High attendance was reported for the recent ASHRAE Winter Conference and the AHR Expo in Orlando. The 2016 ASHRAE Winter Conference was held Jan. 23-27, with the AHR Expo held Jan. 25-27.

The ASHRAE conference had more than 3,000 attendees. Attendance this year was higher than the past eight winter conferences, except Las Vegas in 2011. Attendees came from 67 countries. The 2016 AHR Expo, co-sponsored by ASHRAE, set a record by being the first show outside of Chicago to break 400,000 sq ft of exhibitor space. The expo featured 2,063 exhibitors, including 561 deemed international. The total attendance for visitors was 42,672, with total attendance of visitors and exhibitors at 60,926.

The conference’s technical program also ranked high in attendance with new tracks focused on design-build practices and residential systems. Individual top-attended sessions in the technical program were related to “Cooling with the Sun: Solar Thermal Cooling;” “Energy Submetering Fundamentals: Benchmarking, Baselining and Beyond!;” “The Impacts of Operable Windows on Building Performance;” “Highlights from the 24th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration;” “The Internet of Everything: How Smart and Connected Sensors Will Transform the HVAC Service Industry;” “HVAC Pumps: New ECM Motor and Control Technologies;” “Indoor Air Quality and Energy Efficiency: Measurement and Analysis of Multiple Approaches;” “Back to Basics: The Science, Application and Art of Load Calculations;” “Integrating Cutting-Edge Technology: Renewable Energy and Thermal Energy Storage;” and “Hydronic Systems: Doing More with Less.”

Also offered were a combined 20 Professional Development Seminars and Short Courses from the ASHRAE Learning Institute. The most popular short course offerings were “Variable Refrigerant Flow Systems;” “Complying with Standard 90.1: HVAC/Mechanical;” and “Designing High-Performance Healthcare HVAC Systems.” The Professional Development Seminars that drew the highest number of registrations were “Energy Modeling Best Practices & Applications;” “Commercial Building Energy Audits;” and “Commissioning Process for New & Existing Buildings.”

The 2016 ASHRAE Annual Conference takes place in St. Louis, June 25-June 29. The 2017 ASHRAE Winter Conference takes place Jan. 28-Feb.1 in Las Vegas, with the AHR Expo being held Jan. 30-Feb 1.