LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) installed new officers and directors at its 2009 Annual Conference, held June 20-24.

The new president is Gordon V.R. Holness, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, Life Member, and consulting engineer from Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich. His presidential theme, Sustaining Our Future by Rebuilding Our Past, addresses energy efficiency in existing buildings and the need to renovate existing structures, making them as energy efficient as possible. Of course, HVAC plays a huge role.

“The vast majority of buildings that will exist in the year 2030 already exist today,” Holness said. “If we are to have a material impact on overall energy use, it is through renovation of existing building stock.”

Existing buildings, he said, “offer us a greater opportunity to significantly impact our overall national energy demand, reduce our dependence upon imported oil and gas, and minimize our carbon footprint. “If ASHRAE is looking to build a sustainable future” - and it is - “we can see the foundations of that right now.”

Holness wasn’t the only new officer presented at the meeting. Other officers installed for one-year terms are:

• President-elect Lynn Bellenger, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, partner, Pathfinder Engineers, Rochester, N.Y.

• Treasurer Ron Jarnagin, staff scientist, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Wash.

• Vice president William Bahnfleth, Ph.D., P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, and professor at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa.

• Vice president Jim Fields, vice president, Superior Mechanical Services, Greensboro, N.C.

• Vice president Sheila J. Hayter, P.E., ASHRAE Fellow, and senior engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colo.

• Vice president Thomas Watson, P.E., ASHRAE Fellow, and chief engineer, McQuay International, Staunton, Va.

ASHRAE also installed the following directors to serve three-year terms, from 2009-12:

• Region I director and regional chair Spencer Morasch, advanced engineer, Customer Support Department, Jersey Central Power and Light, Red Bank, N.J.

• Region II director and regional chair Guy Perreault, P.E., president, Evap-Tech MTC, Quebec City.

• Region III director and regional chair Kevin Fallin, P.E., director of technical operations, E.K. Fox and Associates, Fairfax, Va.

• Region XI director and regional chair Erich Binder, president, Erich Binder Consulting, Calgary, Alberta.

• Director-at-large Michael J. Brandemuehl, Ph.D., P.E., professor of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.

• Director-at-large Thomas Werkema, vice president of government activities, Arkema, Philadelphia.

• Director-at-large Samir Traboulsi, P.E., general manager, Thermotrade SAL, Beirut, Lebanon.

For more information, visit the ASHRAE Website at www.ashrae.org.

Publication date: 07/20/2009