2008 Issue

UTAH ENGINEERS COUNCIL JOURNAL 23 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design [LEED] and the Green Building Council initiatives have raised the bar for the members of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers - ASHRAE. Charged with designing mechanical systems for buildings to provide comfort, indoor air quality and the subsequent rise in human productivity, ASHRAE members face new challenges as they seek to provide the indoor environmental comfort that we have all become accustomed to, using considerably less energy to operate the building systems that we design. A SHRAE IS A MEMBER OF THE GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL AND HAS BEEN WORKING ON SETTING NEW STAN- DARDS FOR SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS and systems. The last several ASHRAE Presidents have issued the challenge to ASHRAE members to considerably reduce the impact on the environment through a lower carbon footprint for the systems that they design. This is a direct result of the global warming and “Save our Planet” chal- lenges that we face. Recent statistical data has reported that in North America, buildings consume over 50% of the total energy produced including natural gas, electrical generation and other sources. Transportation and manufacturing make up the rest of the “pie.” In the building sector, homes and public buildings are rough- ly equal in their total energy consumption. This challenge permeates our industry from top to bottom. Not only must manufactur- ers design new systems and products, but the local consulting engineer must apply these products in new and creative approaches to provide the indoor environment desired with the most sustainable energy efficient approach possible. ASHRAE is the world- wide source of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) technology. We all take heating and air conditioning systems for granted, but few realize the impact the invention of air conditioning has had on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design By Gaylen Atkinson continued on page 25