Bertrand Piccard's nonstop circumnavigation of the Earth in his Breitling Orbiter balloon in 1999 set a milestone in aviation. As opening speaker ofCLIMA 2005, he will share his experiences and how his vision plays a role in the future of building technologies. The conference, organized by REHVA and cosponsored by ASHRAE, will take place, October 9-12, 2005, in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Registration for the congress is now open. More than 300 abstracts have been submitted with speakers focusing on new HVAC systems and technologies, HVAC and sustainable building construction and simulation-based engineering.

Plenary speakers are:

  • Joe Clarke, University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom, who will speak on design methods;
  • Gordon Holness, Kahn Associates, Detroit., building information modeling - the future direction of design and construction technology;
  • Bjarne Olesen, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark, indoor environment, health and productivity;
  • Dusan Petras, Slovak University of Technology, Slovakia radiant heating systems - design and operation;
  • Thomas Rau, k.n.s.m. Architects, Netherlands, architecture and technology;
  • Olli Seppanen, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland, a method to estimate the cost effectiveness of the indoor environment improvements in office work;
  • Shinichi Tanabe, Waseda University Tokyo, Japan, productivity and future HVAC;
  • Peter Wouters, Belgian Building Research Institute, Belgium, HVAC and the energy performance of buildings directive: challenges and opportunities;
  • Donald R. Wulfinghoff, Wulfinghoff Energy Services Inc., Wheaton, MD, optimized HVAC design for the 21st century;
  • Gerhard Zweifel, Hochschule für Technik+Architektur, Switzerland, policies, standards and building codes.

ASHRAE has been a cosponsor of CLIMA since 1985. The event, which is organized by REHVA, is held every four years in a different European site. To register or for more information, visit www.ashrae.org/clima2005.