January 2024 Chapter Meeting

TUESDAY, january 9th, 2024 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

LOCATION:

Cefalo’s

428 Washington Ave

Carnegie, PA 15106

This month’s presentation will focus on:

Main Entrance Air Curtains: Improving Energy Efficiency, Health, & Comfort

Presenter Bio:

Stephen J. Benes

Stephen J. Benes has worked as a regional sales manager for Berner International for 25 years. He oversees various distribution channels and manages OEM accounts strategically across North America. Stephen is also responsible for sales and training, conducts webinars, and has been featured in business magazines for his expertise in energy savings and code compliance. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration and Economics from Waynesburg University in PA.

Registration Link:

Meeting Signup

November 2023 Chapter Meeting

ASHRAE DISTINGUISHED LECTURER SERIES

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14TH, 2023 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

LOCATION:

Cefalo’s

428 Washington Ave

Carnegie, PA 15106

his month’s presentation is part of the ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer Series and will focus on:

ASHRAE Standard 62.1 and LEED: Using Enhanced Air Cleaning to Integrate IAQ and Energy Conservation

Presenter Bio:

Chris Muller - ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer

Chris is an expert on environmental air quality and the application/use of gas-phase air filtration media, filters, equipment, and air monitoring instrumentation. 200+ peer-reviewed papers & articles, 100+ seminars. Co-author of the NAFA Air Filtration Handbook, Semiconductor Manufacturing Handbook 2nd Ed., ASHRAE Handbook on Particulate and Gaseous Contamination in Datacom Environments and Carrier Corporation Applications Technical Development Program.

Registration Link:

Meeting Signup

October 2023 Chapter Meeting

TUESDAY, october 10TH, 2023 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

LOCATION:

Pittsburgh Marriott North
100 Cranberry Woods Drive

Cranberry Township, PA 16066

Presentation Topic:

Air Distribution Design

Presenter Bio:

Ed Merewether, Segment Product Manager – Grilles, Registers, & Diffusers, Greenheck

Ed is a seasoned HVAC professional with more than 23 years of industry experience. He has extensive experience in plant operations, customer service, sales and product management.  For the last 11 years Ed has been with Metal Industries (now a Greenheck Group owned company) and currently holds the role of GRD segment product manager for Greenheck Air Distribution.

Registration Link:

Meeting Signup

September 2023 Chapter Meeting

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2023 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

LOCATION:

Cefalo's
428 Washington Avenue
Carnegie, PA 15106

Presentation Topic:

Introduction to Hybrid Variable Refrigerant Flow Systems

Presenter Bio:

 Andy Tesoriero, Regional Manager, Mitsubishi Electric 

Andy has been a Regional Manager for Mitsubishi Electric Trane for 10 years and serves the Pittsburgh, PA market as well as Maryland, Northern Virginia and Washington DC. Andy has been working in the Mechanical Engineering field for over 25 years. Before working for Mitsubishi, Andy spent 15 years working for a mechanical equipment representative in the Central Pennsylvania market, as a sales engineer specializing in cooling towers, heat exchangers and the accessories associated this equipment. Andy graduated from The Catholic University of America in 1985 with a degree in Civil Engineering.

Registration Link:

Meeting Signup

Date: May 23, 2023

 Time:  Arrive by 3:45 p.m. for a start at 4:00 p.m.

 Where:  AHN Wexford Hospital - 12351 Perry Highway Wexford, PA 15090

 Tour Host:         Todd Sherwin, LLI Engineering

 Site Information:  AHN Wexford COGEN facility is an on-site plant that provides the hospital’s electricity, heating, and cooling by producing up to two megawatts of electricity and thermal energy on-site.  Producing power on-site eliminates the transmission losses.  It is a project unique not only to AHN, but also to hospitals in the area in general.  The overall cost was in excess of $10,000,000, but $1,800,000 came from a PA Department of Community and Economic Development and Department of Environmental Protection as part of the Alternative and Clean Energy (ACE) program. 

Followed by Apps & Social Hour at:

Tapville Social

11978 Perry Hwy

Unit 401

Wexford, PA 15090

(alcohol not included by ASHRAE)

 Tour will consist of the following:

Todd Sherwin will discuss the overall plant concept and how Peoples Gas became the owner of it using a Design / Build / Own / Manage/ (D-BOM) model.

• Todd will discuss the prime generator electrical connection to utility, and virtual aggregation of the adjacent buildings on campus, as well as the planned interconnection directly to the hospital

 Don Staff will discuss various mechanical systems:

• Chilled Water

• Hot Water

• Steam

• Don will also discuss the heat recovery options and what was installed for the Prime Generator

 Mark Reeves from McKamish will discuss the maintenance and operation of the plant and the prime generator.

• Notes: 

• Due to the noise at the facility, we may break down groups to sizes of 5-10 people so because hearing someone in a large group with the noise in the facility would be challenging. 

  For more information, check out this youtube video: :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd0J671nuto

Save the Date:

May 2023 Chapter Meeting

TUESDAY, May 9th, 2023 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2022 Update

ASHRAE Standard 62.1 was created in 1973 to address indoor air quality.  50 years after it was initially published, the standard is one of the most recognizable standards in the building industry and is written into mechanical codes around the world to provide acceptable indoor air quality that minimizes adverse health effects.  Because ASHRAE Standard 62.1 is continuously updated every three years, people who use the standard as the basis of building designs need regular updates on changes that could affect how they design for good indoor air quality.  In the 2022 update, the standard included useful information to help designers apply the Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP) to clean the air as an acceptable alternative to dilution ventilation.  The presentation will review many of the significant updates to ASHRAE 62.1-2022 and will review application of the IAQP as defined by the standard.  With increased awareness of our built environment’s carbon footprint, using an air cleaning technology to reduce the quantity of outside air could represent a substantial energy and carbon footprint reduction. 

Presenter Bio:

Chris Ahne - Vice President of Sales at Genesis Air

Chris Ahne is the Vice President of Sales for Genesis Air in Lubbock, Texas.  In 1999, Chris earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Arkansas.  He has worked in the HVAC industry for nearly 25 years supporting the design, sale, and installation of HVAC equipment.  Chris has been active in ASHRAE throughout his professional career, serving as president of the Arkansas Chapter in 2010, served on the ASHRAE Handbook Committee and was the chair of Handbook Committee in 2016.  Chris has served ASHRAE Region VIII as a regional vice chair for student activities, and is currently the Region VIII Nominating Alternate.  He is a member of ASHRAE SPC 145.4P and ASHRAE SPC 185.5P standard committees and is a corresponding member of other technical committees.  Chris is a native Arkansan, who currently lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.  He has been married to his wife Jennifer for 21 years, and they have two kids, Kate and Sam, who keep them very busy.

Registration Link:

Meeting Signup

Save the date for our December ASHRAE Dinner Meeting

Details to follow

November 2022 Chapter Meeting

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29TH, 2022 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Presentation Topic:

The Future of Refrigerants

Presenter Bio:

Connor Blood, PE, LEED AP - Sales Engineer at HAVTECH

Connor has worked as a sales engineer for Havtech (formerly Thermaltech) in Pittsburgh for the last 6 years. Prior to his current role, he worked for Maryland Trane for 6 years where he earned his LEED Accredited Professional and Professional Engineering license. Connor is a graduate of the Penn State Architectural Engineering program, class of 2011.

Follow Link to Register:

https://ashraepittsburgh.org/meetingsignup

Please join us in September for our kickoff meeting for the 2022/23 year!

This month’s presentation will focus on the IAQP Method for Ventilation Design.

Follow this link to register:

Presenter Bio:

Ryan Peters - Application Engineer with Enverid

Please pay through Paypal - automatically RSVPs with payment.

Tour of Carnegie Mellon University’s ANSYS Hall

Dinner to follow at The Porch at Schenley.

EVENT LIMITED TO FIRST 25 RESPONDENTS!

Follow this link to register: Register

Please join us in April for our last in person meeting for the 2021-2022 year

Modern Restaurant Design

Follow this link to register: Register

Presenter Bio:

Tim Ponticello

Pay through Paypal, no need to RSVP. If you’re using a season pass, please email Ryan Jordan to RSVP

This month we have a joint virtual meeting with the Cleveland Chapter on Hydronic Balancing

A session on why hydronic balancing is important, with an overview of balancing methods and how they relate to both the TAB process as well as operating efficiencies. Being mindful of how balancing directly impacts start up, long term unitary performance, and occupant comfort is crucial to total system success.

Our presenter this Month is Kirk Phipps. Starting with Hays Fluid Controls in 2009, Kirk Phipps has now spent over a dozen years dedicating his time to ensuring projects of all types have proper distribution of flow. Having been in a variety of roles, he is currently the Director of Sales managing a team of regional managers and providing consultation within the market segments of Commercial HVAC, Plumbing, Industrial Process, and onboard systems for both the US Navy and private commercial vessels.

This month, our speaker will be presenting to us virtually. We will hold this month's chapter meeting as Virtual-Only.

Registration Link below

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7451618321317893903

Please join us for our December Meeting and Holiday Happy Hour

This month’s meeting will start with a Happy Hour from 5-6 pm.
One free drink ticket is included with registration.
Dinner at 6:00 and our presentation at 6:30

Closed Loop Hydronic Water Quality

Come learn how correct design for water quality, pre-commissioning cleaning and diligent commissioning- followed by effective water treatment management, considerably impacts the overall performance of a buildings hydronic systems. As we look to transition to new renewable technologies, which operate at lower temperatures, it is more imperative than ever to ensure that a high level of thermal fluid/ water quality is maintained.

Presenter Bio:

Darren Wilkinson, MASHRAE, CIBSE CPD Course Provider. 

Darren Wilkinson is an innovator of various patented HVAC water treatment engineered products, products which have won numerous UK awards. Having spent more than 20 years within the water treatment Industry, Darren also served on the steering group for the ‘ICOM Water Treatment & Conditioning Guide for Commercial Heating Systems’ (2017). Darren has also volunteered his time within 2 separate scientific studies which set about to understand the correlation between water quality within closed loop systems, energy efficiency and lifecycle. Darren published a hypothesis which has now become an ASHRAE sponsored scientific study. The study will assist in the development of artificial Intelligence ‘predictor models’ - predicting likely ongoing energy performance and lifecycle of closed loop hydronic systems. The results will also spearhead an ambitious plan to develop a global water treatment standard for hydronic water quality. Darren is the Chapter President of the ASHRAE UK Midlands Chapter.

Please email Harry Elinsky to RSVP if you are using a Season Pass for this meeting.

Please join us for our November meeting. This meeting location has been changed to Cefalo’s.

This month’s presentation is on Engineering Ethics, with a presentation by Chad Wissinger and Brian Maloney of the law firm Dentons

Follow this link to register:

Presenter Bios:

Chad Wissinger:

Chad has more than twenty years of experience in construction litigation, environmental matters, regulatory compliance, and complex contract negotiations. He has significant first chair trial experience in a wide array of venues (jury trials, bench trials, trials before the Pennsylvania Board of Claims and Environmental Hearing Boards, and both single and three panel arbitrations under the AAA and JAMS/Endispute Rules), having taken claims totaling in excess of fifty-million dollars to verdict. Additionally, he counsels clients on all aspects of regulatory compliance, including preparing for and reacting to incidents and inspections involving OSHA, DEP, EPA, and other regulatory agencies.

Chad currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at University of Pittsburgh School of Law where he co-teaches an Occupational Health and Safety course.

Brian Maloney, PE:

Brian has spent his entire career as a lawyer addressing a range of construction-related issues, including dispute resolution and contract negotiation, representing owners, contractors, sub-contractors, architects, engineers, and other consultants. He is also well-versed in all aspects of state and municipal procurement, including preparing advertisements for bids, bid preparation, and bid protests.

Brian practiced as a civil/structural engineer, designing buildings and investigating existing structures for more than seven years prior to his career as a lawyer. Brian’s engineering and science background provides him with exceptional insight and fluency in the technical, practical and business aspects of construction contracting, claims and disputes.

As comfortable in a room full of engineers and project managers as he is in a courtroom of lawyers, Brian is both a reputable advisor for clients and their project teams, and a skilled advocate, who can translate complex engineering and legal terminology into comprehensible concepts for judges, juries, arbitrators and others. He is particularly adept at evaluating claims by using his engineering and construction industry background to avoid disputes where possible and resolve disputes when necessary.

Brian handles a full range of construction-related disputes – complex contract disputes; all types of cost claims; notice and payment disputes; mechanics’ liens; delay, inefficiency and loss of productivity claims; defect claims; defective specifications, design errors and omissions; and unforeseen and differing site conditions matters.

A go-to resource for construction crisis management, Brian guides and supports clients through crisis situations and government investigations (including OSHA), from initial response through litigation and appeals. He oversees on-site and internal investigations, handles claim documentation, preservation of evidence and contract review, and assists companies managing the response.

Please email Harry Elinsky to RSVP after you pay through Paypal.

Please join us in October as we have our first in person meeting since February 2019.

This presentation will focus on the impact of humidity on indoor air quality. Discussion will include the impact of relative humidity on human health and the transmission of infectious diseases.

Follow this link to register:

Presenter Bio:

Dr. Stephanie Taylor is the CEO of Taylor Healthcare Commissioning, Inc. After working as a physician for many decades, Dr. Taylor obtained a Masters in Architecture as well as Infection Control certification. Her lifelong commitment to patient care includes focusing on improving the healthcare physical environment and clinical work processes to help patients heal quickly and save hospitals valuable dollars. Dr. Taylor is a graduate of Harvard Medical School (MD), and Norwich University (Masters Architecture). She has numerous research publications in "Nature", "Science", and other peer-reviewed journals.

Please email Harry Elinsky to RSVP after you pay through Paypal.

This month we have a joint virtual meeting with the Cleveland/Akron-Canton Chapter

The presentation is by this year’s ASHRAE Society President, Charles Gulledge, and is based on his theme for the 2020-21 ASHRAE Society Year: “The ASHRAE Digital Lighthouse and Industry 4.0.”

“Why should we engage in digital transformation? To gain a competitive advantage amongst our peers, position ourselves as the go-to resource for clients, improve margins, provide greater value, and attract and retain a digitally skilled workforce.”

Please register for this webinar. After registering, ASHRAE will send you a confirmation email and reminder.

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7741778331531595280

This month we have a joint virtual meeting hosted by the National Capital Chapter

This presentation will discuss the noise and vibration related problem in a typical industrial setting and ways to go about mitigating them. It will start by summarizing some of the basic principles of sound and vibration, discuss allowable noise limits for residential and work setting and identify common industrial noise and vibration sources. Finally reviewing potential cost effective mitigation options that is suitable for various different constraints.

Follow this link to register:

https://nccashrae.org/meetinginfo.php?id=168