ASHRAE Journal - March 2013 - 4

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COMMENTARY

Publisher W. Stephen Comstock
EDITORIAL

Editor
Fred Turner
fturner@ashrae.org

The Best of the Best

Managing Editor
Sarah Foster
sfoster@ashrae.org

The ASHRAE Energy Awards were ﬁrst presented in 1981. While the name has changed
to ASHRAE Technology Awards, the purpose is the same.
The award, said Charles F. Sepsy, ASHRAE’s president in 1981, “is part of a continuing
effort to encourage and honor contributions by ASHRAE members in
the area of energy conservation and to promote the dissemination of
successful technologies.”
All of this year’s 33 winning projects are featured in this edition. These
winners include a project that won an Award of Engineering Excellence.
This is the third time the award has been presented since 1981.
The recipient is the National Energy Research Laboratory’s (NREL)
Fred Turner
Research Support Facility. This net zero energy performing building
incorporates NREL research and best practices. It was built without increasing ﬁrst cost
’s
and creates a replicable blueprint for future NZEB commercial buildings.

Associate Editor
Rebecca Matyasovski
rmatyasovski@ashrae.org
Associate Editor
Christopher Weems
cweems@ashrae.org
Associate Editor
Jeri Eader
jeader@ashrae.org
Editorial Assistant
Tani Palefski
tpalefski@ashrae.org

PUBLISHING SERVICES

Publishing Services Manager
David Soltis
Production
Jayne Jackson
Tracy Becker

ADVERTISING

Associate Publisher,
ASHRAE Media Advertising
Greg Martin
gmartin@ashrae.org
Advertising Production Coordinator
Vanessa Johnson
vjohnson@ashrae.org

CIRCULATION

Circulation Specialist
David Soltis
dsoltis@ashrae.org

ASHRAE OFFICERS
President
Thomas E. Watson, P
.E.

President-Elect
William P Bahnﬂeth, Ph.D., P
.
.E.
Treasurer
Thomas H. Phoenix, P
.E.
Vice Presidents
Constantinos A. Balaras, Ph.D., P
.E.
Daniel C. Pettway
Timothy G. Wentz, P
.E.
Thomas E. Werkema
Secretary & Executive Vice President
Jeff H. Littleton

POLICY GROUP

CASE STUDIES on the NREL building and many other award winners will be
published this year in ASHRAE Journal or High Performing Buildings magazine.
Each winning project has been judged at chapter, region and international levels
based on innovation, energy efﬁciency, indoor air quality, maintenance and operation,
and environmental impact. Each includes at least one year of measured energy data.
“All are proven energy-savers,” said Sepsy in honoring the ﬁrst nine winners. “That
is what makes ASHRAE Energy Awards one of the profession’s most coveted and
prestigious honors.”
CO2 IS WIDELY accepted as a proxy for indoor pollution, showing the need for more
or less ventilation. But is CO2 a pollutant itself ?
A column in this edition reports on research on cognitive function at different levels
of CO2 without increasing ventilation.
This column by highly respected authors is a must read with implications for all spaces
used for learning, decision-making and producing products, etc.
This edition also features a technical article that reviews what we know and don’t know
about how thermal comfort and indoor air quality affect performance.
It’s written in the form of answers to 40 frequently asked questions. The authors, also
widely respected, offer opinions based on current research. It’s another must read.
SOME THINGS we say too much, especially as we get older. But something we
don’t say enough is how important the AHR Expo is to ASHRAE members and the
broader industry.
The Show provides a platform for competing products and technologies, which
promotes innovation. You can see some of this edition’s coverage of the tremendously
successful Show in Dallas.
The Show also provides a source of signiﬁcant revenue that enables ASHRAE to
contribute to the industry and society as a whole.

2012 – 13 Chair
Publications Committee
Francis A. Mills
Washington Ofﬁce
washdc@ashrae.org
Member of the
Audit Bureau of Circulation

ASHRAE Journal reviews current HVAC&R technology of broad interest through publication
of applications-oriented articles. Content ranges from back-to-basics features to reviews of
emerging technologies.

ASHRAE Journal - March 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - March 2013