"Although the online courses can never replace the experience of a traditional face-to-face seminar with students and instructors in the same room, the online format allows us to reach a far broader audience at less cost with less overhead burden for attendees and instructors," said Mark Hydeman, P.E., Member ASHRAE, chair of ASHRAE's Professional Development Committee.

Humidity Control I and II will take place from 1 to 4 p.m., Oct. 4-5. Optimizing the Design and Control of Chilled Water Plants will take place from 1 to 4 p.m., Nov. 3-4.

The professional development seminars traditionally have been held in cities across the nation. Following the success of an online pilot course held earlier this year, ASHRAE has decided to host the seminars online. According to Hydeman, attendees valued the online presentation, the ability to interact with the instructor, and the convenience of the medium. They also valued the ability to review the recorded version of the course at their leisure after the event.

The humidity course, based on ASHRAE's Humidity Control Design Guide for Commercial and Institutional Buildings, has been developed to help designers achieve true control of humidity rather than just its moderation. The first day of the humidity course will focus on basic principles, loads, and equipment. The second day will focus on applications, control levels, and mold avoidance.

The instructor is Lew Harriman, Member ASHRAE, author of the design guide and director of research and consulting at Mason-Grant in Portsmouth, N.H.

The chilled water plants seminar will present techniques for the design and control of energy-efficient and life-cycle cost optimized chilled water plants. Topics include selection and specification of equipment including chillers, pumps, and cooling towers; application and design; methods to mitigate low-delta-T syndrome; lifecycle cost optimized selection of chilled and condenser water setpoints and temperature ranges; selection of cooling tower fan controls; performance-based specifications for chillers and cooling towers; and optimization of chilled water plant controls.

The instructor is Hydeman, a principal at Taylor Engineering, Alameda, Calif.

Participants will earn 0.6 continuing education units, six professional development hours, or six American Institute of Architects learning units. The cost is $690 ($590 for ASHRAE members).

For more information or to register, visit www.ashrae.org/onlinepds.

Publication date: 09/13/2004