Hot Air

Join Journal Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski and Matthew Strebe in this chat about recommissioning a church building to optimize energy efficiency and reduce natural gas consumption.

Mold problems are more common than most people realize in both new and older single-family and multifamily housing, potentially causing serious indoor air quality (IAQ) problems. Join Journal Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski and George Tsongas as they discuss mold problems inside housing and why they are critical to address.

Join Journal Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski along with guests Apoorv Khanuja and Amanda Webb as they discuss recommendations and more for naming and categorizing energy efficiency measures (EEMs). In the first recommendation? Clearly describe what's being done.

Join David Traxler and Journal Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski as they discuss some of the patterns he found when studying 50 energy efficient net zero energy buildings.

Building graphics are the windows into system performance. Join Journal Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski and Brian Clark as they discuss what makes a good building graphic and tips to improve them.

Sustainability starts with maintenance. Michael Gallagher helps us remember that if a sustainable building can't be kept running the way it was intended to run, it isn't sustainable.

Join Kathleen Owen and Journal technical editor Rebecca Matyasovski as they discuss some ins and outs of particle filters, including particle capture and the economic impact of different filters.

Performing arts patrons don't usually think about HVAC design when deciding to attend an event. But if the system designers don't notice, patrons might. Join Coral Pais as she discusses how acoustics were considered when designing a Cleveland performing arts center.

Surgical patients release waste anesthetic gases that can cause potential health effects for people who care for patients in the post-anesthesia care unit. Kishor Khankari, Ph.D., Fellow ASHRAE, discusses optimizing its ventilation design to effectively remove these gases and reduce exposure. 

Join Michael Licastro, Associate Member ASHRAE, and Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski as they discuss using hydronic HVAC systems to aid in decarbonization.

Did you know milk dust and flour, among other dusts, are explosive? Combustible dusts require the use of dust collectors. Join Chris Jester, Associate Member ASHRAE, and Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski as they discuss the design of dust collector systems, including air velocity and duct sizing, safety considerations, motor requirements and relevant codes.

Join Mike Gallagher, P.E., Life Member ASHRAE, and Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski as they discuss the monthslong saga to fix what started out as a small gas leak in the furnace room of his church—just before Christmas.

Andy Pearson shares some of the upheaval in which scientist Sadi Carnot performed his work, including for the science we now call “thermodynamics.”

Hamed Yassaghi, Ph.D., Associate Member ASHRAE, talks about data center IECC 2021 compliance strategies in hot climates with air-cooled chillers.

The amount of time students spend in school corridors is small compared to time spent in classrooms. But Lisa Ng, Ph.D., Member ASHRAE, believes it's important for school corridors to be ventilated beyond what's currently required by ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2022. She joins Journal Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski to explain why.

During the pandemic, many businesses adopted a “work from home” model to ensure the safety of their staff. Now, that model may be here to stay and along with it an increased appreciation for IEQ in homes. Join Bill Healy, Ph.D., Member ASHRAE, and the Journal's technical editor Rebecca Matyasovski as they discuss how ASHRAE can help identify opportunities to improve IEQ in residential workspaces.Resources:Residential Buildings Committee websiteResidential Issue Brief on “Working From Home”

"I think offering an article on fundamentals will encourage younger members to read the Journal," says Joel Primeau, P.E., HBDP, Member ASHRAE. Join Primeau and Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski as they discuss a new series that aims to better engage younger Journal readers by covering HVAC fundamentals.

Join Bill Ryan, Ph.D., P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, and Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski as they discuss Ryan's upcoming article covering marginal carbon factors and how electric production is controlled and managed. The technical feature will appear in the January 2024 print issue of ASHRAE Journal.

“There are so many things that you do not know down in the ground. So, in order to be accurate, a computer program must have all the necessary input data, and much of that input data is not available when the formation... [and the heat transfer are] complex,” says Steve Kavanaugh, Ph.D., Fellow/Life Member ASHRAE. Join Kavanaugh and Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski as they chat about the need for more field data for ground source heat pump design models.

Join David Schurk, Life Member ASHRAE, and ASHRAE Journal's Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski as they discuss ways to avoid wet AHUs and how to move toward more sustainable HVAC systems.

Water is weird, says Joe Lstiburek, Ph.D., P.Eng., Fellow ASHRAE. Join Joe and Rebecca Matyasovski, ASHRAE Journal's Technical Editor, as they chat about Joe's October column on what makes water so weird and what ice wine and vin santo have to do with it.

“You can't control what you don't monitor,” says Thomas Hartman, P.E., Life Member ASHRAE. Join Rebecca Matyasovski, ASHRAE's Technical Editor, as she dives a little deeper into Hartman's new article appearing in the September issue of ASHRAE Journal. The article covers some of the new features of ASHRAE Standard 55, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy.

Andy Pearson, Ph.D., C.Eng., Fellow ASHRAE, and Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski discuss how artificial intelligence (AI) can benefit the refrigeration industry as well as some potential pitfalls that could lead to some embarrassing or costly mistakes.

Join Rebecca Matyasovski and Paul Torcellini, Ph.D., P.Eng., Fellow ASHRAE, as they expand on Torcellini's July ASHRAE Journal Asked & Answered article, define decarbonization and discuss approaches in new and existing buildings.

Join Blair L. Hawn, P.E., Member ASHRAE, and Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski as they discuss Hawn's Technology Award Project being featured in June's ASHRAE Journal. Hawn's project, a new Materials Design Laboratory at Argonne National Laboratory, is a state-of-the-art collaborative research facility for energy and materials scientists to investigate structures at the scale of a single electron and larger.

Austin Barolin, Associate Member ASHRAE, and Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski discuss Barolin's article in the May issue of ASHRAE Journal. The article covers hospital air quality-based ventilation for hospital energy conservation and explains why two air changes per hour may be as good as 12. 

ASHRAE Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski interviews Janice K. Means about her article in the April 2023 ASHRAE Journal. The article recognizes Eunice Newton Foote's discovery of the role CO2 plays in causing greenhouse effect. Means' new article series will spotlight historically undervalued contributions in areas that are of interest to ASHRAE and the HVAC&R industry.

Listen to Lianne Cockerton P.Eng., Member ASHRAE, chat with Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski about the innovative design elements—including welding stations—that made a Canadian industrial building and plumbers' association nearly reach net zero energy. Local 144 was awarded the Award of Engineering Excellence for its outstanding application of design and effective energy use.

Benjamin Jones, Dr.Eng., speaks with Technical Editor Rebecca Matyasovski about a proposed addendum to Standard 62.2 that considers harm as a basis of regulating contaminants in homes. He also talks about how this type of addenda could be used in other indoor spaces and by other organizations—and why you should always turn on your range hood.

Join our host and technical editor, Rebecca Matyasovski, in a quick chat with ASHRAE Journal Refrigeration Applications columnist Andy Pearson in the first episode of Hot Air, a new series presented by ASHRAE Journal Podcast. In this premiere, we dive into ASHRAE Journal's December 2022 column, “Math Matters,” and Andy gives advice on learning how to love the way numbers work.