Educational Resources

ASHRAE Research Today to Improve Tomorrow

ASHRAE research plays an important role behind the scenes at your workplace, in your home and throughout your life. From keeping us comfortable through research into human physiology and the materials used to build buildings to protecting our health with research into the parameters and guidelines for food refrigeration and cooled environments. Utilizing research to improve worker productivity and creating and maintaining the industrial environments for manufacturing processes, ASHRAE discovers new information upon which all manufacturers, designers, system installers and operator rely.

ASHRAE has been sponsoring research to advance the arts and sciences of HVAC&R for the benefit of the public since 1919. It is a unique program that depends on voluntary funding and the many volunteers who plan and monitor the research. ASHRAE research has grown steadily over the years to the current commitment of more than $10 million for over 100 projects.

• ASHRAE supports some $3 million of new research annually through contributions made by nearly 7,000 individuals and companies.
• Approximately 10 percent of ASHRAE’s annual research budget is allocated to grants and awards that directly benefit graduate students and recent Ph.D. recipients starting their first full-time tenure-track or tenured faculty position who are pursuing an HVAC&R related education or area of research through the ASHRAE Graduate Student Grant-in-Aid Program ($10,000/grant) and through the ASHRAE New Investigator Award (up to $150,000 in funding for one recipient per year).
• ASHRAE research uncovers new information about material properties and building physics and, just as important, promotes the application of innovative technologies for commercial use.
• ASHRAE research finds practical application by serving as the basis of Society standards and through updates to the ASHRAE Handbook.

By serving as an investigator on ASHRAE-funded research projects, you have an opportunity to share your work with the Society’s 55,000 plus members around the world. Results of ASHRAE research projects are made available at no cost to members.

ASHRAE maintains a listserv of research project potential contractors who have expressed interest and expertise in various fields of research interest to ASHRAE. To join that listserv and learn when potential projects are open for bid, visit www.ashrae.org/listservs.

Preparing for the Future with ASHRAE Publications

The expertise of its worldwide membership and the results of Society-funded research give ASHRAE publications a depth and breadth unmatched by commercial publishers. Your students will appreciate the depth of information and low prices of these texts. Instructors of universities, technical institutes and vocational schools may request an examination copy.

Fundamentals of HVAC Control Systems provides a thorough introduction and a practical guide to the principles and characteristics of HVAC controls. It describes how to use, select, specify and design control systems.

Air-Conditioning System Design Manual serves as an excellent resource for seniors or graduate-level students in HVAC system design, this manual fills the void between theory and practice, bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge acquired in the typical academic course or textbook and real-world design practices.

HVAC Simplified provides an understanding of fundamental HVAC concepts and extends these principles to the explanation of simple design tools used to create building systems that are efficient and provide comfortable and healthy environments. Includes a CD-ROM with spreadsheet tools. A Solutions Manual is available to instructors.

The ASHRAE Handbook–Fundamentals covers basic principles and contains essential data for HVAC&R design, including sections on theory, general engineering data, basic materials, load and energy calculations, and duct and pipe design. It includes a CD-ROM with all the volume’s chapters in both I-P and SI units.

Principles of Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning is a textbook based on the ASHRAE Handbook–Fundamentals. It contains the most current ASHRAE procedures and definitive yet easy-to-understand treatment of building HVAC systems, from basic principles through design and operation. A Solutions Manual is available to instructors.

ASHRAE GreenGuide shows students of HVAC&R how to participate effectively on design teams, from the earliest stages of the project through the resulting structure’s construction, operation, maintenance and eventual demolition.

Load Calculation Applications Manual provides the latest information on load calculations and is a perfect companion to the ASHRAE Handbook–Fundamentals. Heat transfer processes in buildings are discussed, as well as their co-analysis to determine the cooling load.

Science and Technology for the Built Environment (STBE) is ASHRAE’s archival research journal. Each 100+ page issue offers comprehensive reporting of research in the fields of environmental control for the built environment and cooling technologies for a wide range of applications and related processes and concepts, including underlying thermodynamics, fluid dynamics and heat transfer. Only works reporting on research that is original and of lasting value are accepted for publication. Included in the ISI Web of Science and Current Contents database, the journal is published by Taylor and Francis Group.

Group Learning Packages

Well-designed course material doesn't have to cost a fortune. These group learning packages include texts, examination questions, answer sheets and PowerPoint presentations for instructors. Visit www.ashrae.org/grouplearning for pricing and purchasing.

Fundamentals of Air System Design
Learn the basics of air movement, the components of air distribution systems, considerations of human comfort, load and occupancy demand, duct system design, sound and vibration and how codes and standards affect the design of air systems.

Fundamentals of Building Operation, Maintenance, and Management
Addresses current issues related to the operation, maintenance and management of buildings. This dual-unit (I-P/SI) course provides an indispensable introduction to these topics and an invaluable instructional resource for both experienced building professionals and individuals entering into the field.

Fundamentals of Heating and Cooling Loads
Develop an understanding of heat transfer as it applies to buildings and various factors that must be considered when calculating the heating and cooling loads of a building.

Fundamentals of Heating Systems
Learn the various types of heating systems available for commercial and residential buildings and the three basic components of every heating system: the fuel source, the energy conversion plant and the energy distribution system.

Fundamentals of Refrigeration, I-P, 2nd ed.
Learn the process of refrigeration and how refrigeration systems operate, as well as the types of refrigeration systems.

Fundamentals of Thermodynamics
Learn the basic concepts of thermodynamics. Topics include properties of a system, processes and cycle, Ideal Gas Law, the laws of thermodynamics, refrigeration cycles and thermochemistry.

Fundamentals of Water System Design
Learn the basic concepts of hydronic system operation and design including piping systems, pipe materials and fittings, centrifugal pumps, terminal units, expansion tank and water chillers.

ASHRAE Student Activities Brochures | Posters | Videos

All resources listed are free of charge; however, some are available on a loan basis (i.e. videos). Please contact the Assistant Manager of Student Activities at kthomson@ashrae.org to ensure the availability of loan items meets your scheduling needs. 

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ABET accreditation process

Students are the next generation of HVAC&R practitioners and ASHRAE has an interest in ensuring that education programs meet the needs of the industry. Like other professional societies, ASHRAE supports accreditation of educational programs to assure confidence that graduates are prepared to serve our industry.

ASHRAE is one of thirty-five professional societies that comprise ABET, which accredits over 4000 educational programs in 32 countries in the disciplines of applied science, computing, engineering and engineering technology at the associate, bachelor and master degree levels. Within ABET, ASHRAE is the lead society for HVAC&R engineering technology programs and is a cooperating society for architectural engineering and environmental engineering programs. Less formally, ASHRAE partners with ASME on accreditation issues for mechanical engineering and mechanical engineering technology programs.

More specifically, ASHRAE participates in the ABET accreditation process in two ways. First, through the Student Activities Committee, ASHRAE helps develop accreditation criteria for engineering and engineering technology programs. Second, ASHRAE members serve as ABET Program Evaluators, the experts who visit schools, meet with educators and students, review curricula and student work, and assess whether the programs are meeting the accreditation criteria.

For more information on becoming an ABET Program Evaluator, please visit https://www.abet.org/program-evaluators.