ASHRAE conference sets new record
10th February 2017
USA: ASHRAE has reported a record attendance at its 2017 Winter Conference in Las Vegas at the end of last month.
In total, 3,579 people attended the Conference at Caesars Palace, making it the most well attended Winter Conference in recent years. The attendees represented 58 countries and included 537 first-timers, ASHRAE reports.
Although unconfirmed by the show’s organisers, the US association also claims that the attendant AHR Expo also set several records, including an attendance of more than 68,000 registered visitors and exhibitor personnel. The Show was by far the largest and best attended Expo in the Western states, with some 1,968 exhibiting companies covering over 500,000ft² (46,450m²) of space.
The ASHRAE Conference also saw several collaborative efforts and agreements with associations and organisations from around the world.
ASHRAE signed memoranda of understanding with several groups, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE) and Association of German Engineers (VDI-GBG). The Society also signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and the Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning Associations (REHVA). In addition, it updated its Work Plan with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).
“Partnering with allied organisations and associations better allows us to harness and adapt new technologies, which we can all use in working toward a more sustainable environment,” ASHRAE president Tim Wentz said. “By working together, we can create a worldwide best practices databank of innovative and successful technologies that can serve the built environment community.”
Technology portal
ASHRAE also launched a new Technology Portal at www.ashrae.org/technologyportal. This gives ASHRAE members an easy, fast method of connecting to the latest information generated by ASHRAE’s research programme. It provides access to more than 1,700 Journal articles published since 1997 and more than 600 final reports from ASHRAE research projects.
The 2017 ASHRAE Annual Conference will take place from June 24-28 in Long Beach, California, with the 2018 Winter Conference scheduled for January 20-24 in Chicago.
