What a meeting we had in October! Great guest speaker! And people really liked our new venue at North Seattle Community College. Your Program Chair, John Thorpe, and Reception & Arrangements Chair, Anita Perkins, went all out to make this a success. Wait! There’s more to come! Don’t miss our November program, when we’ll explore some novel HVAC designs. I wonder what tasty dish NSCC’s Culinary Arts School will cook up for us; it’ll be hard to beat the salmon and chicken they served in October.

On other fronts, our Mt. Baker Section has been planning programs up north, and has been arranging for a student branch and scholarship at Bellingham Technical College. James Holgate will be chairing the Section this year.

Our Industry Directory and Roster is progressing, but not at the rate we hoped. To help pick up the pace, Mike Byron has volunteered to chair the committee, with guidance and help from Jim Harrison and Mark Nightlinger. We are also trying something new – we now have a dedicated database management team (Ken Wallace and brand new ASHRAE member, Sarah Moore. They both have database experience). So, please update your member info so it will be shown correctly in the Roster; more on how to do it later in this newsletter.

Looking forward to seeing you in November.

 Joel Jackman, P.E.
Chapter President

There are seven members of the Board of Governors, elected each year, except for the President, who automatically advances from President-Elect. They "move up the chairs" as they gain experience in Chapter operations. Here is the typical progression and brief summary of duties:

First Year: This is a learning year. As chair of the CRC/PAOE Committee, the newest Governor is responsible for compiling our report for the Chapter’s Regional Conference (CRC) in May, and for tracking chapter goals for the Presidential Award of Excellence (PAOE). Your newest board member is Tim Burns of W.A. Botting. He is practical and learns quickly.

Second Year: As chair of the Reception & Arrangements Committee, the Governor is responsible for finding a suitable meeting location, handling reservations, collecting dinner fees, and greeting members as they arrive. This year, Anita Perkins of SSA Acoustics has worked very hard to coordinate a smooth transition from The Mountaineers to NSCC.

Third Year: As Treasurer and first year as an officer of the Chapter, this year’s responsibilities include preparing the budget, paying bills, keeping records, making monthly reports, and preparing the non-profit tax return. It’s great to have Korey Judson, of AirTest Technologies, as our Treasurer because he is very experienced in QuickBooks and the job comes naturally to him.

Fourth Year: In addition to keeping minutes of meetings, our VP/Secretary helps to announce and coordinate meetings, is responsible for maintaining our membership roster, and maintaining chapter records. The Chapter Secretary is typically the alternate delegate to the CRC in May. Pat O’Donnell of Coast Products is positive, clear thinking and willing to pitch in to help whenever needed.

Fifth Year: This is an enjoyable year for the President-Elect; chair of the Programs Committee. It’s fun to come up with topics and speakers for the workshops and dinner programs. The President-Elect is typically elected as the chapter’s delegate to the CRC. An important duty is appointing people to chair next year’s committees. John Thorpe of Hargis Engineers shows endless energy as he tackles issues and helps out where needed.

Sixth Year: The President is the "chief executive officer" of the Chapter. It’s a unique challenge to provide vision and leadership in a totally volunteer organization. Joel Jackman of PSE says this year is turning out to be his busiest, yet most rewarding year on the Board. The best part is working with a supportive team of Governors and Committee Chairs.

Seventh Year: Just when you think your work is done, the immediate Past President is re-elected as a Governor for one more year to participate in Board decisions and provide guidance and assistance as needed. Rae Anne Rushing of McKinstry Company is an enthusiastic supporter of ASHRAE Research and chairs this year’s Resource Promotion Committee.

The TEGA committee met for the second time this year on October 6^th. Stan Price of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Council (NEEC) sponsored lunches, so a mutiny was avoided.

This year TEGA has been tasked with ensuring that the Puget Sound Chapter is appropriately represented in the regional awards competition. We are actively looking for technologically innovative projects with about a year of operating history. Several projects were highlighted in the meeting. These included the Seattle Justice Center, Marion O. McCaw Hall, 307 Westlake, and Park 90/5 police support. We know that there are other deserving projects that have been built in this region in recent years. We are very interested in knowing if others in the ASHRAE membership have projects in mind that should be considered. If so, please contact a TEGA member or notify me at randc@jbarrow.com.

• Lisa Rosenow of Coffman Engineers brought to the attention of the TEGA committee that ASHRAE has released an Energy Position Paper that can be obtained at: http://xp20.ashrae.org/ABOUT/energy.pdf. This document summarizes Society’s positions on Energy Supply, Environmental Impacts, Energy Supply Infrastructure, Utility Restructuring, Market Barriers, and Energy Codes. Many will find this very interesting.

• Doug Smith of Abacus Engineered Systems mentioned that ASHRAE will be publishing a ‘green’ building design guide in November of 2003. This is in support of, and in cooperation with, the USGBC and is intended to be compatible with the LEED rating program.

• Michael Aoki-Kramer of Seattle DCLU (now the Department of Planning and Development; DPD) is holding a series of meetings with industry personnel discussing Seattle’s adoption of the International Mechanical Code. He is very interested in getting feedback from the ASHRAE membership. If you are interested in participating, please contact Michael at Michael.Aoki-Kramer@ci.seattle.wa.us. Meetings are running mid-October through November.

The Honors & Awards Committee has a very important role. The Committee provides recommendations for special awards at the Chapter, Region and Society levels. In an organization that depends on volunteer participation, it is critically important to acknowledge individuals and companies that have done so much for the Chapter and Society. If you are interested in participating on this Committee, or if you know of someone deserving of an award, please contact Jill Connell at 206-623-0717.

THE ASHRAE Membership Speaks and is Heard
Handbook or CD?
Contributed by John Thorpe, P.E.

Last year, many of you might remember an e-mail survey we sent around to the chapter membership soliciting input on your preference for the traditional hard bound handbook or a compact disk (CD) as the primary publication benefit of ASHRAE membership. This survey was in response to an ASHRAE Society Board of Directors’ (BOD) action at the 2002 Summer Meeting that sought to change the method of issuing of the handbook information by designating a 4-book CD (only one book revised per year) as the annual "primary membership benefit" in lieu of a single hard copy handbook.

Based on the results of the survey, the majority of respondents preferred the traditional handbook over an expanded CD document. At the time we presented the survey results at our local chapter meeting, the conventional wisdom was that while ASHRAE was soliciting input from its membership on this issue, the ASHRAE BOD decision to replace the hard copy handbook with the CD was probably going ahead.

In follow up on this issue, an article was published this summer in ASHRAE "Insights" (Re: "Best of Both Worlds: Members to Get Handbook In Print, CD, ASHRAE Insights, August 2003, Vol. 18, No. 8) in which the ASHRAE BOD modified its position so that now members will receive the annual bound paper edition of the handbook AND a fully searchable CD containing PDF files of that paper volume.

The article specifically alluded to a strong "grass roots" response of the membership on this issue. It appears that this response was a major contributing factor to the revised position of the ASHRAE Society BOD. The article also noted that input from the membership was part of the rationale for maintaining the hard copy document.

This action was an excellent example of the reversal of a high level decision in serious consideration of a strong base response. It is encouraging to note that an organization the size of ASHRAE modified its decision in an effort to serve the needs of a majority of the membership. Based on the outcome, it appears that our chapter was in the majority on the preferred handbook delivery plan, and some of our members also correctly noted some of the salient issues associated with maintaining the current method of handbook revisions in their responses to the survey, which were passed on to ASHRAE Society.

The Puget Sound ASHRAE Chapter Board of Governors wishes to thank all who participated in this survey, and we hope to of service to on similar issues as they may occur in the future.

In addition, please indicate your preference for course duration and location where indicated at the bottom of the survey

Please return all surveys to John Thorpe (e-mail: johnt@hargis.biz)

Seven years experience, design build and consulting. Heating and cooling load calculations, system sizing and layout, CAD drafting, and piping schematics. Specializing in hydronic heating systems. I would like to grow my air side experience. Limited experience in plumbing design. Ability to be hands on and to aid in installations. Looking for an entry level position in a team atmosphere.

Rick Grove, P.E.
Phone: 425-775-8494

Back to Top

---

Home | Contact Us | Officers | Honors and Awards | Chapter Newsletter | Meetings | Dinner Reservations | Chapter History  | Feedback | FAQ | Archives