Roanoke Chapter of ASHRAE - February Newsletter

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Our Roanoke ASHRAE – Making a Difference

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February Lunch and Dinner Seminars

Speaker

Tom Phoenix, PE, Society President

Topic

Presidential Theme: People, Passion, and Performance

Tuesday, February 10th - Lunch

In Person
Wiley Wilson
127 Nationwide Drive, Lynchburg, VA 24502

Shenandoah Remote Broadcast
Daikin Applied - Massanutten Conference Room
207 Laurel Hill Road, Verona, VA 24482

Schedule

11:30 Doors Open
12:00 Lunch ($5 - Lynchburg and Shenandoah)
12:15 Business Meeting and Presentation

Tuesday, February 10th - Dinner

In Person

Holiday Inn Valley View
3315 Ordway Dr NW, Roanoke, VA 24017

Schedule

5:30 Doors Open

6:00 Dinner ($20 - Roanoke)
6:30 Business Meeting and Presentation

RSVP by Noon Friday February 6th

President's Corner

Greetings!

I would like to thank everyone who was able to attend our January meeting. I found Luis’ presentation on clean agents very interesting. I hope you were able to learn about the different methods of fire protection including clean agent suppression. I was pleased we were able to host a number of fire protection engineers. Please continue to invite friends and colleagues to join our seminars when the topic may interest them or be in there area of expertise.

This month I would like to thank Dan Lieber who volunteered to serve as our chapter treasurer this year. Dan has been a great asset to our chapter and has worked hard to document our finances. Dan has faithfully served our chapter in a number of roles in the past, and is one our chapter’s past presidents. Please join me in thanking Dan for his service!

This month we will be hosting ASHRAE society president Tom Phoenix. I have had the privilege to hear Tom present his presidential address and I enjoy getting to know Tom and his vision for society. Please invite your co-workers and colleagues to this special meeting.

Thank you!

Wesley

We're starting to reach the end of the ASHRAE year and are looking for volunteers for next year's officers and committee chairs. If you are interested or would like to volunteer someone, see an officer.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Feb 10th - Lunch (Lynchburg)
Feb 10th - Dinner (Roanoke)
Past President's Appreciation Night
Society President Visit

Mar 10th - Dinner
Brewery Tour
Refrigeration Tech Session

Apr 14th - Dinner
Student Night @ VWCC

May 1st - Lew Evans Golf Tournament

May 12th - Lunch Blue-5

2014– 2015 OFFICERS

President - Wesley Southall
Wesley.Southall@aecom.com
Pres.-Elect - Patrick Castelvecchi
jpcastelvecchi@burnsmcd.com
Vice Pres. - Paul Holloway
pholloway@lpa-inc.com
Treasurer - Dan Lieber
dan.lieber@gjhopkins.com
Secretary - Wesley Southall
Wesley.Southall@aecom.com
Governor - Roger Jones
rjones5632@aol.com
Governor - John Mann
jmann@mannassociatesinc.com
Governor - Tom Brannen
tebrannen@cox.net

2014 – 2015 COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Shenandoah Section - Dave Miller
david.miller@daikinapplied.com
Membership - Kyle Waltz
kylewaltz@waltzengineeredsales.com
Student Activities - Zach Cates
zcates@SFCS.com
CTT - Paul Holloway
pholloway@lpa-inc.com
Government Grassroots - Patrick Castelvecchi
jpcastelvecchi@burnsmcd.com
Historian - Patrick Murdock
pmurdock@trane.com
Research Promotion - Patrick Murdock
pmurdock@trane.com
Newsletter - Patrick Castelvecchi
jpcastelvecchi@burnsmcd.com
Webmaster - James Sledd
jesledd@burnsmcd.com

Roanoke Chapter Website

ASHRAE Region III Website

ASHRAE Website

Chapter LinkedIn Group

Chapter Facebook

Chapter Twitter

Chapter Google+

This Month's Speaker...

Thomas H. Phoenix, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, ASHRAE-Certified Building Energy Assessment and Building Energy Modeling Professional, is principal and vice president, Moser Mayer Phoenix Associates, Greensboro, N.C.

As ASHRAE’s president, Phoenix chairs the Society’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee. His presidential theme is “People, Passion and Performance.”

“Thanks to our more than 50,000 members around the globe, ASHRAE is building a worldwide best practices network of innovative people and successful technologies to serve the built environment community. Our membership also has great passion – I see that in how much time and dedication our people give to helping write standards, develop research, guide in policy and procedure, etc. Together, our people plus their passion ensure performance – whether that’s improving the performance of our great Society or improving the performance of building stock around the world. Our people, our passion and our performance will take ASHRAE to the next level.”

Phoenix started his career in HVAC over 30 years ago as an engineer with the Division of Plant Operation of the North Carolina State Board of Education. After a few years he had an opportunity to enter the design and consulting field of the HVAC business and has been working in that discipline since then.

In 1989 Phoenix established the engineering department, and became a partner, in the architectural/engineering firm of Moser Mayer Phoenix Associates, PA. Phoenix’s design portfolio includes schools, research and testing laboratories, industrial manufacturing facilities and numerous classroom, residence hall and food service projects for colleges and universities.

Significant projects in which Phoenix has been involved include the North Carolina Museum of History, the American Airlines Hub (Terminal C) at Raleigh Durham International Airport, the Greensboro Natural Science Center SciQuarium and Animal Discovery exhibit areas, the Atlantic Coast Conference Hall of Champions Exhibit Hall and the Newbridge Bank Baseball Stadium.

Phoenix previously served on the Board of Directors as president-elect, treasurer, vice president, a director-at-large and director and regional chair for Region IV.

He is a recipient of an Exceptional Service Award, a Presidential Award of Excellence, the Region IV Rudy Ferguson Award and a Regional Award of Merit.

He was awarded a Bachelor of Science in engineering operations from North Carolina State University.

Research Promotion Update...

As the 2014/2015 Research Promotion (RP) Chair, I would first like to thank all of our chapter members who have contributed to ASHRAE Research Promotion in the past. Our goal this year is $15,300! It’s one of those big hairy audacious goals as our total last year was $6,254. However, we have raised $16,226 in the 2011/2012 campaign, so I have faith that we will get to our goal this year. It will take every member of our chapter contributing what they can, to make this goal! I will be reaching out to ALL of you this year and we may even look at having some sort of fundraiser to benefit RP(For those of you who like to shoot, it may involve guns) Thank you in advance for your support!
Patrick Murdock
2014/2015 RP Chair

Mission: To improve the quality of life and to answer tomorrow’s questions through research TODAY.
2014/2015 Roanoke Chapter Goal = $15,300
2014/2015 Scholarship goal = $200
2014/2015 YTD Contributions $2326

Thank You To Our 2014/2015 YTD Donors:
Mr. Patrick Castelvecchi
   Mr. Zac Cates
   Mr. Paul Holloway
   Mr. Dan Lieber
   Mr. Patrick Murdock
   Mr. Wesley Southall
Mr. Tom Brannen
Mr. Jeff Perry
Mr. Bill Hamill
Buffalo Air Handling Company
Mr. Tom Watson
Aerofin Corporation
Mr. Boyd Headley
Mr. John Mann

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ASHRAE RESEARCH PROMOTION
1.   There are 4 separate areas that RP dollars help to fund:
a.   Research
b.   Education (ASHRAE Learning Institute)
c.   ASHRAE Foundation (Research Endowed Funds)
d.   General Fund(Contributions support special Board approved projects)
2.   Unlike many non-profits (or not-for-profit) organizations, 100% of RP dollars go directly to research (not a portion, for example you’ve heard $0.92 of every dollar you give goes to….)

Chapter Technology Transfer News...

Refrigeration Commissioning Guide Seeks To Ensure Systems Work Right; Free Download Available

ATLANTA – Sixty percent of energy use in supermarkets is attributed to refrigeration, and studies have shown commissioning could result in 7 to 25 percent energy savings. A new guide from ASHRAE outlines a commissioning process that would result in substantial savings.

“Refrigeration Commissioning Guide for Commercial and Industrial Systems” provides user-friendly, how-to guidance for commissioning of custom-engineered refrigeration systems in commercial and industrial facilities. The book was funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The book is available for free download at www.ashrae.org/freeRefCxGuidance.

“Custom refrigeration systems are complex and individually designed for each facility,” Richard Royal, who served as chair of the committee that wrote the guide, said. “Deficiencies in the system design found at start-up are not easily resolved and, as a result, maintenance managers or operators deal with unnecessary shortcomings and expenses over the life of a facility. The value of commissioning is to establish a consistent stepwise process that helps ‘get it right the first time,’ resulting in refrigeration systems that ‘work right’ and minimize maintenance and energy costs.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that supermarkets typically use approximately 3,000,000 kWh of electricity per year, with 60 percent of that energy use attributed to refrigeration (EPA 2007). Portland Energy Conservation, Inc. (PECI) predicts that commissioning in existing grocery stores would result in 7 percent to 25 percent energy savings per year (PECI 2010). Based on these estimates, this commissioning guide, if widely adopted, would lead to substantial energy savings.

“Thousands of refrigeration systems are installed every year in facilities ranging from convenience stores to large, sophisticated frozen food distribution centers,” Royal said. “Properly commissioned systems reduce energy cost, are easier to maintain, help minimize liabilities from refrigeration leaks and reduce loss of product to system failures or unreliable performance.”

Royal noted that commissioning of refrigeration systems is uncommon in the industry. One reason is a belief that commissioning results in added cost and time without sufficient or measureable value.

“Certainly, commissioning is an investment, but it provides significant financial value in several ways,” he said. “First, systems operate more reliably with lower maintenance cost and lower energy cost when commissioning is applied as described in this Guide. Second, incorporating commissioning can reduce first cost through improved understanding of system performance and lead to better equipment design and installation methods.”

The guide will help achieve cost-effective and cost-efficient refrigeration systems for new projects, expansions, remodels and existing systems that simply need a tune-up. For commercial facility owners and managers, this means improved profitability through lower operating and service costs as well as reduced product loss. For industrial plants, this means improved “up time” and improved labor productivity in addition to reduced operating cost, according to Royal.

Also included in the Guide is information on commissioning during planning and design; construction and installation; and system start-up and first-year operation. A matrix helps delineate roles and responsibilities. Examples of commissioning checklists and acceptance plans can be used for reference or template.

A printed version of the Guide is available. The cost of the printed version is $99 ($84, ASHRAE members). To order, contact ASHRAE Customer Contact Center at 1-800-527-4723 (United States and Canada) or 404-636-8400 (worldwide), fax 678-539-2129, or visit www.ashrae.org/bookstore.

Government Grassroots News...

DOE Seeks Public Comment on Second Quadrennial Technology Review Framing Document

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a request for public comment on the Framing Document for the second Quadrennial Technology Review (QTR). The 2015 QTR will build upon the 2011 QTR, addressing technological changes that have taken place and focusing U.S. energy challenges. The 2015 QTR will also discuss research and development opportunities and strategies in a number of areas, including: increasing the efficiency of building systems and technologies, modernizing electric power systems, manufacturing efficiency, and advancing clean transportation.

Comments are due on or before February 20, 2015. Full information is available at https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/01/21/2015-00893/quadrennial-technology-review-framing-document

The Framing Document can be found at (PDF) http://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/01/f19/DOEQTR2015FramingDocument.pdf

DOE Issues Final Rule on Energy Conservation Standards for Automatic Commercial Ice Makers

The U.S. Department of Energy has issued a final rule on energy conservation standards for automatic commercial ice makers, which discusses ASHRAE Standard 29 Methods of Testing Automatic Ice Makers. Full information is available at https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2015/01/28/2015-00326/energy-conservation-program-energy-conservation-standards-for-automatic-commercial-ice-makers