  • Hospital Design and Codes

The program includes sessions on cold-climate design, tall buildings, hospital and cleanroom design, and data centers.

The ASHRAE Learning Institute is planning 20 professional-development seminars and short courses. Among them are courses on ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 202, Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems, ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, and ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality. Training topics include commissioning, energy management, ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy, energy-efficient data centers, health-care facilities, building energy audits, the coming smart grid, and ground-source heat pumps. To register, go to www.ashrae.org/chicagocourses.

Attendees will be able to earn professional-development hours and continuing-education units.

On Jan. 28, ASHRAE will offer administration of all six of its certifications: Building Energy Assessment Professional (BEAP), Building Energy Modeling Professional (BEMP), Commissioning Process Management Professional (CPMP), High-Performance Building Design Professional (HBDP), Healthcare Facility Design Professional (HFDP), and Operations & Performance Management Professional (OPMP). To register, go to www.ashrae.org/certification.

The keynote speaker for the opening plenary session will be adventurer Aron Ralston, subject of the Oscar-nominated film “127 Hours.” During a hike into a remote area of Utah’s canyon country in April 2003, Ralston accidentally dislodged a boulder that crushed and pinned his right hand. Five days and seven hours later, he freed himself by amputating his right forearm with a dull knife.

Also offered as part of the conference will be technical tours, including of a net-zero Walgreens store, a brewery, and McCormick Place.

For more information and to register for the conference, go to www.ashrae.org/chicago.

The ASHRAE co-sponsored International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition (AHR Expo) will be held Jan. 26-28 at McCormick Place. For more information and to register, go to www.ahrexpo.com.

About the Author

Scott Arnold | Executive Editor

Described by a colleague as "a cyborg ... requir(ing) virtually no sleep, no time off, and bland nourishment that can be consumed while at his desk" who was sent "back from the future not to terminate anyone, but with the prime directive 'to edit dry technical copy' in order to save the world at a later date," Scott Arnold joined the editorial staff of HPAC Engineering in 1999. Prior to that, he worked as an editor for daily newspapers and a specialty-publications company. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Kent State University.