http://www.midcolumbia.ashraechapters.org
This Month’s Program:
No program meeting this
month. Thanks for another
great ASHRAE Year!
Inside this issue:
Message from the President 2
Program Meeting Information 3
Program Calendar (2014-2015) 3
Mid Columbia ASHRAE Board and
Committee Chairs
4
Future ASHRAE Meeting Dates
4
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June 2015
Mid-Columbia Chapter of
the American Society of
Heating, Refrigerating and
Air Conditioning The
Tumbleweed
ATLANTA – Zero energy buildings (ZEBs) eliminate the
use of non-renewable energy sources by decreasing
energy use and producing enough renewable energy to
meet the annual energy use attributable to their build-
ings. While the concept of ZEBs is generally accepted in
the building industry, no common definition exists. This
creates a challenge in trying to incentivize such buildings
and in developing common design strategies.
“We talk about green buildings, sustainable buildings and
high performing buildings, but it is hard to measure suc-
cess,” Paul Torcellini, Ph.D., P.E., National Renewable
Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colo., said. “Zero energy
gives you an energy goal that you can predict and meas-
ure and you know if you’ve achieved it – ‘Yes, this is’ or
‘no, this isn’t a zero energy building.’”
Torcellini is a speaker in a seminar on zero energy build-ings being held at the ASHRAE 2015 Annual Confer-ence, June 27-July 1, at the Atlanta Hilton, Atlanta, Ga. To register or for more information, vis-it www.ashrae.org/atlanta.
The seminar, “What is a Zero Energy Building, and How
Can We Get There?,” is part of the Conference Tech-
nical Program, which features some 100 sessions, with
more than 300 presenters and 103 paper presentations.
Torcellini also is involved in an effort by the National
Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) for the U.S. Depart-
ment of Energy to develop a common definition for zero
energy buildings.
Zero energy buildings have tremendous potential to
transform the way buildings use energy, according to
Neil Leslie, P.E., Gas Technology Institute, Des Plaines,
Ill., who is chairing the seminar.
Zero energy homes are becoming more affordable with
the availability of lower cost solar panels and advances
in high performance designs. Large private commercial
property owners are interested in developing zero energy
buildings to meet corporate goals. In response to regula-
tory mandates, national government agencies and many
state and local governments are beginning to move to-
ward zero energy targets for both commercial and resi-
dential buildings.
“By combining incredibly energy efficient design with
renewable energy generation, ZEBs are the holy grail of
energy efficient building operation,” speaker Kent Peter-
son, P.E., BEAP, P2S Engineering, Inc., Long Beach,
Calif. , said. Peterson also is involved in the NIBS effort
to develop a common definition.
But that’s difficult without defining what it means to have
a zero energy building. Having a common definition will
make it easier for governments and utilities to recognize
or incentivize zero energy buildings, according to the
NIBS public review document. Report authors also note
that having a common definition and corresponding
methods of measurement “would have a significant im-
pact on the development of design strategies for build-
ings and help spur greater market uptake of such pro-
jects.”
Torcellini said the reasons for pursuing zero energy vary:
cost reduction; energy sustainability and security; reduc-
tion of carbon emissions; and lessening air and water
pollution.
“Regardless of the reasons, to reduce our energy impact,
we must reduce our non-renewable fuel consumption,”
he said.
The seminar discusses North American and European
efforts to develop flexible and usable concepts and defi-
nitions related to zero energy buildings and near zero
energy buildings that can be used for a building, or group
of buildings, considering on-site and nearby renewable
energy options.
Defining Zero Energy And The Pathway To Achieving It Explored At ASHRAE Conference
Page 2
We are down to the final days of the ASHRAE Soci-
ety Year, which ends on June 30th. I would like to
thank everyone on our chapter’s board of gover-
nors and other volunteers within our member base
who take the time out of their busy lives to help us
keep our chapter running. It’s been quite an expe-
rience for me as well. The last several years I have
spent going through the board positions have giv-
en me an interest in ASHRAE activities that I would
have never had otherwise. As outgoing chapter
president, I plan to remain on the board for the
next three years as a BOG at-large member. Tradi-
tionally our chapter’s most recent three presidents
serve in these three positions. Starting in the next
year a new face with grace this page, our incoming
president, Rahul Athalye. We will also be sending
out online voting forms to the member base in the
next few days to fill in the other positions for the
2015-2016 Society Year.
I would also like to extend a special thank you to
our Research Promotion chair, Colin Bates, and
the other volunteers that made our recent RP golf
tournament a success. All of the sponsors we had
also are greatly appreciated as without them, we
wouldn’t have been able to raise over $3,400 for
ASHRAE research, which helped us very much in
meeting our chapter RP goals for the year. This is
not our only RP donation source, but it is our big-
gest one of the year. Everyone at the tournament
had fun and the weather couldn’t have been bet-
ter. This will definitely be a returning event, and
details of next year’s tournament will be an-
nounced in the coming months.
For now, we will be taking a summer break, with
no scheduled programming or events until August
or September. More details will be coming in the
next Tumbleweed, scheduled for August. There will
be no newsletter in July.
Again, thank you all for helping make this a good
year for our chapter, and let’s make next year bet-
ter.
Message from the President By Derek Archer
Page 2 Mid-Columbia Chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers
ATLANTA – New chapters on smart building systems and moisture management in
buildings are included in the 2015 ASHRAE Handbook—HVAC Applications.
The newly published HVAC Applications volume comprises more than 60 chapters
with 1,200 pages covering a broad range of facilities and topics, written to help
engineers design and use equipment and systems described in other Handbook
volumes. Main sections cover comfort, industrial, energy-related and general appli-
cations, as well as building operations and management.
The 2015 edition includes two new chapters:
Chapter 61, Smart Building Systems, covers smart systems and technologies
for automated fault detection and diagnostics, sensors and actuators, as well
as the emerging modernized electric power grid and its relationship to build-
ings and facilities.
Chapter 62, Moisture Management in Buildings, addresses avoiding or reduc-
ing risks associated with damp buildings, with suggestions for architectural
and HVAC system design, operation, and occupancy.
Other updates include:
Chapter 1, Residences, has updated guidance on duct system design and
communicating control systems.
Chapter 4, Tall Buildings, has new content on supertall and megatall build-
ings; improved stack effect discussion and calculations; and new information
on chilled beams, code references, split central plants, and elevator shaft
pressurization.
Chapter 8, Health Care Facilities, has been extensively revised to AN-
SI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170-2013, Ventilation of Health Care Facilities,
with new content on regulatory resources, hospital-acquired infections, sus-
tainability and operations, as well as expanded text on control measures,
outpatient care, isolation and bronchoscopy rooms, plus research results from
ASHRAE Research Project-1343 on heat gain from imaging systems.
Chapter 18, Clean Spaces, has extensive new content on demand control,
computational fluid dynamics analysis, pharmaceutical manufacturing facili-
ties, safety, environmental systems, installation and testing, and sustainability
and energy conservation.
Chapter 19, Data Centers and Telecommunication Facilities, has been com-
pletely rewritten for current best practices as covered in the books of the
ASHRAE Datacom Series.
Chapter 34, Geothermal Energy, has significant new content and examples
on ground-coupled heat pump systems design, hybrid ground-source heat
pumps, piping, pressure considerations, purging, deep boreholes, central
plants, open-loop/surface-water direct cooling, and simulation.
Chapter 49, Water Treatment, has major revisions on corrosion, deposition,
microbiological growth and control, filtration and closed-loop systems, alterna-
tive water sources, Legionnaires’ disease, thermal storage, and steam boiler
systems.
Chapter 53, Fire and Smoke Control, has been revised to align with
ASHRAE’sHandbook of Smoke Control Engineering, and includes many new
figures and examples.
2015 ASHRAE Handbook Focuses On Applications
Page 3 Mid-Columbia Chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers
Program Calendar
(2014—2015)
September 2014: No Program
Meeting
October 2014: No Program
Meeting
November 7th, 2014: PNNL
Research Facility Tour
December 2014: Winter Social
and Dinner.
January 2015: : HVAC Systems
Design for Airborne Infection
Control Spaces in Healthcare
Facilities.
February 2015: Engineers
Week Banquet. No Program
Meeting.
March 2015: Living Building
Challenge. Leslie Jonsson
(ASHRAE Region XI CTTC
RVC)
April 2015: ASHRAE Webcast-
”New Tomorrows For Today’s
Buildings-Existing Building
Commissioning”
May 2015: Social Event-
Bowling Meet. May 22nd.
Atomic Bowl, Richland, WA
June 2015: Mid-Columbia
ASHRAE Golf Tournament to
benefit ASHRAE Research.
June 4th.
Research Promotion Golf Tournament Gold and Platinum Sponsors-Thank You!
Advertisement
Mid-Columbia ASHRAE Chapter
Important Notice About Future Meeting Dates
Mid-Columbia Chapter of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers Page 4
2014-2015 Officers/ BOG
President Derek Archer
President-Elect Rahul Athalye
Secretary Lucy Huang
Treasurer Lucy Huang
BOG Member at Large Weimin Wang
BOG Member at Large Jay Ashbaugh
BOG Member at Large Jian Zhang
Committee Chairs
Membership Weimin Wang
Research Promotion Colin Bates
CTTC Rahul Athalye
Honors & Awards Jian Zhang
Newsletter Derek Archer
Historian Steve Strecker
GGAC Viraj Srivastava
Student Activities Greg Jourdan
The Mid-Columbia Chapter of the American Society of
Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers was
chartered in 1981 in Richland, Washington. We are part of
ASHRAE Region XI and represent ASHRAE members in
Eastern Washington State.
Regular Mid-Columbia ASHRAE Board of Governor’s Meeting:
June 29th, 5pm. Meier Architecture-Engineering Offices, 8697
Gage Boulevard, Kennewick, WA
No meetings currently scheduled for July or August.
2015 ASHRAE Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA. June 27th-July 1,
2015.
Help Sponsor our Chapter with
a Business Card Ad
How would you like to place your business card in front of
more than seventy eastern Washington ASHRAE
members? For a low $10 an issue, we can place your
business card with company logo in a prominent location
in our newsletter.
Interested??? Contact
Derek Archer at (509) 737-6982