EVENT | ASHRAE WINTER CONFERENCE IDEAL GROWING CONDITIONS The ASHRAE Winter Conference in Orlando featured more than 300 presentations to nearly 2,800 delegates. Tim Dwyer gives a taste of the engineering zeitgeist, including seminars on growing cannabis and the latest BACnet software to secure controls A ASHRAE president Darryl Boyce SHRAE celebrated its 125year anniversary at its Winter Conference at the Hilton Orlando, Florida, USA. ASHRAE executive vicepresident Jeff Littleton reminded the audience of the oratory of founding President Edward Bates at the inaugural meeting in 1895, when he told ASHRAEs first members that the success of the society was on their shoulders. In language typical of the age, he said: I now charge you as you love the cause in which you so recently embarked to look well to your applications for members, as the growth and perpetuity of this Society rest upon this. ASHRAE has since matured into an organisation of 57,000 members, with 195 chapters and 433 student branches across 130 countries. A key focus for Littleton in his address was the societys new headquarters a deep retrofit of a 42-year-old 6,200m2 building, targeting net zero energy-ready performance. He said that the demolition was complete for the largest capital project in the societys history, and said the intent was to move in by October 2020. Building operational performance was the focus of ASHRAE president Darryl Boyces presentation. He revealed that a guide providing concrete steps needed to design buildings that meet occupants requirements would be published later this year. Alongside the conference was the AHR Expo, held at the Orange County Convention Center, attracting more than 32,000 visitors to 1,988 exhibitors in the 47,000m2 space. The technical programme included more than 300 presentations across four days, with a wide and diverse range of topics and speakers delivering technical discussions to excite interest and debate. The summaries below give a feel for the breadth of the conference. A full set of recordings can be viewed (for a fee) through the ASHRAE virtual conference. Growing cannabis There was a packed seminar room, with standing room only, for Cannabis Grow Facilities: Challenges for HVAC Design, Equipment Selection and Operation. The legalisation of cannabis in many US states and Canada has provided opportunities and challenges for the HVAC industry. In her presentation, HVAC Load Calculations for Cannabis Grow Facilities, Nadia Sabeh founder of Dr Greenhouse noted the need for unique and dynamic environments to grow and develop cannabis plants. She gave a summary of the plant life-cycle, highlighting the importance of vapour pressure deficit the difference between the saturation vapour pressure at the plant temperature and the vapour pressure in the surrounding air as this will affect the health of the plant by impacting evapotranspiration. She illustrated the three phases required to grow cannabis needing distinct controlled setpoints for lighting, humidity and 24 April 2020 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Apr20 pp24-25 ASHRAE Orlando.indd 24 20/03/2020 18:57