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New ASHRAE Journal: October 2026

Highlights from the October 2026 ASHRAE Journal, as featured in ASHRAE’s October 13, 2026 ASHRAE Journal Newsletter. The free article PDFs linked below are offered through the newsletter, and ASHRAE says those links expire two weeks after publication.

• Technical Feature: Practical Applications of AI in HVAC Design and Analysis
  By Jacob Potoczak, Associate Member ASHRAE. A case study of an AI-assisted design workflow for a multiuse university laboratory building, including the limits engineers need to watch (model transparency, assumptions and data governance). The licensed engineer stays responsible for every design decision.
  Read the article (PDF) »
• Data Centers Column: AI’s Indirect/Direct Impact on Data Center Infrastructure Planning
  By Dustin W. Demetriou and David Quirk, both Members of ASHRAE. A summary of ASHRAE TC 9.9’s Technical Snapshot on the IT equipment trends that colocation data center planners should expect.
  Read the column (PDF) »
• Hot Air Podcast: Practical Applications of AI in HVAC Design with Jake Potoczak
  ASHRAE Journal’s Rebecca Norris and Jacob Potoczak discuss how AI is being used in HVAC design today and why load calculations may be a good place to expand its use.
  Listen to the episode »
• Also in the October Issue Member login
  Hong Kong’s largest outlet mall expansion and the challenges posed by lithium-ion batteries, plus a technical feature on field-tested model-based predictive controls in multizone VAV AHUs; Technology Award case studies on net zero elementary schools and a geothermal retrofit that cut energy use 66%; and columns on VRF energy management, adaptive thermal comfort in Standard 55, and refrigeration (“Waste Not, Want Not”). Members can read all articles free through the Technology Portal and the digital Journal.
  October 2026 table of contents »  |  ASHRAE Technology Portal »
• From the ASHRAE Journal Archives
  Two classic columns featured in this newsletter: Lew Harriman’s “Damp Buildings, Human Health and Ventilation Design” (June 2020), which covers the ventilation-related metric among four proposed warning signs of excess building dampness, and Andrew K. Persily’s “Where It All Started: ASHRAE and IEQ” (July 2013), which looks at how 19th-century New York tenements shaped thinking about occupant health.
  Harriman column (PDF) »  |  Persily column (PDF) »

This Week in HVAC&R Industry News

Highlights from ASHRAE’s October 8, 2026 HVAC&R Industry News. Links go to the original articles.

• ASHRAE Opens Abstract Submissions for the 2027 Annual Conference in New Orleans
  ASHRAE is accepting conference paper abstracts for the 2027 Annual Conference, June 12–16, 2027, in New Orleans, across eight tracks including refrigeration, building decarbonization, IEQ and owners & operators. Abstracts are due Nov. 11, 2026.
  Read the announcement »  |  Technical program & submission info »
• HARDI and AHRI Seek Changes to New York City’s A2L Refrigerant Rule
  The two associations asked the NYC Department of Buildings to amend Local Law 77, saying several city-specific A2L requirements depart from ASHRAE Standards 15, 15.2 and 34 and add material, labor and design costs. They recommend adopting the 2024 editions of those standards.
  Read more »
• ASHRAE Journal Feature of the Week: Heat Recovery Redesign for Recreation Center
  A 2025 ASHRAE Technology Awards case study on how a Fairfax County, Va., energy partnership took the Cub Run Rec Center from the county’s worst energy performer to one of its best recreation centers, cutting total energy use by about 60%.
  Download the article (PDF) »
• ASHRAE Journal Podcast Episode 64: Next Generation Refrigerants and Heat Pump Systems Design
  Zilong Zhao and Bruno Yuji Kimura de Carvalho, both Associate Members of ASHRAE, discuss how the move to next-generation refrigerants is reshaping ground-source heat pump design.
  Listen to Episode 64 »
• Fewer Workers, Faster Installs: Research Aims to Speed Up Heat Pump Retrofits
  Researchers at Germany’s Fraunhofer IBP and Fraunhofer ISE are combining standardized digital tools with field-tested installation methods across the whole retrofit process, aiming to cut heat pump installation times by up to 40%.
  Read more »
• Cement-Based Supercapacitors Could Power ‘Smart’ Buildings
  Researchers reporting in ACS Nano developed a 3D-printed, energy-storing cement supercapacitor that matched commercial concrete in strength tests, pointing toward buildings that store locally generated energy within their own structure.
  Read more »
• States and Cities Challenge EPA Repeal of Power Plant Emissions Rule
  A coalition of 21 states, led by New York, along with several cities, has asked a federal appeals court to review the EPA’s repeal of the rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants.
  Read more »

This Month from ASHRAE

Highlights from the September 2026 Chapter Notes and ASHRAE Professional Development.

• 2027 ASHRAE Winter Conference & AHR Expo, Chicago: Jan. 23–27, 2027
  Technical program from more than 300 industry experts, with the AHR Expo at McCormick Place Jan. 25–27. Early bird registration ends Oct. 28.
  Conference details & registration »
• Save 15% on the Fundamentals: HVAC Systems eLearning Package
  Ten best-selling courses (20 PDHs) covering load calculations, psychrometrics, ventilation, humidity control, central plants and more. Use code HVACFALL15 at checkout, Sept. 25 through Oct. 25.
  View the course package »
• Updated BCxP Exam Starts Oct. 12
  Updates to the Building Commissioning Professional (BCxP) exam blueprint, based on a new industry-wide job task analysis, take effect Oct. 12. A new BCxP Study Guide is available.
  BCxP certification details »
• Chapter Leadership Academy: Mar. 12–13, 2027, ASHRAE HQ
  A free 1.5-day leadership program for up-and-coming chapter leaders (airfare covered; attendees pay for their hotel). Interested? Contact your Director and Regional Chair (DRC) before Nov. 20.
  Learn about Chapter Leadership Academy »
• Society Scholarships: One Deadline, April 1
  ASHRAE has replaced the two Society Scholarship deadlines (May 1 and Dec. 1) with a single deadline of April 1 each year, for awards the following fall–spring. Please share this with students and advisors.
  Scholarship program details »

National Newsletter Archive

Past issues of ASHRAE’s national newsletters, newest first.

HVAC&R Industry News and ASHRAE Journal Newsletter links open each issue’s web version. ASHRAE posts Chapter Notes as a single current-issue page on ashrae.org, so its link opens the latest issue.

Updated monthly by the chapter. Content comes from official ASHRAE Society communications. For full details, see ashrae.org.