ASHRAE, DOE Partner to Promote Energy Efficiency

Improving the efficient use of energy while minimizing its impact on the environment is the goal of a partnering agreement signed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Through a memorandum of understanding signed today, Oct. 31, ASHRAE and the DOE will work together to improve the efficient use of energy and the viable and widespread use of renewable energy sources and to minimize the impact of energy use on the environment.

"ASHRAE energy standards have guided the efficient use of energy resources in buildings for more than 20 years," Richard Rooley, FREng, ASHRAE president, said. "Partnering with the Department of Energy will allow us to improve on our efforts in achieving substantial energy savings without sacrificing comfort, air quality or productivity."

DOE and ASHRAE will work toward the following goals:
* Promoting and supporting the continuing development of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, Energy Efficient Design of New Buildings Except Low Rise Residential Buildings, ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality In Commercial, Institutional, Industrial and High-rise Residential Buildings, and Standard 62.2, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality In Low-Rise Residential Buildings.
* Promoting and supporting implementation of Standard 90.1 through training programs, including self-directed learning, building code interaction and ASHRAE chapter-oriented training.
* Promoting and supporting the development of guidance for exceeding the minimum efficiencies set by Standard 90.1, and new metrics for building energy efficiency and environmental impact.
* Cooperating in and supporting research into clean and renewable sources of energy, energy efficiency in buildings and equipment, and environmental impact of energy and material use.
* Cooperating in promotion of ANSI/ASHRAE standards adoption in International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards.
* Working within the building community and related professions to encourage the interoperability of building related software and integrated solutions among design disciplines, manufacturers, contractors, building owners, and operators, to increase energy efficiency, health, and productivity in new and existing buildings.
* Ensuring sufficient numbers of qualified building design professionals by promoting and encouraging the study of mathematics and science to pre-college students, the study of building design within college curricula, and the pursuit of continuing education by practicing design professionals.
* Providing and supporting technology transfer to building owners and management about the interrelationships between mechanical systems and building operating costs, workplace performance, client satisfaction and public safety.
* Monitoring the operational, energy and environmental impacts of new counter-terrorism design features and promoting minimization of those impacts.

ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is an international organization of 55,000 persons. Its sole objective is to advance through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education the arts and sciences of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration to serve the evolving needs of the public.

Xanterra Parks & Resorts Commits to Renewable Energy

By increasing its commitment to using renewable energy in its operations in Zion and Crater Lake National Parks, Xanterra Parks & Resorts is finding ways to minimize its environmental impact. The company is now using renewable wind- and geothermal-generated electricity to power 10 percent of the total electricity used in Zion National Park and 15 percent at Crater Lake National Park.

Wind power is increasingly seen as the most promising and cost-effective renewable energy source available today. The benefits of using wind power instead of traditional electricity sources include significant reductions in smog, acid rain and air pollution. Wind power prevents carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas, from reaching the atmosphere.

"By using wind power at Zion and Crater Lake operations, Xanterra prevents 570,650 pounds of carbon dioxide from reaching the atmosphere each year," said Chris Lane, director of environmental affairs for Xanterra Parks & Resorts. "This is the equivalent of saving 611,400 miles of car use or planting 113 acres of trees."

Xanterra Parks & Resorts has entered into a partnership with Green Mountain Power and Pacific Power to purchase renewable energy that is produced at a wind farm at the Foote Creek Rim in southeastern Wyoming. The wind-generated electricity is fed to Xanterra's operations through the same transmission grid that distributes power from traditional coal-fired plants.

Presently, purchasing wind energy costs 30 percent more than power from coal-derived energy. As the number of wind farms continues to increase, the price of wind power is expected to fall from its present level of up to six cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh) to 2 cents per kwh in 2005.

In addition to using wind power, Crater Lake National Park operations also use geothermal energy, which taps the earth's underground heat sources to power electricity and provide heat.

Zion and Crater Lake National Parks are the only Xanterra operations that are presently connected to a renewable energy source, said Lane. "We will use renewable energy in other locations as soon as it becomes available." Xanterra Parks & Resorts operates lodges, restaurants and other concessions at national parks and state parks and resorts. Xanterra is the country's largest national park concessioner. The company operates concessions in the following locations: Yellowstone National Park, the North and South Rims of Grand Canyon National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Crater Lake National Park, Death Valley National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Everglades National Park, and Mount Rushmore National Memorial; and at the Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif.; Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. and eight Ohio State Parks.

Long committed to the preservation and protection of the environment, Ecologix, Xanterra's environmental program, includes a variety of proactive environmental stewardship programs in each location. Xanterra was the recipient of Environmental Achievement Awards from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2002 and from the Department of Interior in 2001 and 2002. Xanterra also received the Travel Industry Association's Odyssey Award for its environmental initiatives in 2001.

For more information about Xanterra and links to individual properties, visit: www.xanterra.com.

Call for Entries: 2004 Northeast Green Building Awards

The Northeast Green Building Awards recognize outstanding achievements of high-performance architecture throughout the northeast. The annual competition is open to built works - either new construction or renovations - completed after January 1, 1998 and before January 1, 2004 in the northeastern US, as well as to student projects. Award categories include: places to live, places to work, places to learn, and student projects. All entries are due by 4:00 PM at the NESEA office on Tuesday, February 3, 2004.

Winners will be announced in many professional magazines and all project boards will be on display at the Building Energy 2004 conference held on March 10-13, 2004 at Boston University in Boston, MA. All projects will be featured on the NESEA website. Cash prizes in the amount of $1,000 will be awarded for first place in each building category. In addition, those in the student projects category who place second will receive $500 and those who place third will receive $250.

Northeastern states include Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington DC.

The competition is organized by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association and is supported in part by the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust. For more details about how to enter, please visit the NESEA website at www.nesea.org or call Anissa Sanborn at 413-774-6051 ext 30.

KMD Architects to Design New Corporate Headquarters for The Jie Fang (Liberation) Daily News & Media Group in Shanghai, China

KMD Architects, an Internationally acclaimed architecture firm headquartered in San Francisco, has won a client sponsored design competition for the new Jie Fang Daily News & Media Group corporate headquarters in Shanghai, China. KMD will be the lead architecture firm on the project scheduled to begin construction early in 2004 to coincide with the Chinese New Year.

According to L.T. Chen, KMD's designer on the project, “The client challenged us to create a new design in contrast with the existing corporate building. The new tower will represent the new Shanghai, one that symbolizes the new civic openness, more liberal attitudes and will also show respect for the traditional culture of the Chinese people. Our design utilizes the most innovative use of green and sustainable architecture, wireless fidelity (WIFI) technology and it will create an iconographic design that will also foster community.”

The Jie Fang News and Media building is an extraordinary opportunity to employ KMD's “double green” design that uses both green architecture to promote energy efficiency, and green spaces to enhance the building's relationship to nature. The combined elements have the capability to create an energy efficient building while employing nature to creating a sense of place, foster interaction and build community.

The main façade of the Jie Fang building utilizes a gentle concave arc to reduce the wind load on the building and channel the wind away from the pedestrians below. This arc also acts like the side mirrors of a car to both redirect the natural light of the sun inward for the benefit of the workers inside the building and reflects the sweeping panorama of the urban landscape to the East. In essence, the building itself becomes a beacon of light on the Huang Pu River when viewed from the surrounding region.

KMD's design also offers work effectiveness by incorporating wireless fidelity technology (WIFI) throughout the building. This will allow the workers at any location within the building, and even in the outside public spaces, to access networked file systems or the Internet.

This building has a lung. As air warms in the glass atrium running along the southeast edge of the building, it rises and is vented out the top of the structure. This effect draws air out of the office spaces and into the atrium to be “scrubbed” by the trees as it is lifted upward. Larger volumes of outside air can then be brought into each floor. The breathing effect of the atrium is a unique feature of the Jie Fang building and a conscious effort by the designers to minimize energy consumption.

“The Jie Fang Daily News & Media Group corporate headquarters is sure to provide a vital and sculptural representation for the Shanghai people of the new reforms, as it also creates a destination and a landmark. Additionally, many design considerations are taken to promote interaction while creating a sense of place with its use of celebratory spaces, gathering places, and pedestrian friendly walkways. Not only will the project create a variety of visual experiences for an emotional human response, but it will also provide a variety of spatial experiences that create a sense of discovery,” concluded Herb McLaughlin, KMD's Director of Design.

For more information, visit http://www.kmd-arch.com/

AHR Expo 2004 Already Largest West Coast HVAC/R Event

Show management reports that the 2004 AHR Expo (Anaheim, Calif. January 26-28) is already larger than any previous West Coast AHR Expo, with 310,000 net square feet sold and more than 1,400 exhibiting companies signed up so far. The amount of exhibit space reserved to date in Anaheim exceeds the 301,000 net square feet of exhibits at the last West Coast AHR Expo (1998, San Francisco).

The 2004 event is continuing the recent trend toward globalization. Over the past several years, the number of exhibitors headquartered outside of the United States has been on the increase. Presently, some 216 international exhibiting companies from 33 countries have signed up to display hundreds of new and innovative products. Solid representation of companies from around the globe includes more than 40 companies from Europe and three dozen from Pacific Rim countries with the majority of international support coming from more than 105 Canadian companies.

Clay Stevens, president of International Exposition Company, which produces and manages the AHR Expo, attributes some of this strong interest to the fact that the industry's leading event has not been to Southern California for more than a decade. “The West Coast region represents a strong HVACR market,” Stevens pointed out. “AHR Expo is the only opportunity many of these HVACR professionals will have to see such a vast array of all the latest products and technologies from leading suppliers around the world.”

Highlights of the AHR Expo include two special show floor pavilions (Building Automation & Control and a Software Center) that will encourage attendees to participate in hands on demonstrations and view, test, and compare state-of-the-art technologies. In addition to the pavilions, many of the AHR Expo's Endorsing Associations will conduct free educational sessions. These associations will present information ranging from principles of business management to a variety of current technical developments. Complimentary building automation sessions will also explore four areas; marketing convergence, online capabilities, an XML update, and wireless controls. As always, ASHRAE is producing a large variety of sessions in conjunction with their annual winter meeting throughout the four days of the AHR Expo that will include numerous short courses with a nominal tuition charge and a free public session on improving residential HVAC energy efficiency.

For additional information on sessions at the AHR Expo, please visit www.ahrexpo.com.

Designed to promote and encourage product innovation by recognizing exceptional achievements, the most innovative products among the thousands on display at the AHR Expo will be selected as winners in eight specific categories. A panel of judges, made up of ASHRAE members selected for their exceptional knowledge of the industry and its products, will review and evaluate all submissions. The 2003 inaugural AHR ExpoÃ’ Innovation Awards competition generated a total of ninety-five entries. The Innovation Awards are jointly sponsored by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI); and International Exposition Company (IEC), producers and organizers of the AHR Expo.

As the largest and most comprehensive exposition in the HVAC&R industry, AHR Expo attracts thousands of attendees from all facets of the industry, including contractors, engineers, dealers, distributors, wholesalers, OEM's, architects and builders, industrial plant operators, facility owners and managers, agents and reps. Since 1930, AHR EXPO has been the HVAC & R professional's single best resource for new products, new ideas, and new services. It's a hands-on, interactive event that showcases a wide spectrum of equipment, systems, and components. This unique industry forum creates a dynamic marketing environment unequaled in size and scope by any other industry event. The AHR EXPO is produced and managed by International Exposition Company. Visit www.ahrexpo.com