What: ASHRAE Winter Conference Summary, highlight opportunities like the LeaDRS and Leadership U programs, learn about the conference, ASHRAE structure, and networking.

Where: Trane Technologies Reuban Trane Conference Room in Building 12 (2213 South 20th Street, La Crosse WI) and Hybrid Meeting (Link on La Crosse ASHRAE Website)

When: Wednesday, February 26, 2025 @ 12:00pm

Cost: Attendance is free but please register

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What: Join us for a tour of the new Kwik Trip on West George Street in La Crosse

When: Thursday December 12 at 12PM

Where: 1133 George St W, La Crosse, WI 54603

Cost: Free but please register so we can provide an accurate headcount

Topic: Moving to A2L for residential applications. Why we are going to A2L?

Presenter: Steve Kujak

Location: Trane-Ruben Conference Room

Date: Tuesday October 22nd 12:00PM-1PM

Xcel Energy Efficiency Summit

Cost: FREE

Date: Thursday, September 19, 2024 

Location: Stoney Creek Hotel | 3060 S Kinney Coulee Rd, Onalaska, WI 54650 

https://slipstreaminc.org/education/xcel-energy-efficiency-summit-0

AGENDA

7:30–8 AM: Registration, networking breakfast 

8–8:35 AM: Welcome

8:35–8:45 AM: Networking break, visit exhibitors  

8:45–9:45 AM: Breakout session #1

• Commercial building electrification: Understanding HVAC systems and their heat pump upgrade options. Ryan Hoger, Director of Training, Temperature Equipment Corporation

• Interconnection process. Katie Dietlin, Wisconsin Solar Program Manager, Xcel Energy; and Jackson Schmidtke, Renewable*Connect Program Manager, Xcel Energy 

• Energy metering: An important first step on your sustainability journey. Chris Brown, Solar Preconstruction Manager, Schneider Electric 

9:45–10:00 AM: Networking break, visit exhibitors  

10:00–11:00 AM: Breakout session #2

• Advanced RTU Controls and Strategies. Ryan Hoger, Director of Training, Temperature Equipment Corporation

• Power Quality Influences of VFDs and LEDs. John Houdek, President and Co-owner, Allied Industrial Marketing, Inc.

• Microgrids 101. Michael Voigt, Business Development Manager, EnTech Solutions

11:00–11:15 AM: Networking break, visit exhibitors  

11:15–12:15 PM: Breakout session #3

• Commercial building electrification: Understanding HVAC systems and their heat pump upgrade options. Ryan Hoger, Director of Training, Temperature Equipment Corporation

• Solar electric systems for your business: what to know before you buy. Chris Collins, Solar Preconstruction Manager, Westphal & Company 

• Insights and Innovations in Lighting Technology. Mike Herbst, Project Manager, Faith Technologies 

12:15–12:40 PM: Lunch 

12:40-12:45 PM: La Crosse ASHRAE Chapter Introduction - Steve Kujak, President of La Crosse ASHRAE Chapter

12:45–1:30 PM: Keynote lunch presentation

• Unlocking the Potential of AI in Buildings. Erin Rau, Trane Technologies Digital Services

1:30 PM: Energy Efficiency Summit concludes

Potluck Dinner, Yard Games, Disc Golf

Cost: Bring a dish to pass - Signup Here

Potluck Picnic

Come join the La Crosse Area of ASHRAE chapter at Rowe park in Onalaska for a Potluck picnic. If you plan to attend, please plan to bring a dish to pass. You can sign up for an item-to-bring here.

Disc Golf

Rowe Park is home to an 11-hole disc golf course which is beginner friendly. Enjoy a round after dinner for a chance to win some prizes! Some discs will be provided for those that don’t have any, but be sure to bring your own if you have them. There will be a couple of fun hole contests with the chance to win some prizes! (closest to pin, longest putt, etc.)

Membership Promotion Event

Bring a non-member Know anyone who is interested in joining ASHRAE or getting involved? We highly encourage you to bring them along. We will have several attendees with numerous years of service to ASHRAE available for questions about ASHRAE in general.

More information to come

Date: TBD

Topic: Sustainable HVAC

Location: Trane Lax 11 Classroom

Date: May 22nd, 12pm-1pm

Speaker: Christian Taber and Tony Bruno

Agenda:

• ASHRAE STD 90.1

• What’s new

• What’s in the works

• ASHRAE STD 55

• What is it?

• What is new?

• ASHRAE STD 231P

• What is it?

• Current Status?

• ASHRAE STD 135 (BACnet)

• What’s new?

• 223P (Semantic Modeling) - why?

• ASHRAE GL 36

• What is it?

• What’s new?

• What’s coming?

• What should I do if I want to get involved in ASHRAE?

• How do I make a proposed change to a standard?

• Where can I learn more?

More information to come

Date: TBD

We have two exciting topics in one meeting for our April meeting of the La Crosse Area Chapter of ASHRAE. ASHRAE Society President Ginger Scoggins will give her presidential address titled “Challenge Accepted: Tackling the Climate Crises.” This presentation explains why ASHRAE has accepted the challenge of the climate crises and what ASHRAE is doing to prepare our members to address the coming challenges for the future of the built environment. We will follow that up with our regularly scheduled chapter educational programming. This month, we will focus on refrigeration with a talk titled “The Cold Chain – Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow” given by Alex Schmig

Cost:

Free for Brown Bag Lunch

$15 for Sandwich Lunch Provided

Register: No Registration Necessary (Unless You Want Lunch)

Agenda:

Noon - 12:30pm: Chapter meeting and Cold Chain presentation with Alex Schmig

12:30-1:00pm: Presidential Address by Ginger Scoggins

Location:

Trane (Building 12) - Reuben Trane Room

2313 20th St S, La Crosse, WI 54601

Please register for Thursday’s tour so the Chapter can provide our hosts with a list of attendees. Number of attendees is limited.

More details to come.

Click HERE to register for this event!
Note the registration link will be on the left-hand sidebar.

Come for the trivia, stay for the cheese curds, beer, and good company!

What: National Weather Service Damage Survey Process Following a Tornado and its Impacts on Buildings – Presented by Kevin Skow

Where: Trane Building 11 (2213 20th St S La Crosse) in the Lab Conference Room or Online using Teams

When: February 27th, 2024, at 12PM

Cost: $15

Taco Bar Dinner Included: Options will include meat, vegetarian, vegan and gluten free

ASHRAE Chapter Meeting

5:00             Welcome/Mixer

5:15 ASHRAE La Crosse Area Chapter meeting          

5:30               TOUR - SSHP, Weld lab, GTP                             

6:30               Break 

6:45               Dinner

7:00               ASHRAE TES presentation: Doug Reindl  

8:00               End

Powering with Renewable Resources: Thermal Energy Storage

The push to add increasing amounts of renewable energy sources to our utility grid has exposed a number of weaknesses and challenges that need to be solved to ensure resiliency and reliability. The intermittent and somewhat unpredictable nature of electricity production from renewable sources has heightened the importance of energy storage. Batteries have often taken center stage as the preferred means to bridge the mismatch in periods where end-use electricity demands exceeds the production from renewable sources. Although batteries seem to be the logical technology to fill this need, they are high cost, resource intensive, and prone to a process called battery aging, which limits their capacity to charge/discharge. This presentation will discuss challenges of increasing deployment of renewables on the grid and the role thermal energy storage can play to enable greater utilization of renewable energy resources.

Douglas Reindl is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, he is the founding director of the Industrial Refrigeration Consortium (IRC) at UW-Madison. Professor Reindl has taught at all levels: undergraduate, graduate, and continuing professional development. Professor Reindl has developed an internationally-recognized series of professional development courses focused on industrial refrigeration systems with an emphasis on the safe use of ammonia as a refrigerant. Through the IRC, Professor Reindl works with some of the world’s leading food companies to improve the safety, efficiency, reliability and productivity of industrial refrigeration systems and technologies.

Professor Reindl is an ASHRAE Fellow, a past recipient of ASHRAE’s Distinguished Service Award, and the first recipient of ASHRAE’s George C. Briley Award for the best refrigeration article in the ASHRAE Journal. He has served as a past chair and member of ASHRAE’s Standard 15 committee – Safety Standard for Refrigeration Systems. Professor Reindl is a registered professional engineer in the State of Wisconsin.

Professor Reindl has published 6 books and more than 100 technical papers on topics including: industrial refrigeration, building mechanical systems, energy systems, indoor air quality (including research on SARS-CoV-2 transmission in buildings), and solar energy.

Topic: "How to" ASHRAE Society Panel

When: December 20th at 12PM

Location: Trane Building 13 (1700 Horton St.)

Speakers: 

Tom Culp: Standards Commitees / Making a Difference

Kristin Sullivan: Career Benefits / Connecting with Students

Adam Krokstrom: Member Benefits / Local Chapter Information / Conferences

Mick Schwedler: Benefits to Employers / Leadership

Steve Kujak: Contributing to Technical Growth / Research

Alex Schmig: Putting the “H & R” back into ASHRAE

Five experienced ASHRAE members will host a “speed dating” information session. During this event you will have the opportunity to move from station to station and learn about a variety of ASHRAE topics. To celebrate the holiday season, cookies and cider will be provided. Holiday sweaters are also welcomed!

Calendar Link

Topic: Incentives for Electrification of Heating

When: November 15th at 5PM

Where: Michael Energy, Large Conference Room

400 Main Street La Crosse, WI

We will be using the conference room at Michaels Energy. Address is 400 Main Street La Crosse, WI (Doerflinger Building Second Floor). The building is not open to the public. Michaels employees will be directing people into the building. Plan to enter through the alley. You can either find street parking, or the Market Square ramp is the closest. 

What: Scott Hackel and Kevin Frost will present on:

• Grid-interactive efficient building demonstrations: what is possible and happening today?

• Challenges and opportunities in electrifying commercial buildings in the Midwest

• Practices, benefits, issues, and performance of variable refrigerant flow in cold climates

When: Tuesday October 10th 5:00PM

Where: The Waterfront Banquet Room

What: The phase down of high-GWP refrigerants in the mid- and long-terms requires trade-offs between GWP and flammability. Efforts are being made to pursue natural refrigerants such as propane (R290) in residential applications (e.g., mini-split systems) especially in Europe and Asia, but in the U.S. there are still several barriers to be overcome to adopt mildly- and flammable-refrigerants. This lecture provides an overview of the state-of-the-art flammable refrigerant in heat pump applications for residential and commercial buildings, outlines current regulatory limitations and provides an outlook on research activities.

Olson Solar Energy

Renewable Energy Event Solar System Tour

Learn some basics about solar energy, solar battery storage, roof solar arrays. See the heat pump system involved and get a large solar system tour. Q&A afterwards.

Where 5076 Wildflower Lane, West Salem, Wi  54669

When: Wednesday Sept 27th 4:00 PM

Who: Cameron Olson, Olson Solar Electric

Join our chapter, along with family and friends, for a night at a La Crosse Loggers game. We will be in the Toppers Terrace section. The game starts at 6:35 pm. There is free food and soft drinks available to all ticket holders. Three adult beverages are included with every $15 ticket for those 21 and over.

• The cost is $15/person for adults, $5/child 12 and under

• Registration closes Monday, August 7th end of day

Join Young Engineers in ASHRAE at Moon Tunes

Feel free to come and go as you wish.

Where: La Crosse Riverside Park

Who: Members of YEA La Crosse chapter and anyone interested in ASHRAE!

Pizza and drinks provided

Activities: Spike Ball, Cornhole, Frisbee

Bring your own chair/picnic blanket

Any questions, please contact Gabe Korinek at gabe.korinek@tranetechnologies.com

Virtual Meeting Link

This event will consist of a panel style discussion about the equipment and facility design impacts of electrifying heat sources.

Bruce Barrett

Bruce Barrett is a Regional Sales Manager for Multistack. He has over 30 years of experience in HVAC, including manufacturing, engineering, marketing and strategic sales. Bruce holds a BS degree from Winona State University of Minnesota in Economics and Social Science. Multistack is an innovator in both packaged and modular chillers.

Background and Info:

• 30+ years in HVAC, Regional Sales Manager-Central Territory-Multistack for last 11 years

• Specific to Electrification:

  • 11 Years intensive in Geothermal, A/W HP, design, and sales

  • Done at least 20 large group presentations, and 30 small group (engineering specific) presentations in the last year

Dan Gentry

Dan Gentry is an Applications Engineer in La Crosse, WI.  He joined Trane in 2018 after 8 years at another local WI based chiller manufacturer. Dan first interned at Trane in the Technology Lab where he worked in the acoustic lab while attending school through 2008.  His areas of expertise revolve around chiller plants, heat recovery and heat pump systems and their reliable and efficient design and operation. 

He graduated from Ferris State University in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in HVAC Engineering Technology and is an active member of ASHRAE.

Dan enjoys spending time with his family on the river and relaxing time at the family cabin up north.

Jay McHenry

Western Wisconsin Technical College

Event Cost: $10 | Registrations will close March 7th

Due to weather, our February Event as been rescheduled to March 14th.

Ted Redmond will be doing a presentation on the City of La Crosse Climate Action Plan. This event will be hosted at the Lunda Center. A BBQ buffet, coffee and a drink ticket will be provided. Any dietary restrictions can be specified in the registration form.

Climate change affects us all, every community, every project, every client.  Rising temperatures, increasing extreme weather events, and the degradation of ecosystems are an increasingly clear and present danger to communities everywhere.  The United States has warmed 68% faster than the planet as a whole and the resulting increase in extreme weather has increased the frequency of billion-dollar disasters from once every four months in the 80’s to once every three weeks.  This “Global Weirding” is a direct result of increased human made greenhouse gas emissions. 

We as design practitioners, building owners, contractors, and manufacturers have a key role to play in creating a safer and more sustainable world.  How we approach our work will, quite literally, determine the success of global efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to changing conditions.  With the City of La Crosse’s recently completed Climate Action Plan and historic national legislation passed within the last six months, we have unprecedented opportunity and support in effecting change.

Learn more about climate change in La Crosse, our role in helping society rise to the challenge, and resources and opportunities to contribute climate mitigation and adaptation in La Crosse including:

•             The link between human activities, climate change, and the built environment

•             Climate change projections in La Crosse

•             What the science tells us we must do to avoid the worst of those projections

•             What the City of La Crosse is doing about it

•             What you can do about it

Three guests will provide updates on the recent changes to three ASHRAE standards. Chris Hsieh will provide an update on Standard 189.1. Mike Patterson will provide an update on Standard 90.1. Eric Sturm will provide an update on Standard 62.1.

Chris also assisted LEED EB (Silver) certification for the Trane St. Paul facility and LEED NC (Gold and Certified) certifications for the Trane Taicang office and facility buildings. He is a LEED-AP BD+C, certified energy manager, UL environment DfS (Design for Sustainability) gold certified, and member of ASHRAE.

Chris is enthusiastic about youth education with a focus on STEM and volunteers his time as a math club coach for a local middle school, helping to advance the team to the state-level competition three years in a row.

In his current role as an applications engineer, Eric’s areas of expertise include acoustics, airside systems, indoor agriculture, and indoor air quality. He is currently involved with ASHRAE as a member of the Standard 62.1 project committee, the indoor agriculture technical committee and sound and vibration technical committee. Eric is the recipient of the ASHRAE Distinguished Service Award and Young Engineers in ASHRAE Award of Individual Excellence.

Calendar Invite

Join us for a tour of the ITC building on the WTC campus, focusing on the mechanical and HVAC equipment. A goal of this event is to promote new membership so attending ASHRAE members are encouraged to bring any interested non-members with them. WTC students are also encouraged to attend as an opportunity to get exposure to the industry. Pizza will be provided after the tour.

Please use calendar invite accept so we know how many people are attending.

Integrated Technology Center

Room 401

717 Vine St

La Crosse, WI 54601

Parking: Park in Lot B on the corner of 7th and Vine. Security will be told to not give tickets.

Building Moisture Management: Jeff Bolt, ASHRAE DL

This teaches psychrometrics in 10 minutes, really, and it’s funny on one slide. I tell my architect friends who’ve attended this that when the engineer says psychrometric they should reply, yah I get that, show me the chart (might be a bluff, but gets their engineer to look at it seriously!). Learn about the affects of moisture in materials. Understand moisture maps in building envelopes. Understand how breaches and bridges affect envelopes. Learn what ASHRAE 90.1, IECC, and Title 24 require for vapor barriers. This is a good one to invite AIA & ALA members to attend.

Recent Advancements in Glazing Technology, Fenestration Performance, and Energy Codes: Thomas D. Culp, Ph.D.

This course is designed to educate architects and designers about the latest advancements in glazing and fenestration technology together with the most recent changes in the ASHRAE 90.1 and IECC commercial energy codes.  New technologies in glazing and framing will be discussed to improve energy efficiency in both new and existing buildings, as well as for use in on-site renewable energy production.

This course is worth 1 credit through AIA

Itinerary

5:00 Social

5:30 Welcome/Chapter Meeting

6:00 1st Speaker

6:30 Dinner: Taco bar (vegetarian and vegan options included)

7:30 2nd Speaker

8:00-9:00 Social

Price: $0

Please register here by Oct. 17th so we have an accurate headcount.

Board of Directors meetings are accessible to all ASHRAE members.

The meetings will be held in-person in Istanbul and through WebEx. You are most welcome to attend the meetings as a guest and can access the meetings virtually with the following links:

October 13, 2022 | 8:00 – 11:15am ET (UTC-04:00) | View the Agenda

>> Register here

October 14, 2022 | 2:15 – 4:00am ET (UTC-04:00) | View the Agenda

>> Register here

Links to join the meetings and view the agenda are also posted online at ashrae.org/BOD.

Please contact Candace DeVaughn, Manager of Board Services if you have questions.

Board of Directors meetings are accessible to all ASHRAE members.

The meetings will be held in-person in Istanbul and through WebEx. You are most welcome to attend the meetings as a guest and can access the meetings virtually with the following links:

October 13, 2022 | 8:00 – 11:15am ET (UTC-04:00) | View the Agenda

>> Register here

October 14, 2022 | 2:15 – 4:00am ET (UTC-04:00) | View the Agenda

>> Register here

Links to join the meetings and view the agenda are also posted online at ashrae.org/BOD.

Please contact Candace DeVaughn, Manager of Board Services if you have questions.