ASHRAE Launches Online Discussion Platform

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DENVER – Looking to exchange information with your peers about your latest project? Then visit the new online ASHRAExCHANGE℠ discussion platform.

Through ASHRAExCHANGE, the Society is providing both ASHRAE members and others in the industry with an online platform for real-time discussion and information exchange for design, construction, operation and support of the built environment.

The platform, at www.ASHRAExCHANGE.org, was launched at ASHRAE’s 2013 Annual Conference being held here June 22-26.

“Many ASHRAE members felt there was a need for a place where both ASHRAE members and non-members alike can freely and openly exchange information focused on the built environment,” Spencer Morasch, incoming chair of ASHRAE’s Electronic Communications Committee. “The information exchange is informal and takes place in real time. So if you have a question at 3 a.m. on a Tuesday night, you can post that on the ASHRAExCHANGE, and chances are, have a reply posted back to you within 24 hours!”

The platform provides a place for users to post and generate discussion on either a general or specific topic. With thousands of ASHRAE members and non-members checking the ASHRAExCHANGE 24/7, the hope is the online discussions will generate plenty of thoughts and comments from many knowledgeable people, according to Morasch.

Anyone with access to the Internet can view posts, comments and messages on the ASHRAExCHANGE at any time. No registration is necessary, and neither is the need for special software, as everything is web-based.

Users who want to become active participants and be able to post both initial messages and responses to posts are required to register.

To ensure that the online discussions are professional and in good taste, volunteer moderators are on duty to ensure proper use of the ASHRAExCHANGE. Since discussions and posts are informal and being made in real time, it is not possible to check the technical accuracy of information posted. It is expected that the ASHRAExCHANGE will be “self correcting,” if there are any technical errors posted, someone will post a correction as a reply.

“However, no one should use any information posted on the ASHRAExCHANGE as the basis of a design,” Morasch said. “The intention is to help get participants pointed in the right direction or open the thought processes.”

ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is a building technology society with more than 50,000 members worldwide. The Society and its members focus on building systems, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, refrigeration and sustainability. Through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education, ASHRAE shapes tomorrow’s built environment today.