The 2015 AHR Expo will take place at McCormick Place in Chicago on January 26-28. The expo brings together over 2,000 exhibiting companies and hosts approximately 40,000 attendees representing the entire spectrum of the industry, including HVACR manufacturers, engineers, contractors, OEMs, facility managers, and other professionals. Attendees will have access to a wealth of educational opportunities to choose from as leading associations, publications and organizations serving the HVACR marketplace have come together to create a comprehensive educational program.

Designed to give HVACR professionals the information tools they need to improve their businesses, perform their jobs more effectively, and stay abreast of new technology and trends driving the industry, more than 120 educational sessions covering a variety of topics will be offered during the HVACR trade show. The educational offerings include more than three dozen free sessions, nearly two-dozen paid courses, and over 60 exhibitor new product presentations in the New Product & Technology Theaters.

"As the AHR Expo rotates to different cities around the country, it is historically at it’s largest when held in Chicago. The 2015 event is shaping up to be no exception. Demand for exhibit space has been exceptionally strong making it necessary to expand the original booth layout," said Clay Stevens, president of International Exposition Company (IEC), which produces and manages AHR Expo. "At this time most of what was added has already been sold, and the Show is significantly larger than the previous record event also held in Chicago. Although it is still too early to accurately predict final attendance numbers, advance visitor registration so far is running noticeably higher than it did leading up to the last Chicago Show in 2012. All in all we are looking forward to a very successful AHR Expo in January that is likely to set more than one new record."

The free AHR Expo sessions that do not require any advance registration are:

Free Educational Programs

Monday, January 26

8:00am - Code Overview and Update (presented by RPA)

8:00am - DORE CWCC Program - Five Professions Affected by Certification Requirements (presented by NEBB)

8:00am - HVAC Duct Construction Standard (presented by SMACNA)

9:00am - "Growing the Building Automation Industry Younger" with Internet of Things (IoT), Open Cloud, and Collaboration (presented by Automatedbuildings.com)

9:00am - Critical Environments – Cleanroom Commissioning (presented by NEBB)

9:30am - Automation Armageddon (presented by BACnet International)

10:30am - Commercial Cooling with Water-Radiant Cooling and Chilled-Beam "Compressor-Less Cooling" (presented by RPA)

10:30am - Test and Balance of Hospitals (presented by AABC)

11:00am - Designing, Installing and Commissioning BACnet BASs (presented by BACnet International)

1:00pm - Cooling Tower Fundamentals (presented by CTI)

1:30pm - "Addressing the Skills Gap," Understanding that People are Our Only Asset (presented by Automatedbuildings.com)

1:00pm- Innovation in BACnet Products (presented by BACnet International)

2:00pm - The Path to Net Zero Through Hydronics (presented by RPA)

2:00pm - Properly Implementing Condensing Boilers in a Hydronic System to Achieve the Greatest Efficiency (presented by ABMA)

2:00pm - A Practical Approach to Assisting Sensitized Individuals (presented by IAQA)

2:00pm - Phenolic Duct Construction Standard (presented by SMACNA)

2:00pm - Benefits of Water-Cooled Systems for Air Conditioning (presented by CTI)

2:30pm - Leveraging the BACnet Standard (presented by BACnet International)

3:00pm - NEW 2015 Regional Standards & the Effects on Different Areas on the HVAC Industry (presented by ASHRAE)

3:00pm - Transactive Energy - State of the Market (presented by GWAC)

5:00 pm - BSRIA Information Presentation & Networking Event (presented by BSRIA Ltd.)

Tuesday, January 27

8:00am - The Latest Trends in the Global HVAC Market (presented by BSRIA Ltd.)

8:00am - Building Science and Dampness/Mold Source Assessment (presented by IAQA)

8:00am - California’s Mechanical Acceptance Testing – A Path to High Performing Buildings? (presented by NEMI/TABB)

9:00am - Smart Cities Asset Monitoring and Control Using an Open Platform (presented by LonMark Int’l)

9:00am - How Smart Automated Buildings and IoT Create Smart Cities (presented by Automatedbuildings.com)

9:30am - Psychrometrics Applied to Comfort Engineering (presented by RSES/RSES Journal)

9:30am - Bridging the TAB and Commissioning Gap. How Commissioning Can Lead to Higher Energy Use (presented by NEMI/TABB)

10:00am - NAFA Best Practice Guideline for Hospital & Health care Facilities (presented by NAFA)

10:00am - How to Measure the Operating Efficiency of Commercial HVAC Systems (presented by NBC)

10:00am - Open Standards for the Oil/Gas Industry: Integrating Building Automation and Process Control (presented by LonMark International)

11:00am - Profiles Powering Big Data, and Uncovering Dark Data in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) (presented by LonMark International)

11:00am - HVAC Fire Life Safety Level 1 (Fire Dampers) (presented by NEMI/TABB)

11:00am - La Mejor Guia De NAFA Para Hospitales Y Centros De Salud (Presentada En Espanol) (presented by NAFA)

1:00pm - Critical Cooling & Controls (presented by Mission Critical/Engineered Systems)

1:00pm - HVAC System Cleaning and Energy Efficiency (presented by NADCA)

1:00pm - ASHRAE/AHRI/CRAA (presented by ASHRAE)

1:00pm - LonMark 2.0: New Advancements in Open Systems Control Networking (presented by LonMark International)

1:30pm - 3rd Annual Connection Community Collaboratory Meeting (presented by Automatedbuildings.com)

2:00pm - Energy Management for Small Box Retail (SBR) (presented by LonMark International)

2:30pm - Solving Building Performance Issues (presented by NADCA)

3:00pm - Specifications for Open Interoperable Systems (presented by LonMark International)

4:00pm - Intelligent Buildings and Big Data (presented by CABA)

Wednesday, January 28

8:00am - System Comfort Efficiency – Energy Consumption (presented by RPA)

10:30am - Tips on Selling Radiant to Homeowners (presented by RPA)

2:00pm - Integrating with Home Automation Systems – Hydronics in a Connected World (presented by RPA)

For more detailed information on these programs, go to http://tinyurl.com/ou7l866.

In addition to these free educational sessions, ASHRAE will be presenting 15 half-day Short Courses and two full-day Professional Development Seminars. Each of these requires a course fee and will be held at McCormick Place January 25 through January 27. All of the courses earn PDHs/AIA LUs or CEUs.

ASHRAE Paid Short Courses

Sunday, January 25

3:30pm - Air-to-Air Energy Recovery Applications: Best Practices

3:30pm - NEW Fundamentals of Risk Management

3:30pm - Laboratory Design: The Basics and Beyond

3:30pm - Energy Management Best Practices

Monday, January 26

8:30am - Designing High-Performance Health care HVAC Systems

8:30am - Application of Standard 62.1-2013: Multiple Spaces Equations & Spreadsheets

8:30am - Energy Efficiency in Data Centers

8:30am - Design of Commercial Ground Source Heat Pumps

2:45pm - Complying with Standard 90.1-2013: HVAC/Mechanical

2:45pm - Commissioning for High-Performance Buildings

2:45pm - Building Demand Response and the Coming Smart Grid

Tuesday, January 27

9:00am - Combined Heat and Power: Creating Efficiency through Design and Operations

9:00am - NEW Commissioning Process and Standard 202

1:00pm - Fundamentals and Applications of Standard 55

1:00pm - Advanced High-Performance Building Design

Tuesday, January 27 (Full-Day Seminars)

9:00am - Introduction to Building Enclosure Commissioning

9:00am - Energy Modeling Best Practices and Applications

For more detailed information and to register for the ASHRAE courses go to https://ashrae.org/education--certification/2015-chicago-winter-conference-courses.

In conjunction with AHR Expo, there will also be various certification programs and exams available to show attendees. The exams that require registration and a fee include the ASHRAE Certification Program, ACG CxA Workshop and Exam, HVAC Review and Nate Testing, and the Tutorial And Testing For NAFA’s CAFS Professional Certification.

Reviews and Exams Schedule

Monday, January 26

8:00am HVAC Review and NATE Testing (NATE)

Tuesday, January 27

7:30am ACG CxA Workshop & Exam (ACG)

Wednesday, January 28

8:00am Tutorial and Testing for NAFA’s CAFS

9:00am ASHRAE Certification Program (ASHRAE)

For more information on these programs, go to http://tinyurl.com/oksrpes.

In addition to all of the educational sessions, the 40,000 plus visitors will have the opportunity to sit in on exhibitor presentations of some of the latest HVACR products and technologies in the New Product and Technology Theaters. These free presentations do not require any registration and will take place during all three days of the show. For more information, go to http://tinyurl.com/pxrqx7h.