ASHRAE Journal - February 2014 - 4

COMMENTARY
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Fred Turner

PUBLISHER
W. Stephen Comstock

How Salaries Are Changing

EDITORIAL
Editor
Fred Turner
fturner@ashrae.org
Managing Editor
Sarah Foster
sfoster@ashrae.org
Associate Editor
Rebecca Matyasovski
rmatyasovski@ashrae.org
Associate Editor
Christopher Weems
cweems@ashrae.org
Associate Editor
Jeri Eader
jeader@ashrae.org
Editorial Assistant
Tani Palefski
tpalefski@ashrae.org

Engineering salaries are rising again,
and A/E firms are increasingly struggling to attract and retain quality
engineering talent. This comes from a
special report on engineering salaries,
and how they are being affected by the
economy.
One reason is that the number of
engineering graduates is not keeping
pace with retirements, says author
Kate Allen, P.E. In addition, some
engineers left the A/E industry for
other career options in the economic
downturn.
"Engineering firms are going to continue to be challenged to do more with
less yet still attract and retain quality
talent," she says.

PUBLISHING SERVICES
Publishing Services Manager
David Soltis
Production
Jayne Jackson
Tracy Becker
ADVERTISING
Associate Publisher,
ASHRAE Media Advertising
Greg Martin
gmartin@ashrae.org
Advertising Production Coordinator
Vanessa Johnson
vjohnson@ashrae.org
CIRCULATION
Circulation Specialist
David Soltis
dsoltis@ashrae.org
ASHRAE OFFICERS
President
William P. Bahnfleth, Ph.D., P.E.
President-Elect
Thomas H. Phoenix, P.E.
Treasurer
T. David Underwood, P.Eng.
Vice Presidents
Darryl K. Boyce, P.Eng.
Bjarne W. Olesen, Ph.D.
Daniel C. Pettway
Thomas E. Werkema
Secretary & Executive Vice President
Jeff H. Littleton
POLICY GROUP
2013 - 14 Chair
Publications Committee
Ashish Rakheja
Washington Office
washdc@ashrae.org

die from infections acquired during
surgical procedures.
This month's article on controlling
contaminants in operating rooms
asks: What if operating rooms are
designed to cleanroom standards?
The authors say the design principles are similar but cleanroom
technology has proven effective in
virtually eliminating human particle
contamination.
The authors describe their studies that show airborne contaminants
at surgical sites can be considerably
reduced without increasing energy
consumption.

THIS EDITION also has an excellent lineup of columns and technical
AMONG QUESTIONS addressed in
articles. One purpose of the columns
the report are:
is to pass along practical knowledge to
* Have A/E firms recovered from the younger colleagues.
downturn?
An example in this edition is a col* Have compensation levels recovered umn on restroom exhaust by Steve
from years of cuts, freezes and miniTaylor, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE.
mal bonuses?
This is a seemingly trivial issue that
* How have salaries changed for the isn't. One common mistake, he says,
most common job titles?
is to base the ventilation rate on the
"The number one asset in any pro- size of the space instead of the source
fessional services firm is the staff,"
strength of the odors.
says Allen. "They not only bring in the
work, but they also must do that work
WE HOPE you enjoy the edition.
in a way that allows a firm to prosper."
The special report on salaries is the
first time we've covered this topic. We
MOST KNOW about Health-care
also have interspersed columns, articles
Acquired Infections (HAIs). The
and case studies for the first time. This
Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
mixes shorter and longer editorial.
estimates that 99,000 die each year
Let us know what you think. Your
from HAIs. This includes 13,000 who comments are always welcome.

ASHRAE Journal reviews current HVAC&R technology of broad interest through publication of applications-oriented articles. Content ranges from back-to-basics features to reviews of emerging technologies.
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