ASHRAE Journal - August 2024 - 15

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
Industry Roundtables
Our Chapters Regional Conferences will host Industry
Roundtables focusing on employee engagement and the
workforce of the future.
Final Thoughts
One hundred years ago, workforce development
seemed simple. There were fewer industries, less
specialization and different educational requirements.
In my world, I grew up in the southern United States,
and entire towns were built primarily around one
industry-cotton. Small towns and cities across the
U.S. developed around the same workforce model,
focusing on industries such as steel, auto and machine
manufacturing, mining and farming.
For at least three generations before me, my ancestors
either worked on mill-owned farms growing cotton or
in cotton mills. It was a subsistent life that my father
fully intended for me to follow. But Fred Howard
changed all that. He ignited a passion that would
ultimately lead to my becoming an engineer and
business leader. He recruited me into the industry
using a " skills first " hiring approach.
Through Fred and other employers, I took advantage
of in-house training, ASHRAE courses, job-specific
mentoring and generous tuition reimbursement
programs. I went on to earn my degree in physics from
the College of Charleston, become a registered engineer,
build a successful consulting engineering practice, work
to introduce building information modeling technology
to our industry, help improve indoor air quality in K-12
schools and engage with my ASHRAE colleagues to
produce standards and take action on global issues. All
because Fred Howard was thinking outside of the box for
his time.
For us to grow and shape the HVAC&R and building
science workforce for the next 50 to 100 years, we
will need to think outside of the box in ways that will
meet the needs of our industry, meet the needs of
our prospective workforce and meet the needs of our
world at large. We need to take a closer look at access
to education and training and expand our concept of
who could be potential workforce candidates. We need
people from every physical science, life science and
business science discipline, as well as the technical
trades in the HVAC&R industry and in ASHRAE.
Do you want to have an impact? Do you want to make
a difference? I need your help, our industry needs your
help and ASHRAE needs your help! You are the solution!
We've got to take this message to the streets-everyday.
We must prepare to engage in conversations and share
our stories about how the HVAC&R industry actively
creates a sustainable world for everyone.
In her book Fierce Conversations, Susan Scott
writes, " Our lives succeed or fail, gradually then
suddenly, one conversation at a time. And while no
single conversation is guaranteed to change a life,
a marriage, [an industry, the world], it can. The
conversation is the relationship. "
Let's start these conversations. Let's build these
relationships. Let's tell our stories. Please share them
with students, colleagues, employees, potential
ASHRAE members, even family and friends. Tell them
why this industry is a place that has role models,
mentors and collaborators that you want to work with
and aspire to be like.
We've accepted the challenge! Let's take pride in
our accomplishments, tell our stories and grow our
workforce! Thank you!
M. Dennis Knight
P.E., BEMP, FELLOW/ LIFE MEMBER ASHRAE
2024 - 25 ASHRAE PRESIDENT
M. Dennis Knight is ASHRAE's president for the 2024-25
term. He has served as an ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer,
chair of the International Standards Advisory Subcommittee
and vice chair of the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force, among
other extensive involvement, and is the recipient of several
ASHRAE awards.
Knight is the founder of Whole Building Systems, LLC,
Mount Pleasant, S.C., and his experience in the design,
construction, operation and maintenance of high performance
buildings spans over 46 years. He has commissioned
hundreds of new buildings and audited or retro-commissioned
over 100 million ft2 (9.3 million m2) of existing commercial,
federal and industrial building stock.
He frequently lectures in the U.S. and abroad on high
performance building tools and technology and has authored
numerous publications and white papers on a variety of
technical topics.
A U G UST 2024 ashrae.org ASHRAE JOURNAL
15
http://www.ashrae.org
ASHRAE Journal - August 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - August 2024
