Engineered Systems - December 2008 - (Page 8)

Editor’sNote BY ROBERT BEVERLY THE GREEN TEAM Shakes Up Its Roster And again this year, benefits beyond the booths abound in Chicago. I often use the December column to highlight some of the educational sessions and professionalcredit workshops available to people attending the AHR/ASHRAE annual fest. And I will, but first I want to pass along a little “breaking news” on a related hot topic. You’ve read about the proposed ASHRAE Standard 189.1, which reflects a team effort from ASHRAE, USGBC, and IESNA. The intent is to produce “the nation’s first standard for high-performance, green commercial buildings.” As well as addressing building system energy efficiency, it will reportedly involve minimum requirements for everything from IEQ to materials to sustainable site selection. The unusual development is that ASHRAE has recently opted to reconstitute the committee in charge of developing the standard. Kent Peterson, 189.1P chairman, explains that “As we have proceeded down this path, we recognized that the proposed standard would benefit from additional expertise and more involvement from interested parties. We are committed to developing this green building standard with accurate and appropriate technical content through a rigorous, transparent and fair standards development process.” Certainly, an effort of this sort begs for quite a wide range of knowledge and experience in its formative stages. However, one can’t help but notice that presumably you could expand the knowledge base by simply adding more members. What this move seems to suggest is that not only will new members be added, but at least some original members will not be carried over. We typically do not spend much time delving into industry politics. However, it’s an understatement to say that this is a highprofile team working on a high-profile topic — the proposed standard has already garnered 900 comments in two public reviews, as of mid-November. Adding valuable expertise sounds great; asking current committee members to go through another approval process seems odd at first glance. Given the import of this work, we’ll try to get you an explanation for this decision, as well as any news on who did and did not get retained to keep working, in time for next month’s issue. (And as always, it’ll be on the website even sooner.) ‘DISTANCE LEARNING’ Most of us have to travel to get to the big week in Chicago, but beyond the countless products you can learn about on the AHR Expo floor and ASHRAE’s traditional seminars and forums at the Palmer House Hilton, there are plenty of additional professional learning opportunities once you get there. Continuing last year’s trend, ASHRAE is moving some of its technical program over to McCormick Place for your convenience, so visit www.ashrae.org/Chicago to investigate your options. Other sessions involve some welcome and familiar names. Ken Sinclair, David Branson, and Toby Considine have all written for ES over the years, and they will host a slate of sessions on that Monday and Tuesday. From Building Information Modeling (BIM) to how to use the latest tech to boost your sustainability, these topics offer a free-of-charge break for your feet and an even bigger payoff for your brain. Drop by www.automatedbuildings.com for the details; maybe I’ll see you at one or two of those. ES columnist Paul Ehrlich’s Building Intelligence Group is again teaming with CABA for a one-day Intelligent Buildings Tour stop on Tuesday. This time around, they are dedicating the seminar to advanced integrated lighting controls. So if we piqued your curiosity with our recent lighting controls GIB supplement, or if you’re just now realizing how the topic could affect what you do in future projects, now is the time to pack a lot of value into a short timeframe. This session is not free, but you can get the full scoop at www.buildingintelligencegroup.com. PUZZLE MASTER Finally, I want to close with a big thank-you to Steve Liescheidt, P.E. (www.sppecss.com), the author of our “HVAC Challenge.” This month’s crossword marks the last in a very long line of puzzles Liescheidt has created for ES over the years. These days, every magazine has multiple forms of “interactive” content to engage the reader. But in a new-media age, the crossword has represented an effective oldschool way to deliver some, dare I say it, infotainment. Faithful puzzlers have kept their skills sharp while the topics have moved across the spectrum of applications and equipment. We hope to welcome Steve back to contribute in some other fashion down the road, and in the meantime we wish him all the best. ES ES Webinars All webinars are free. Registration and archives at http://webinars.esmagazine.com DECEMBER 17 Back2Basics, Vol 5: 3-Story Dormitory Howard McKew, P.E. and Amanda McKew Industry Calendar JANUARY 24-28 ASHRAE 2009 Winter Meeting Chicago. For info, visit www.ashrae. org/Chicago. JANUARY 26-28 2009 AHR Expo Chicago. For info, visit www.ahrexpo.com. 8 En gi n eer ed Sy stem s December 2008 http://www.sppecss.com http://www.ashrae.org/Chicago http://www.automatedbuildings.com http://webinars.esmagazine.com http://www.ashrae.org/Chicago http://www.ashrae.org/Chicago http://www.buildingintelligencegroup.com http://www.buildingintelligencegroup.com http://www.ahrexpo.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Engineered Systems - December 2008

Engineered Systems - December 2008 Contents Editor's Note HVAC Challenge Back2Basics Case In Point Commissioning Building Automation HVACR Designer Tips Applications Checklist Lakefront Library: Radiant Systems Meet Natural Ventilation Before (And After) The Flood Basics For Refrigerant Chillers Wire-To-Shaft Efficiency For HVAC Pumps Products Glossary Classifieds Advertiser Index Tomorrow’s Environment

Engineered Systems - December 2008

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