The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has published a plan outlining its research goals for creating a sustainable future.

The plan covers five key areas including: energy and resources; indoor environmental quality; tools and applications; equipment components and materials; and education and outreach.

“Research and technology are the foundation of ASHRAE,” says John Mitchell, chair of the research advisory panel that developed the plan. “With issues around energy conservation, refrigeration and indoor air quality facing our industry, that must remain strong.”

Among the goals set by the society is providing guidance on techniques to work towards achieving net zero energy use buildings – buildings that consume equal or less energy than they produce on an annual basis – by 2015. Other goals include producing new residential and light commercial buildings that use 70% less energy than those built at the beginning of 2000 to ASHRAE 90.2 standards in the next 10 years; making improvements in occupant health and comfort that can yield a 20% increase in productivity by 2015; provide better understanding of how contagious viruses are transmitted in an indoor environment; developing remediation techniques and equipment to minimise exposure; and developing techniques to halve the installed energy use of HVAC&R system auxiliary equipment by 2015.

The plan will be updated every five years.

Source

Building Sustainable Design