EVENTS | ASHRAE CONFERENCE Reconnecting communities post-Covid was one of the key themes of this years ASHRAE summer conference. Tim Dwyer reports on the Societys global aspirations and why cybersecurity and interoperability are key to getting connected GLOBAL REACH E ach year, the summer ASHRAE meeting provides the prime opportunity for the incoming president to make their mark as they launch their year in office with an inaugural address. President Mick Schwedlers theme for his 2021-22 term is Personal growth. Global impact. Feed the roots. Following a year during which many have been isolated, with communications and networking confined within a virtual world, Schwedler spoke of a re-emerging community where professional and personal friendships are made, maintained and developed, and where theories and experiences are exchanged. He focused on how his personal development, and the individual threads that have made ASHRAE, could each be tracked back to two or three influential people who directly fed the roots of development. His challenge to the community was to reach out and feed the roots of the future, so that their knowledge and experiences may inspire and inform the next generation of engineers. Despite the continued constraints of the pandemic, the meeting attracted more than 300 presentations across the various sessions. Here are just a few examples from the host of presentations that echoed Schwedlers theme for developing skills in communication in these cases, both personal and digital. Global impact would appear to be a key expectation of the work of a new ASHRAE Task Force for Building Decarbonisation (TFBD) that has been formed by outgoing president Chuck Gulledge and incoming president Schwedler. As one of the many seminars presented online, key players in the task force, and past ASHRAE presidents Don Colliver and Tom Phoenix, provided an introduction to this recently constituted, Advanced Air Sterilisation Reimagined The new CPA Biojet uses advanced ultraviolet technology that is scientifically proven to produce cleaner and safer indoor air. The Biojet works by drawing in untreated, potentially contaminated, air and passing it through a high output Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) chamber. The germicidal UVGI deactivates up to 99.99% of airborne mould, bacteria and viruses, including coronaviruses*. The sterilised air is then delivered back into the space, free from harmful pathogens. tel: 01501 825024 | email: sales@cpa-group.com | web: cpa-group.com Calderhead Road, Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland, ML7 4EQ *https://www.cpa-group.com/media/2145/technology-evaluation-report.pdf 28 September 2021 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Sep 21 pp28-30 Ashrae conference.indd 28 27/08/2021 10:55 UV vir Ex to En se En sta