ATLANTA – The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has joined an alliance to help promote sustainable infrastructure such as buildings, water resources, transportation, energy generation and waste treatment.
The alliance, Practice, Education and Research for Sustainable Infrastructure (PERSI), is an initiative of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) that works to promote and translate sustainable practices into action within its member organizations.
ASHRAE is the first organization to formally join PERSI by signing the memorandum of understanding. By joining the alliance, which will not itself produce standards or guidelines, ASHRAE will work with other PERSI member organizations to assist with educational programs, conduct research, and contribute knowledge about sustainable infrastructure, among other activities.
ASHRAE President Terry Townsend noted that joining PERSI helps further ASHRAE’s mission of sustainability.
“By partnering with other organizations worldwide, ASHRAE can enhance its own current efforts and supplement the activities and resources of other groups,” he said. “This sharing of ideas and resources can only help us reach our energy and sustainability goals faster and more efficiently.”
“Sustainable infrastructure is vital to a sustainable human society,” Richard N. Wright, Ph.D., an honorary member of ASCE who is spearheading the effort to establish PERSI, said. “ASHRAE has illustrated its leadership in the infrastructure community by contributing strongly to the development of the PERSI initiative. PERSI now will begin its important efforts to advance and incorporate concepts and knowledge of sustainability into the standards and practices used throughout the life cycle of infrastructure systems.”
ASHRAE also will assist PERSI in developing a common language for the definition and achievement of sustainable infrastructure. The alliance currently defines sustainability as the challenge of meeting human needs for natural resources, industrial products, energy, food, transportation, shelter and waste management while conserving and protecting external and internal environmental quality and the natural, economic and social resources essential for human needs.
The alliance has attracted more than 15 groups that have participated in its development, including the American Institute of Architects, the American Planning Association, the American Water Works Association, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is an international organization of 55,000 persons. Its mission is to advance through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education the arts and sciences of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world.
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