ASHRAE Journal - August 2022 - 12

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
We are now at a critical point in our evolution. Our
past success could lead us to believe we are invincible,
but without change we will become stagnant. Let's
remember what Bill Gates said, " Success is a lousy
teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't
lose. "
Members of the Turkish Chapter, one of the 200 ASHRAE chapters.
in their profession and for realizing our mission and
vision.
Our success was based on problem solving, creativity,
innovation, flexibility and a willingness to adapt.
Success stems from seeing an opportunity for improvement
based on new knowledge and technology. This
has made ASHRAE what it is today: the world's leading
global HVAC&R organization. Now, as we look to secure
our future, we face two great challenges.
The first is silos. Used in farming, silos are designed to
isolate and insolate. They do the same within the workplace
and in associations. Ultimately, they lead to disengagement
and disintegration.
At ASHRAE silos can slow us down from taking necessary
action or adopting improvements, preventing
opportunities to " cross-pollinate " ideas and leverage
relationships. The threat, given the brilliance
and passion of our members and our resources, is
underperformance.
The second is resistance to change. This limits us and
slows our ability to adapt and develop in a manner consistent
with the evolving needs of our members.
We've experienced 60 years of unparalleled success.
We grew from 72 chapters in North America in
1956 to 200 chapters worldwide today. We foresaw and
addressed the issues of the day:
* In 1972, when the world was hit by the oil crisis, we
rose to the challenge and gave the world energy efficiency
standards used by governments around the world.
* In 2020, when COVID struck, we rose to the challenge
and conclusively demonstrated that COVID is
airborne. In addition, we provided invaluable guidance
and set new benchmarks for buildings in the post-pandemic
era.
What a heritage we possess. ASHRAE should be proud.
We all should be proud.
12
ASHRAE JOURNAL ashrae.o rg
A U G UST 2022
Our Path to Securing Our Future
It's imperative that we continue to hunger for and
seek information about our market, about our changing
world and about our technological advances. Breaking
down silos and embracing change will infuse a new
dynamism in our organization at all levels, bringing to
our members new knowledge, technology and tools in a
timely fashion and helping them to successfully navigate
the rapidly changing world.
Let's look at how we can leverage relationships, knowledge
and change as the formula to securing our future.
Our journey forward begins by looking back. History
teaches us that knowledge and technology have never
been the preserve of one civilization for very long. They
diffuse across cultures and civilizations, evolving all
the time. Those who are actively on the lookout for new
ideas, knowledge and more efficient ways to do things
move ahead in the scale of human development.
For example:
* Gunpowder was invented in China in the first century.
It took 1,200 years for it to become commonly used
in Europe in the 14th century.
* The Mughals of India were masters of sustainability;
they employed microclimate engineering, strategically
placing misting fountains upwind of residences. They
used cool roofs, solar water heating and intricate piping
systems using gravity to operate fountains and water
imperial gardens. It has taken nearly 500 years for these
practices to be widely used across the world as part of
our sustainable building designs.
* The Arabs laid the foundations of modern mathematics,
physics, chemistry and algebra. It was centuries
before this knowledge became commonplace and was
applied across the world.
In the past, the diffusion of knowledge and technology
across the world took a long time. Today, with our
rapidly changing environment and instant communications,
if we do not keep pace with change, we risk
obsolescence and irrelevance. What determines how
quickly we can react and adapt depends in great part on
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ASHRAE Journal - August 2022

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