The M Files

If I had a tattoo, it would probably be an ASHRAE logo. So missing this week’s ASHRAE* summer meeting in Montreal to take care of business in central Pennsylvania has me feeling like I got ditched by my prom date.**I’m honored to be the vice chair of a new ASHRAE Technical Committee (TC 7.2), HVAC&R Construction and Design Build Technologies, which is charged with the following mission:

Enhancing the collaboration of Contractors and Design Build Firms with the entire ASHRAE membership to ensure that the relevant research, publications, and educational materials promote the design, construction, and operation of resource efficient, high performance buildings.

In other words, we want to pull the expertise of the contracting community into an engineer-dominated organization. If you’ve been a reader of The M Files, you know that I’m an advocate and practitioner of contracting methods that promote cross-disciplinary collaboration. See:

• What?ó?é¼?äós the Real Cost of Your Low Bid Contract?
• 5 Essential Elements to Great Design Build
• The Hidden Costs of Low Bid Contracts

The AEC industry’s most prevalent methods of design and construction contracting are broken. So I feel a keen call to duty with our committee’s work. It represents a step forward in achieving industry-wide high performance.

In response to our committee’s request, ASHRAE conducted an in-depth survey of their 7,000-plus contractor members in 2008. We hoped to glean observations that would lead to greater collaboration between the HVAC&R design and construction professions. Relevant findings included identifying these five primary issues:

1. Be present. Too few contractor members are involved in Society-level activities.
2. Be consistent. Many HVAC&R contractors are not proficient in the identification and use of ASHRAE standards.
3. Be educated. Most HVAC&R contractors struggle to keep abreast of the vast array of ASHRAE resources and certifications.
4. Recognize contractor diversity. There are a wide range of HVAC&R contractors for ASHRAE to serve, from fully integrated design-builders to those who are completely reliant on relationships with the consulting engineering community.
5. Be partnership focused and inclusive. ASHRAE marketing is focused on the engineering community, potentially to the detriment of encouraging integrated design and construction teams.

Some early steps toward collaborative contractor-engineer engagement were taken at the winter meeting in Las Vegas. We hosted three activities, including an open contractor forum at the AHR show and two well-attended collaborative seminars: “A Practical Guide for Reducing Air Leakage in HVAC Air Systems” and “Integrated Design Build Delivery: Project Case Studies,” which was hosted jointly with TC 7.1 for Integrated Building Design.

Please reach out to me if you have suggestions for programming, additional research topics, or recruiting committee membership. Additional contact information can be found on our website.

*ASHRAE stands for the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers. Their stated mission is, “advancing heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education.” ASHRAE standards for energy efficiency and indoor air quality are written into most building codes. Their recommendations are recognized by green building standards, including the USGBC LEED certification system.

**Sadly, I do know that feeling first hand. But anyone who contemplates an ASHRAE tattoo is pretty much asking for abuse, anyway.