Ira, AHRI, and AHR

Happy new year from everyone at Engineered Systems! You made it through 2016, congratulations.

As I mentioned last month, Paul Ehrlich took off his columnist cap after a great run as our BAS columnist. Those of you with sharp memories may recall that when Paul started his tenure quite a few years ago, he was actually the column’s co-author for a while with Ira Goldschmidt. Well, we are pleased to welcome Ira back this month to take the building automation helm.

Over 35+ years in the controls arena, Ira has worked on the manufacturer side, managed a broad range of MEP engineering for a consulting firm, and now runs his own Goldschmidt Engineering Solutions. He has done a lot of work in the intelligent buildings realm and is co-author of the ASHRAE BACnet Standard and Guideline 13 — Specifying DDC Controls.

That’s some of the solid, standard bio info. But a peek at his LinkedIn bio reveals that Ira loves the great outdoors (good trait for a Denver resident), with an emphasis on skiing and some serious bicycling, including occasional extended bike tours. Just typing that, I feel like I should at least go get one of those treadmill desks. He also mentions maintaining a taste for discovering good new rock bands, so I’ll be checking into some of his favorites soon. Maybe before I get the desk.

But in the meantime, read the first column of his own solo era with us (page 24), in the form of some ruminations on the potential of ASHRAE Guideline 36P.

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS …

Will get reported back to you with two feature columns of post-show coverage in our March print issue, a new approach for us that we hope you’ll enjoy. If you’re going (or even if you aren’t), our Issues & Events department has a few show-related items of interest this month to get you up to speed, and I’d encourage everyone to not overlook the array of off-the-floor sessions and seminars. They range from free one-hour events to multi-hour paid certification opportunities. If you go to the trouble to travel to Nevada, you might as well make the most of it. Of course, there’s plenty more at www.ahrexpo.com.

My other little (and entirely unaffiliated, noncompensated) tip? Consider buying a monorail pass in advance. Didn’t even know there was a monorail there? Yeah, neither did I until I was already at the last Las Vegas event and was wishing I’d known sooner. It runs from the convention center up through a few major hotel stops, and the frequency looks pretty convenient. You can review the map and your options at www.lvmonorail.com.

By the way, ES will be represented as usual at the BNP Media booth, which resides this time around at C3715 on your handy floor guide. The editors will be on the move a lot, as you might imagine, but drop by, peruse our other HVAC-related publications for a minute, and say hi.

AHRI ACCOLADES

Finally, quick but sincere congratulations to newly named AHRI officers: Vice Chairman Chris Peel (President and COO of Rheem), Treasurer Ron Duncan (President, Magic Aire), and Immediate Past Chairman Doug Young (President and COO, Lennox). And a nod to Peter Alexander of Goodman Manufacturing and Bill Root of Laars Heating Systems, both of whom received Distinguished Service Awards, the association’s highest honor. ES

ES WEBINARS BOX

Watch (or even rewatch) anything from the last year in ES webinars. Visit http://webinars.esmagazine.com anytime you like, and pull one up.