Research Promotion
Peter Lavery
Research Promotion Chair
Peter enjoys continuously connecting and learning with others in the HVAC industry. Graduating from Gonzaga University with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Peter began and continues his professional career with a local equipment distributor, Airefco. In Peter’s free time, he enjoys playing disc golf, and exploring the PNW and INW by hiking and camping in its public lands. Peter joined the Inland Empire Chapter in 2018 and serves as Research Promotion Chair.
What is the RP Campaign?
The Research Promotion Committee oversees the Research Promotion Campaign. It is a standing ASHRAE Committee made up of 14 Regional Vice Chairs (RVC), 1 Consultant (past RVC) , 3 Vice Chairs (past Consultant), and Chair (past Vice Chair). Staff support includes a 3-member team based at ASHRAE Headquarters.
The RP Campaign raises over $2.2 million a year from over 6,000 donors. These donors are made up of ASHRAE Members, industry associations, and industry organizations.
The RP Campaign is an annual fundraising campaign benefiting the funding of numerous ASHRAE Programs. These programs include:
- ASHRAE Research
- ASHRAE Scholarships for undergraduate students
- ASHRAE Learning Institute (ALI) development of new courses & materials
- Graduate Research Projects (Grants-in-Aid)
- Young Engineers in ASHRAE (YEA) Leadership Training
- Permanently endowed support to all the above programs
AHSRAE Standards, Guidelines, and Research Project Final Reports can be found in the ASHRAE Bookstore!
Past Research Projects
Research is the backbone of ASHRAE. What follows is a selection of research projects ASHRAE members have worked on.
- 30% Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities
- SP96 (1262-RP) – Commercial Aircraft Cabin Air Quality Study
- SP98 – Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality in Retail Spaces
- 1397-RP – Experimental Investigation of Hospital Operating Room (OR) Air Distribution
- 1450-RP – Transport of Contaminants from Garage Attached or Integral to Low-Rise Residential Buildings
- 1603-RP – Role of HVAC Systems in the Transmission of Infectious Agents in Buildings and Intermodal Transportation
- GIA 13-14 – Impact of Human Convective Boundary Layer on Inhaled Air Quality and Its Protective Role Under Different Ventilation Strategies
- GIA 14-15 – The protective effect of buildings characterizing indoor air quality, infiltration and ventilation
- 30% Advanced Energy Design Guide for: Small Office Buildings, Small Retail Buildings, K-12 School Buildings, Small Warehouses and Self-Storage Buildings, Highway Lodging, and Small Hospitals
- Standard 15 – Safety Standard for Refrigeration Systems
- Standard 62.1 – Ventilation and Air flow of buildings except low-rise residential buildings
- Standard 62.2 – Ventilation and Air flow of low-rise residential buildings
- Standard 90.1 – Energy Standards for non-residential buildings
- Standard 170 – Ventilation of Healthcare facilities
- Standard 189.1 – Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings, except low-rise residential
- SP96 – Commercial Aircraft Cabin Air Quality Study
- SP98 – Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality in Retail Spaces
- 1306-RP – Incident-Response Monitoring Technologies for Aircraft Cabin Air Quality
- 1447-RP – Performance of Pressurized Stairwells with Open Doors
- 1450-RP – Transport of Contaminants from Garage Attached or Integral to Low-Rise Residential Buildings
- 1467-RP – Balancing Latent Heat Load between Display Cases and Store Comfort Cooling
- 1478-RP – Measuring Air-tightness of Mid- and High-rise Non-residential Buildings
- 1499-RP – The Effect of Humidity on the Reliability of ICT Equipment in Data Centers
- 1544-RP – Establishing Benchmark Levels and Patterns of Commercial Building Hot Water Use
- 1590-RP – Implementation of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Principles into Higher Education as an Integrated Decision Making Tool
- 1603-RP – Role of HVAC Systems in the Transmission of Infectious Agents in Buildings and Intermodal Transportation
- 1613-RP – Update Climatic Design Data in Chapter 14 of the 2013 Handbook of Fundamentals
- 1624-RP – Effective Energy-Efficient School Classroom Ventilation for Temperate Zones
- 1633-URP – Data and Interfaces for Advanced Building Maintenance and Operation
- 1447-RP Performance of Pressurized Stairwells with Open Doors
- 1631-RP Countertop Commercial Appliance Emissions
- 1649-RP IAQ and Energy Implications of High Efficiency Filters in Residential Buildings
- 1696-RP Thermal, Moisture and Air Transport Property Values for New Building and Insulating Materials
- 1755-RP Impact of Gaseous Contamination and High Humidity on the Reliable Operation of Information Technology Equipment in Data Centers
- 1767-RP Proposed Moist Air transport Properties Research
- 1807-RP Guidelines for Flammable Refrigerant Handling, Transporting, Storing and Equipment Servicing, Installation and Dismantling
- GIA 15-16 Ventilated Semi-open Space for Thermal Comfort and Air Quality Control
- GIA 15-16 Evaluating energy consumption and indoor environmental quality in historic buildings
- GIA 15-16 Assessing effectiveness of HVAC configuration for preventing hospital acquired influenza transmission to health care
- GIA 16-17 Development and Validation of a Novel Approach to Quantify the Impact of Human Exposure to Particle-Bound Contaminants in the Indoor Environment
- GIA 16-17 Occupant modeling for prediction of comfort and building energy performance in office spaces
- GIA 16-17 Transport of Indoor Biological Dust
- GIA 16-17 Effectiveness of Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) Systems in Air Handling Units in Enhancing IAQ and Energy Performance
- GIA 16-17 Humans as Sources or Sinks of Volatile Organic Compounds in Built Environment: Measurements and Implications to Indoor Air Quality Assessment
- 1196-RP – Develop Software to Calculate the Application Seasonal Efficiency of Commercial Space Heating Boiler Systems Based on ASHRAE Standard 155P
- 1267-RP – Development of an ASHRAE Design Manual for District Heating and Cooling Systems
- 1322-RP – Productivity and Perception Based Evaluation of Indoor Noise
- 1385-RP – Development of Design Tools for Surface Water Heat Pump Systems (SWHP)
- 1458-RP – Modeling Person-to-Person Contaminant Transport in a Mechanical Ventilation Space
- 1478-RP – Measuring Air-tightness of Mid- and High-rise Non-residential Buildings
- 1504-RP – Extension of the Clothing Insulation Database for Standard 55 and ISO 7730 to Provide data for Non-Western Clothing Ensembles
- 1544-RP – Establishing Benchmark Levels and Patterns of Commercial Building Hot Water Use
- 1550-RP – Thermal Performance of Insulating Coatings on Piping and Ductwork
- 1564-RP – Measurement of Oil Retention in the Microchannel Heat Exchanger
- 1613-RP – Update Climatic Design Data in Chapter 14 of the 2013 Handbook of Fundamentals
- 1624-RP – Effective Energy-Efficient School Classroom Ventilation for Temperate Zones
- 1646-RP – Measurements of Thermal Conductivity of Pipe Insulations at Below Ambient Temperatures and in Wet Condensing Conditions with Moisture Ingress
- 1674-RP – Research to Support the Revision to Ground Source Heat Pump: Design of Geothermal Systems for Commercial and Institutional Buildings (ASHRAE 1997)
- 1699-RP – Update Climatic Design Data in Chapter 14 of the 2017 Handbook of Fundamentals
- GIA 13-14 – Air-Side Economizer Low-Limits Effect on Energy and Thermal Comfort
- GIA 13-14 – Assessing the Performance of Buildings Due to Extreme Weather and Climate Change
- GIA 14-15 – Development and evaluation of novel membrane liquid desiccant air conditioning systems for hot-humid and cold-dry climates
- GIA 14-15 – Integrating thermal energy storage into hybrid solar assisted heat pump systems for residential houses in cold climate
- GIA 14-15 – Numerical and experimental investigation of control schemes for small scale ammonia water absorption heat pumps
- 1327-RP Flow Pattern and Pressure Drop Determination for Two-Phase Ammonia Flow in Various Pipes
- 1410-RP Effect of System Chemicals toward the Breakdown of Lubricants and Refrigerants
- 1467-RP Balancing Latent Heat Load between Display Cases and Store Comfort Cooling
- 1495-RP Effect of Lubricant on the Distribution of Water between the Vapor and Liquid Phases of Refrigerants
- 1507-RP Binary Refrigerant Flame Boundary Concentrations
- 1556-RP Characterization of Liquid Refrigerant Flow Emerging from a Flooded Evaporator Tube Bundle
- 1561-RP Characterization of Liquid Refrigerant Flow Emerging from a Flooded Evaporator Tube Bundle
- 1569-RP CFD Study of Hydraulic Shock in Two-Phase Anhydrous Ammonia
- 1584-RP Assessment of Alternative Approaches to Predicting the Burning Velocity of a Refrigerant
- 1602-RP Thermal-Fluid Behavior of Mixed Refrigerants for Cryogenic Applications
- 1604-RP Demand Controlled Filtration for Clean Rooms
- 1615-RP Fault Detection and Diagnostics Methods for Supermarkets –
- 1634-RP Guide for Sustainable Refrigerated Facilities and Refrigeration Systems
- 1717-RP Improve Accuracy and Reproducibility of ASTM-E681 Test Method for Flammability Limit Measurement of 2L Flammable Refrigerants
- GIA 13-14 Thermal-Fluid Behavior of Mixed Refrigerants for Cryogenic Applications
- GIA 14-15 Development of fouling averse, high performance gas liquid absorber for application in high performance absorption refrigeration cycles
- CO-RP 2 Revised Guidance for Physical & Cyber HVAC Security – A CIBSE led project co-funded by ASHRAE
- Advanced Energy Design Guide for Grocery Stores – Achieving 50% Energy Savings Toward a Net Zero Energy Building
Frequently Asked Question
A: The program that governors more than 80 investigative projects taking place around the world and funded by ASHRAE. It is supported by more than 100 member-led Technical Committees (TCs), each with their own specialty and sub-specialty.
A: A TC identifies a need – such as missing information, new ideas or processes to be examined, out-dated information – sets a goal, and outlines a project to meet that need and goal. the Research Administration Committee (RAC) approves the proposed project. It then goes out to ‘bid’, ensuring that ASHRAE’s financial resources are spent wisely and the final product will meet all stated goals.
A: With more than 80 projects taking place at any one time, the average Research Budget typically exceeds $17 million, each project costing an average of $250,000 each. In reality, there is a wide range of costs for projects. Grants-in-Aid – projects being conducted by Graduate level students – have a cost of $10,000. There are also multiple research projects that – over the 3-5 year life of the project – cost over $1 million.
A: Check out www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/research . You can also ask the RP Staff, they’ll be happy to help answer your questions or direct you to another staff member who specializes in that area.