ASHRAE CONFERENCE | SUMMARY A HUMAN TOUCH Building for people and performance was announced as the newtheme for ASHRAE at the societys summer conference. CIBSEJournal technical editor Tim Dwyer reports O The conference featured more than 100 technical sessions pening the 2019 ASHRAE summer conference in Kansas City, CEO Jeff Littleton highlighted the societys achievements over the year, including 22 new publications, 28 new or updated standards and guidelines, and the record-breaking funds of more than $2m raised through researchpromotion. At more than 1,400 pages, he said the latest ASHRAE Handbook HVAC Applications was the largest to be released, and included new chapters on occupant sensing and controls, indoor airflow modelling and indoor swimming pools. Littleton noted the societys budget had tightened slightly, but assured members that, overall, its financial position remained very strong. He said ASHRAEs new five-year strategic plan had also come online. The 20192024 plan has four core initiatives focusing on resilient buildings and communities, indoor environmental quality (IEQ), organisational streamlining and improved chapter engagement. Littleton added that work will soon start on ASHRAEs recently purchased 1970s, 6,225m2 HQ, which will be renovated into a net-zero energy-ready building, for occupation in October 2020. Building for people Incoming ASHRAE president Darryl K Boyce launched the theme for his year in office: Building for people and performance. Achieving operational excellence. In his address, Boyce evidenced his passion for and understanding of an industry that he saw as in need of cultural and procedural change. (See panel, Design shortfalls.) He said he foresaw a future where the building operations team representative is included all the way through the design not solely at the end and where the design reflects the needs of occupiers and the capabilities of the operators, who have an effective turnover and orientation process, and understand the building after handover. Boyce called for design decisions to be evaluated for their impact on indoor environmental quality (IEQ), concluding that humans the occupants are the best sensors of comfort. An array of topics was covered in more than 100 technical sessions over the four days of the conference, ranging from fundamentals through to modelling and optimisation, systems and equipment development, health and safety, commissioning, and professional development. The challenge for each of the 1,600 delegates was to choose which of the many parallel sessions to attend. In the session How the blockchain will affect you and your work in HVAC&R and buildings: dont get left behind, its happening now!, which I chaired, the three speakers covered blockchain basics and somepotential industry applications (see opposite page, for report). The presentations of all the technical sessions are available, for a fee, through the ASHRAE virtual conference website. CJ DESIGN SHORTFALLS Darryl K Boyce 30 August 2019 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Aug19 pp30-31 Ashrae Kansas.indd 30 Referring to three Canadian buildings using 58%, 69% and 203% more energy than the design intent Boyce said such developments were falling short of the expectations of building designers and operators because: n Designers are not always focused on operability during the design process. They need to transfer their designs into effective operations, as great designs warrant great operability n Buildings are more complex. We design technology to help improve operations, but it doesnt always end up that way, he said, citing an engineering building with power over ethernet controls and associated sensors, where control technicians were being inundated with data n Operators are being overwhelmed. Generally, they do not have the skills to operate todays buildings and are not trained properly, said Boyce. He also referred to the UK Probe Project and Low Carbon Buildings Performance studies, which identified key causes of performance slippage, resulting in energy consumption being higher than modelled targets: n Building systems that exceeded the capacity of the building managers tooperate them n Complex and/or innovative systems, requiring several years to refine andunderstand n Insufficient commissioning. 19/07/2019 13:25