ATLANTA — As part of its commitment to extend the society’s global reach and better support its membership, ASHRAE announced the formation of a new ASHRAE Region in Europe — Region XIV. With this new region will also come a new chapter in Ireland, which will be vitally important for industry collaboration throughout Europe.
Additionally, the society announced two strategic partnership agreements with the signing of new Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with high-profile European societies. The first is a trilateral agreement with the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), which is based in the UK, and the Federation of European Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning associations (REHVA). REHVA is a federation of 26 European HVACR societies with more than 100,000 members. The second MoU is directly between ASHRAE and REHVA.
Both agreements will increase the knowledge transfer from the societies between North America and Europe and outline how the groups will work together more closely and with more defined parameters to continue furthering and promoting the advancements of HVACR technologies. These include but are not limited to: research; joint conferences and meetings; training and education programs; publication distribution and chapter collaboration.
These announcements were among many made during the inaugural address of incoming 2017-201818 ASHRAE President, Bjarne W. Olesen, Fellow ASHRAE. During his speech, Olesen presented his presidential theme, which is “Extending Our Community.” Through this theme, Olesen will focus on extending ASHRAE’s global community, technological horizons, and overall value to the society’s members.
The formation of the new region, along with these agreements, are directly in-line with the directives set forth by Olesen and will further equip ASHRAE to continue meeting and exceeding its members’ expectations, as well as better anticipate them on a global scale.
“Extending our global community will acknowledge our interconnectedness and embrace our shared needs and objectives,” Olesen said. “By creating a new region and strengthening our relationships with associate societies in Europe, our members will be even more empowered to continue producing and sharing technical guidance worldwide. This will, in turn, bolster our industry’s global diversity as we work toward a more sustainable world.”
Olesen also announced that the society is establishing the ASHRAE Global Training Center for Building Excellence in Dubai, which will serve ASHRAE members and other building systems professionals in the Gulf Region and in surrounding areas.
The focus of the ASHRAE Global Training Center will be to make training conveniently available on a regular schedule that is curricula based. Training offered in the center will be customized and scalable, accounting for climate, culture, suppliers, energy sources, prices, codes, and construction practices. The center’s instructors will be engineers familiar with the intricacies of the Middle East. It is scheduled to open in September.
For more information, visit www.ashrae.org/news.
Publication date: 7/20/2017
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