ATLANTA and GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Lynn G. Bellenger, president of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and Bill Neudorfer, president of the National Environmental Balancing Bureau, have distributed a letter to their respective association’s members informing them that ASHRAE and NEBB are discussing a possible merger of the two associations.

In their letter, Bellenger and Neudorfer noted that, through their initial discussions, the associations’ boards of directors “have determined:

• NEBB is a leading international certification association for firms that deliver high-performance building systems. NEBB brings unique strengths to the building performance discipline.

• ASHRAE is a leader in the arts and science of heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigeration and promotes high-performance buildings through standards, guidelines, design manuals, and educational courses. ASHRAE brings unique strengths to the building performance discipline.

• ASHRAE and NEBB believe that building performance is evolving as a new standard by which the industry will be measured in the future.

• ASHRAE and NEBB believe that combining their strengths would produce an approach to building performance that would be superior to any that could be produced by their individual efforts.

“Discussions have centered upon consolidating the organizations in a way that creates a separate organization under the ASHRAE umbrella that concentrates upon performance of the built environment and the associated education, training, and certifications for building performance professionals.”

Thus, Bellenger and Bill Neudorfer “have formed negotiating teams to determine if a consensus can be achieved on consolidating the two organizations.”