President's Corner

Efforts of the Society, its members, and its bodies shall be directed at all times to enhancing the public health, safety and welfare.” – ASHRAE Code of Ethics 1.140.001.1.A https://www.ashrae.org/about/governance/code-of-ethics

Dear Member and Friends,

I would like to thank everyone who joined us for our first chapter meeting for this society year. As I said in at the start of the meeting, it’s hard to process that it’s been over a year since we’ve all been in the same room. We will continue to hold in person meetings unless told otherwise by ASHRAE or local/state/federal guidelines.

Special thanks to the Local 392 for allowing us to use their space and special thanks to TRANE for providing food as our lunch sponsor. If your interested in donating your space for a monthly chapter meeting or sponsoring lunch, please reach out to me at ashraecincinnati@gamil.com. The next chapter meeting will be the Past Presidents Meeting in December with Paul Daugherty, which is always a big turnout. Sponsorships are first come first serve, please contact me soon and I’ll lock you into a meeting.

Society President Mick Schwedler will be here on November 29^th! We will be moving our monthly chapter meeting back for this special event. The meeting will be at the West Pavilion at Nippert Stadium from 11:30-1pm. Tickets are on sales now! Please visit our events page on our website (cincinnatiashrae.org) or click the links below. We are looking for sponsors to help mitigate the costs to our members and ensure that our Student Chapter members at UC can attend for free. Sponsorships and Event Tickets can be purchased through the Eventbrite links provided.

As part of our monthly series of member spotlights, I had our Society President answer our questions. Please see the interview of our special guest. As always, if you know a member that deserves to be recognized, please email me.

Our chapter has officially signed on as a Community Partner for the Cincinnati 2030 District. We excited to expand our services in education and community support to the members of Cincinnati’s 2030 District. As part of our partnership, Cincinnati 2030 District Director, Elizabeth Rojas, will be presenting to our chapter for the January meeting. We hope to help educate all our members and improve our shared community.

Our new Government Affairs Chairman, Brian Scullin, has already hit the ground running and is looking for committee members to help him expand ASHRAE’s services to our local, State, and federal officials. Please see Brian’s call for action below.

I look forward to seeing all of you at the Presidential Luncheon on Nov 29. If you have any questions, please reach out.

Sponsorship: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/196990191967

Event Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/196995247087

-Nick Brown

October Member Spotlight, Special Guest: Mick Schwedler

How long have you been an active ASHRAE member and what positions have you held?

My membership’s been intact since 1989.

Chapter: CTTC committee, RP Chair, President-elect, President,

Society is really long: Technical Committees, Publications Committee, Standard 90.1 Committee and 2010 Committee Chair, Advanced Energy Design Guide Steering Committee Member, then Chair. Technology Council Vice Chair and Chair. On the board, Director-at-Large, Vice President, Treasurer (during a pandemic – yikes!), President Elect and now the honor of President.

Tell me how you first go involved with ASHRAE and the local chapter?

Society…my boss told me I’d be involved and the first Technical Committee was TC 1.5 – Computer Applications (at that time very forward thinking).

Chapter; I attended meetings, but since I traveled for my day-job it was hard to be able to be at events, BOG meetings, etc. until for a few years local chapter service came first.

What has your involvement been like?

Exhilarating, bewildering (why are those procedures in place?), awesome, a privilege, tiring, inspirational. Most importantly the chances to learn and grow have been astounding, and the chance to share with others and help them grow (feed the roots) is extraordinary.

How has being involved with ASHRAE affected your career or personal life?

In my personal life the family sacrificed a lot of time and me being away, but have always been supportive. Jen, Ben, Caroline and Karl are awesome. My two best friends in the world I got to see twice a year – at the ASHRAE Conferences. We shared the joyful times in our lives – and also helped each other through some dark times. I treasure them, too.

Career…how do I begin? The opportunities to increase my personal (soft) skills have been more impactful than the technical. As an introvert I now represent 51,000+ Members. How does that happen? The leadership, networking, presentation, organizational and other skills all make me a better employee. The company I’ve worked for for almost 40 years has been extremely supportive.

Are there any mentors, mentees, or friends that you met through ASHRAE you would like to recognize?

As mentioned in the Society address, Neil Patterson (his son worked in Cincinnati and Neil retired there) got me started. Charlie Culp and Mike Brambley mentored me. Presidential Members Don Colliver and Ron Jarnagin gently helped me grow as I made mistakes and fumbled things. Dr. Julia Keen’s (Kansas State University) passion for serving members continues to inspire me. The dedication and wisdom of Victor Goldschmidt is a treasure. There are so many.

What’s your favorite memory throughout your membership?

The pride of watching the team that was the ASHRAE 90.1-2010 committee (44 voting members, almost 100 more people involved) who…

· Set a goal to reduce building energy costs by 30%,

· Work for 3 ½ years,

· Meet four times a year – each for 4-5 days, 8 am to 9 or 10 pm

· Spend countless additional hours developing changes, responding to public review comments and going through the rigorous procedures

· Achieve the goal to reduce the building energy utilization index (EUI)

· …and make our world better.

What an extraordinary set of individuals working together.

What do you wish other people knew about the local chapter or ASHRAE as a whole?

The technical portions of ASHRAE are important, but only one part of ASHRAE. The opportunities ASHRAE opens up to you, your development, your family, your business and the world are so amazing, Give it a shot.

You’re truly essential. Think of the last 18 months without what you and so many other ASHRAE members did for the world. You helped mitigate the spread of disease, reopen schools, keep vaccines cold, get people safely back in buildings. You’re also part of an extraordinary team. Thanks.

To all the members and friends of the ASHRAE Cincinnati Chapter:

To start, I want to thank the chapter president and board of governors for the opportunity to serve as the chair for the Government Affairs Committee. I am excited to take on the role and hope that my efforts serve the chapter well in the year(s) to follow.

The central duties of the committee are to keep chapter members informed of government activities, provide technical guidance/support to government officials, and coordinate with ASHRAE regional and national leadership on these efforts. I am asking for chapter members to volunteer for the committee to help fulfill these duties.

Overall, I am looking for committee volunteers to help assist in either (or both) an administrative capacity (plan events / assist in communications) or in a government liaison role for one of the main levels of government tied to our local area. (Federal representatives, State Reps/Officials, Local Municipalities, School Districts/Universities).

All the committee’s efforts will be centered around the six ASHRAE public policy priorities set for the organization. My plan is to focus coordinated efforts on each priority within a particular time period during the year:

Nov. 2021 – Strengthen, and Increase Diversity in, the HVACR workforce.

Dec. 2021 – Ensure the Orderly and Safe Phasedown of High-GWP HFC refrigerants.

Jan. – Feb. 2022 – Support Adoption of the Latest Edition of ASHRAE’s Energy Standards and Building Codes Support.

Mar. 2022 – Advance Design and Construction of Resilient Buildings and Communities.

Apr. 2022 – May 2022 – Promote Healthy Buildings and Reduce Indoor Environmental Risks.

Jun. 2022 – Sustainable Building Practices to Mitigate Climate Change.

I plan to hold the first committee meeting in November once I have secured enough interest in involvement with the committee. I will announce a specific date/time when that occurs.

Please reach out to me via email at brian.scullin@emerson.com if you have any questions and/or are interested in being a part of the committee. Let me know especially if you have a key interest surrounding a specific public policy priority or involvement with a particular level of government. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

I look forward to working with everyone connected with the chapter.

Thanks.

Brian Scullin