Green Scene: AHR Expo 2013

gb&d: How important is the role that sustainability is playing in HVACR?
Clay Stevens: Very important. Sixty percent of the folks who came to last year’s show in Chicago were specifically interested in high-efficiency equipment, which figures into sustainability. Indoor air quality is also high on their list.

gb&d: What type of educational tracks can people attend?
Stevens: AHR Expo offers over 100 presentations, and ASHRAE puts on even more seminars as part of their Winter Conference held concurrently with the show. We manage a track ourselves on building automation. This year, we added a plumbing track. There is a solar track and one on building commissioning. Both BACnet International and Lonmark International offer tracks on how their automated control protocols work. We also have sessions run by the Cooling Technology Institute, the American Boiler Manufacturers Association, and the US Green Building Council, to name a few.

gb&d: What is the Innovation Award?
Stevens: This is a competition between exhibitors in 10 categories (software, plumbing, green building, building automation, heating, cooling, refrigeration, ventilation, indoor air quality, and air conditioning). Exhibitors submit a product in one or more categories. A panel of between 10 and 12 ASHRAE members are the judges. There is a winner in each category and an overall product of the year is chosen, which is considered the most innovative and useful. A presentation ceremony takes place at the show.

Getting out at the expo

What to see and do while at the AHR Expo in Dallas

• A free self-guided art walk. A 3.3-mile route highlights 30 pieces of art and architecture in the Arts District and downtown Dallas. It starts at Nasher Sculpture Center (2001 Flora St.) and includes Louis Kahn’s iconic Kimbell Art Museum (pictured).
• The Texas Discovery Gardens, which has 7.5 acres of diverse garden styles and botanicals. Native plants from around the world are on display along with a butterfly house and insectariums. Located at 3601 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
• The Dallas Farmers Market, where local farmers sell a mouth-watering selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, herbs, and flowers. A perfect open-air market, at 1010 S. Pearl St., for a leisurely stroll and sightseeing.
• Pioneer Plaza at Young and Griffin streets downtown. The bronze, larger-than-life steers and their cowboy escorts, adjacent to the Dallas Convention Center, are located on the actual Shawnee Trail Drive of the 1850s and compose the largest bronze monument of its kind in the world.