Our Chapter meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month from September to June. Contact ashraeli.membership@gmail.com for more info. 

Next Presentation:
Tuesday December 12th, 2023 at 6PM
​Westbury Manor
1100 Jericho Tpke
Westbury NY, 11590

Members and Approved Guests: $60
​Non-Members: $70
Student Chapter Members: $15 (member rate and use discount code STUDENT)
Monthly Meeting:
  • Cocktail Hour
  • Technical Seminar (1 PDH) (No Technical Presentation for June)
  • 5 course dinner and open bar throughout
​Presentation Description:
The Future of Refrigerants
​New societal environmental demands to control climate change are driving the development of new regulatory policies to restrict and lower the direct GWP (global warming potential) impact of F-gases. The HVAC&R industry is currently being challenged to invest significant resources to understand the best refrigerants that meet the above requirements. However, there are many uncertainties and challenges given the ever-changing global regulatory environment, within regions, country, state, and sometimes locally by city.
Safe non-flammable low toxicity F-gases allowed for an exponential increase in the standard of living of society through increased food productivity, reduction in heat related deaths, increased worker productivity and migration of people to cities and to hotter climates. The orderly transition from CFCs to HCFCs and HFCs achieved a balance between the societal environmental demands for reduced ozone depletion while continuing to improve the standard of living in developing countries and minimize the societal safety (nonflammable refrigerants) impacts for everyone.
Today designers are being asked to consider new lower direct GWP unsaturated hydrofluorocarbons (HFOs) refrigerants, some of which are slightly flammable under certain conditions, as well as revisiting the application of natural refrigerants, like carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrocarbons, and water.
This presentation will provide an update on new lower GWP alternatives introduced into the marketplace and it will highlight some important considerations, particularly flammability, that engineers, designers, and building owners should keep in mind regarding next-generation refrigerants.

Outline:
•Brief History of Refrigerant
•Global Warming Potential of Refrigerants and Their Impacts
•Review of HFC Refrigerant Regulations & Regulatory Mechanisms
• Sustainable Refrigerant Selection & Challenges
•Review of Lower GWP Refrigerant Options For Various HFCs
• Summary & Conclusions
•Q&A

Presenter:
Steve Kujac
ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer
Steve Kujak is the director of Next Generation Refrigerants Research for Trane Technologies (divisions include Trane and Thermo King). Over the past 30 years, he has been involved in technology development of new refrigerants, lubricants and HVACR system design. Steve has been an author or co-author on 50+ publications related to refrigerants and has 30+ patents related to HVAC products.
Steve is a distinguish service member of ASHRAE and is involved in numerous refrigerant safety and use standards used globally by the HVACR industry. He is a member and past chair of ASHRAE Standard 34 “Designation & Safety Classification of Refrigerants” and the Chair of the Refrigeration Committee Technology Committee for Comfort, Process, and the Cold Chain (REF-CPCC).
He also participates in numerous other global standards and organizations (AHRI, IEC, ISO, etc). Steve is currently a member of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) – RTOC (Refrigeration, Air-Conditioning and Heat Pumps Technical Options Committee) Steve lives with his wife Annette on the Mississippi River in Brownsville, Minnesota where they both enjoy the beauty the drift-less region provides. Steve holds Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Non-Members and Guests that join at the door will receive the pre-registered Member rate for that meeting and a voucher for free admission to their next meeting, courtesy of our  Membership Promotion Committee.

Member Monthly
Meeting Registration
$60
Non-Member Monthly
Meeting Registration
$70

Board of Governors Meetings

The Chapter's Officers and Board of Governors meets at Westbury Manor at 5pm on the day of our main chapter meetings, the second Tuesday of September through June. All members are welcome to attend, whether it be to listen in on the meeting to stay abreast of what is going on within the chapter or to address the board.

We do ask that if you have a topic or subject you would like to discuss, that you please let a member of the board know so we can properly allocate time for you.