Leaping Tall Buildings: ASHRAE Provides a Super-sized Perspective at AHR Expo

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) believes that lessons learned in the design, construction and operation of tall buildings can be applied to buildings of all sizes and stories.

A mini-conference on tall buildings is featured in the Technical Program at ASHRAE’s 2014 Winter Conference, Jan. 18-22, at the New York Hilton, New York, N.Y. The International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Expo, held in conjunction with the Winter Conference, runs Jan. 21-23,  www.ahrexpo.com. The Expo, held at the Javits Convention Center, takes place Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as opposed to the traditional Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

For complete Conference information and to register, visit www.ashrae.org/newyork.

“What better place to showcase tall building design than in New York,” Jon Cohen, New York Conference program chair, said. “Designing buildings with contingencies for natural disasters will benefit engineers worldwide. We should learn from how buildings respond to the disasters, and use this information to our advantage to save lives and infrastructure in the future. Environmental quality in buildings isn't just a health concern, it's a concern of the conscience. We need to do everything to ensure healthy work environments and living situations while considering the broader environmental impact.”

Sessions specific to tall buildings include:

• Is ASHRAE Tall Enough for Tall Buildings?, Sunday, Jan. 19
• Linking Tall Buildings' Energy Use to Tenant Contribution to Economy, Sunday, Jan. 19
• Life Safety Issues with Tall Buildings, Tuesday, Jan. 21
• Natural Ventilation for Tall Buildings, Tuesday, Jan. 21
• Current Trends in Tall Building Designs, Tuesday, Jan. 21
• Specific Engineering Solutions for Tall Buildings, Tuesday, Jan. 21
• ASHRAE and Tall Buildings, Tuesday, Jan. 21
• Trends in Building Energy Disclosure: Increasing Energy Efficiency without Retrofits, Tuesday, Jan. 21 (AHR Expo session)
• Fire Safety Concern for Supertall Buildings, Wednesday,  Jan. 22
• Data Center Control and Fire Safety in Tall Buildings, Wednesday, Jan. 22

ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is a building technology society with more than 50,000 members worldwide.