ASHRAE 2019 Annual Conference

The 2019 ASHRAE Annual Conference technical program is comprised of eight tracks, selected to represent areas of focus common among ASHRAE membership. The track focus areas include HVAC&R fundamentals and applications, systems and equipment, professional development, research, occupant health and safety and more specific topics of interest (such as radiant heating and cooling and understanding design intent of complicated HVAC systems).

“With the global movement towards sustainable energy, the HVAC&R industry is ever-changing,” said Carrie Anne Monplaisir, chair of the 2019 Annual Conference. “We continue to face new challenges as we adapt our designs, codes, and technology to fit this constantly changing criteria. The 2019 ASHRAE Annual Conference aims to address these challenges, and offer best practices, lessons learned, and innovative design strategies to be applied in a wide range of topics."

1. Systems & Equipment in the Built Environment: Selection of equipment and systems is paramount to HVAC&R design. Papers and programs in this track will assist designers, engineers, and operators in the design, selection, and operation of HVAC&R systems and equipment.
Track Chair: Kimberly Pierson
kdpwildcat@gmail.com

2. Fundamentals and Applications: Fundamentals are the foundation for understanding applications in engineering. Key components of ASHRAE fundamentals include thermodynamics, psychrometrics, fluid and mass flow. This track provides opportunities for papers and presentations of varying levels across a large topic base. Concepts, design elements and shared experiences for theoretical and applied concepts of HVAC&R design are included.
Track Chair: Gary Debes
gary.debes@comcast.net

3. Optimization in HVAC&R: The application of systematic optimization techniques is gaining ground in the field of HVAC&R, resulting in significant cost and performance benefits. This track seeks programs focused on using models to inform decision-making for design and operation of HVAC&R and High Performance Buildings. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: novel optimization techniques and their application to HVAC&R, optimization of heat transfer surfaces, component optimization, system optimization, optimization of high performance buildings, model-predictive control and other methods focusing on minimizing first and operating costs of these systems.
Track Chair: Vikrant Aute
vikrant@umd.edu

4. Commissioning New & Existing Buildings: With low energy and zero energy buildings becoming more prevalent, there are many issues that arise with installation, startup, commissioning and O&M. Making sure that the design intent of these more complicated HVAC systems is understood by all team members and building operators is key to the building’s success. This track will address an array of topics including lessons learned, improvement of process and team communications and effort to improve the installation, startup, O&M and commissioning of HVAC systems.
Track Chair: Raul Simonetti
raul.simonetti@carel.com

5. Occupant Health & Safety: Indoor air quality has become a vital consideration during all phases of a building’s life as it is closely linked to comfort, occupant satisfaction, productivity and health. Proper design of fire and smoke control is another crucial method in protecting building occupants. This track seeks presentations and papers that explore these links, particularly in ways that make the case for high levels of indoor air quality compelling to building owners. Topics including (but not limited to): filtration, change-overs, best practices for maintainability, fire ratings/dampers, detection and ventilation for toxic gases, operator safety in equipment rooms, OSHA requirements, industrial and hazardous spaces, and many other design aspects directly related to occupant health & safety.
Track Chair: Christine Reinders
christinereinders@gmail.com

6. Modeling Throughout the Building Life Cycle: Modeling was originally concerned primarily with building and system design specifications.  The demands of energy efficient operation brought about the need for modeling of part-load operation for a variety of off-design conditions.  The explosion of computational capacity and data collection capability is rapidly expanding the scope, complexity and practical applications of modeling both during design, but even more so for fault detection, diagnostics and operational optimization.  Presentations and papers are solicited related to all aspects of building modeling, with a particular interest in successful applications that have extended modeling into operational phases of the building life cycle.
Track Chair: Nivedita Jadhav
nivi2307@gmail.com

7. Professional Development: As members of a professional organization, we not only participate for the great value of technical exchange, but also the interpersonal exchange. We recognize that the single greatest strength of our organization is its membership. This track is designed to allow those professionals an opportunity to develop in the areas of presentation skills, leadership, team-building, understanding various business operations, interpersonal skills, etc. In short, the Professional Development Track will cover all aspects of business outside of engineering/technical applications and lends itself to interactive session types such as workshops and forums.
Track Chair: Rupesh Iyengar 
rupesh_iyengar@yahoo.com

8. Research Summit: Active research, and the exchange of those research findings, are critical to the development of our HVAC&R industry and built environment. The seventh annual research summit invites researchers to share those results, including ASHRAE-sponsored research and research of interest to the ASHRAE community. Researchers are invited to present papers, seminars, forums or participate in panel discussions. The Research Summit includes a partnership with ASHRAE's archival journal, Science and Technology for the Built Environment.
Track Chair: Bing Liu
bliu@neea.org

9. Radiant Heating & Cooling Mini-Track: As more and more jurisdictions and building owners are answering the call to establish higher energy-use standards for their construction projects, design teams are looking beyond traditional HVAC solutions to provide energy efficiency while maintaining occupant comfort and safety. A system that continues to gain momentum in North America is radiant heating and cooling. A radiant design strategy embodies the integration of architectural design and HVAC systems design with overall energy efficiency and comfort in mind. The papers and presentations in this track will explore the fundamental concepts of how different radiant systems work (high mass vs. low mass), how they are designed, constructed and optimally controlled, and where they have been used in the past, with lessons learned and documented performance data.
Track Chair: Devin Abellon
devin.abellon@yahoo.com