“Recently the building industry has seen a push in net zero energy (NZE) and California is on the forefront as Title 24 will require all new residential construction to be NZE by 2020 and all commercial buildings to be NZE by 2030,” said Ann Peratt, chair of the 2017 Annual Conference.  “The tracks and programs for the annual conference in Long Beach will focus on resources to design, build, control, commission, and operate these high efficiency facilities.” 

The conference will also include an HVACR focus on fundamentals, applications, systems, equipment, refrigeration, and residential standards and codes.

The “Net Zero Energy Buildings: The International Race to 2030” track will help design teams and owners to achieve NZE. Papers that evaluate various systems (including HVAC, building envelope, lighting, domestic water, and renewable energy system), design strategies, construction measures, and building operation are sought.  Papers addressing the worldwide implementation of codes and standards to reduce building energy consumption are sought.

Current requirements and upcoming changes to ASHRAE’s low-rise residential guidance, including Standard 90.2 (energy efficiency), Standard 62.2 (ventilation) and Guideline 24 (ventilation), are the focus of the “Residential Buildings: Standards Guidelines and Codes” track. The track seeks papers for cutting-edge residential systems that incorporate ASHRAE standards.

The “HVAC&R Systems and Equipment” track seeks papers that guide engineers, designers, contractors, owners, and building operators in the design, selection, and operation of traditional, non-traditional, and hybrid equipment and systems.

Also, papers are sought for tracks focused on buildings and their systems, such as “Commissioning: Optimizing New and Existing Buildings and their Operation,” “Controls: Smart Building Systems and the Security Concerns as Technology Emerges,” and “Building Life Safety Systems.” Topics include protecting building systems from cyber-attacks, designing life safety systems, and providing lessons learned and recommendations for successful commissioning projects.

The “Refrigeration” track seeks papers that address the wide range of applications of refrigerants and their improvements and the “Fundamentals and Applications” track seeks papers ranging from fan laws and psychometrics to room air distribution and heat transfer and laboratories to schools and more.

For researchers, the fifth annual “Research Summit” brings together distinguished researchers to present the latest research results.  Papers are requested on these topics:

• Building science research that address the performance of buildings systems and occupant usage

• Renewable energy research and its impact as we move towards net zero energy buildings

ASHRAE offers two types of paper submissions:

• Conference papers: Abstracts due Aug. 29, 2016. Upon acceptance, final papers will be due Dec. 9, 2016. These “final” papers undergo a single-blind review, are submitted as a PDF, and have an eight single-spaced page maximum length.

• Full technical papers are due Aug. 29, 2016. Papers submitted for review must be both technically accurate and clearly written. These papers undergo a rigorous double-blind review and can be a maximum of 30 double-spaced pages.