2008 Issue

UTAH ENGINEERS COUNCIL JOURNAL 25 Mr. Atkinson is associated with Atkinson Electronics, Inc., and serves as Utah ASHRAE President, 2007-2008 American life. At the turn of the century, Dr. Willis H. Carrier, from New York, the man given credit for inventing the air conditioning of buildings, was listed as one of the top 20 individuals of the 20th century who have most impacted our way of life. Without air con- ditioning, much of the heavily populated areas of our country would be sparsely populated. The invention of air conditioning was given credit for allowing the population migration to these areas and their subsequent buildup. This is true for the office buildings in which we work, the homes we live in and the transportation that we use. Before A/C, the economies of these areas shut down for much of the summer as people who could afford to travel went to their summer homes on the beaches and in the mountains. Repeated studies have shown that human productivity, i.e. worker output and efficiency, is significantly impacted by the comfort of the working environment. Since we are now largely a service and white collar economy, the daily environment we work in has a major impact on our standard of living. The consumption of energy has fueled our way-of-life. Yet, we face the challenge of continuing our standard of living, not for just the comfort we are accustomed to, but also the worker productivity gains that drive our economy in our world wide economic competition. ASHRAE is rising up to this challenge with its pursuit of ever increasing energy efficiency in the HVAC systems that we design and manufacture. A truly energy efficient and sustainable building isn’t the result of a highly efficient HVAC system installed in a poorly designed structure. To truly achieve a top performing and sustainable build- ing, an integrated design approach is a must! The architect, HVAC, plumbing, electrical engineers, owner’s representative and others need to work closely together from the beginning. Computer modeling the energy effect of utilizing daylighting, wind patterns, and architectural considerations such as color, reflectivity and many other factors sig- nificantly affect a building’s energy performance. Through this teamwork up front, in the building design process, ASHRAE members are influencing and making possible the design and construction of truly energy efficient buildings. This is our goal as we seek to continue our way of life and standard of living while faced with our global warming challenges. ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN — continued