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THINK LOCAL ASHRAE President Sheila Hayter says renewables are putting engineers at the forefront of energy developments. Tim Dwyer reports on the keynotes at the ASHRAE Winter Conference and AHR Expo, and shares his highlights from Atlanta T ASHRAE CEO Jeff Littleton announced a new HQ for the society, while President Sheila Hayter (top) spoke about the opportunities with renewable energy networks he worldwide growth in renewable energy networks is giving the building services industry the opportunity to drive future energy developments, according to ASHRAE President Sheila Hayter. Speaking at the Winter Conference and AHR Expo, Hayter said ASHRAE was preparing buildings professionals for the challenges of designing efficient and gridresponsive buildings within the changing energy sector. She described the global changes in the energy markets that are increasingly based around distributed energy resources, such as solar and wind systems integrated with improved and less-expensive battery storage and microgrids. As we explore ways to incorporate renewable energy technologies into integrated building concepts, ASHRAE will take an even greater leadership role in defining the relationship between buildings and the power sector, she said. The Winter Conference, with 300-plus technical presentations, attracted more than 2,700 people, while the Expo running alongside it had 65,000 attendees. Theconference featured a new seminar stream, Renewable and natural systems, which explored renewable energy sources and the future of the smart grid. Hayter said the bi-directional flow of energy will mean buildings and the grid will have to get smarter, and those buildings will play a dynamic role on a smart grid. She reminded the audience of the free resource Building our new energy future which marked the start of her presidential year and announced the release of a presidential webinar, Efficient buildings, the future and a moreintelligent grid. ASHRAE CEO Jeff Littleton, meanwhile, spoke about the release of the 2018 International Green Construction Code. This has been developed in conjunction with North American organisations including the American National Standards Institute and the US Green Building Council, and is aimed at domestic and global markets. Littleton said the code aims to offer effective green building strategies, designed to work with local energy codes and environmental assessment tools. Hot off the press was Littletons announcement that ASHRAE has bought a new HQ building at 180 Technology Parkway, Atlanta 10 miles north of the current location, which has been sold to make way for a hospital development. The building will be renovated to serve as the societys headquarters from October 2020, and the aim is to reduce annual energy use (EUI) to below 69.4kWhm-2, with a limit of maximum daytime plug load at 5.4Wm-2. ASHRAE pledged not to use members annual subscriptions to pay for the HQ and has mounted a fundraising campaign to finance the works see ashrae.org/newhq for details. Positive change CIBSE President Stephen Lisk presented at the Adapting to thrive shaping resilient future urban performance through historical 38 March 2019 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Mar19 pp38-39 Ashrae conference.indd 38 22/02/2019 16:38