From the Scene: March 13, 2008
by Bill McNew, ASHRAE video consultant, DSG Productions

IAs I pulled into the driveway off Tullie Circle, my headlights cut through the pre-dawn darkness. Through the windows of the building, eerie lights and shadows chased each other in the Stygian gloom as craftsmen, already an hour or more at work, illuminated their progress with miners’ lamps affixed to their foreheads.

I watched as the rising sun gradually revealed the now familiar worksite and was reflected in the newly installed glass across the front of the building. The last two weeks have brought visible change to the façade: glass across the entrance, dark green panels on the east side of the Leaning Center, a new set of steel stairs allowing access to the second floor from the front.

The metal skin on the Learning Center is now complete and the metal outside doors has been installed. The frames are being placed for the second floor glass and work continues on the second floor walkway.

Inside, like performers at Cirque du Soleil, men on stilts move gracefully from room to room applying the skim coat on the sheetrock. The ease with which they walk about on the three foot tall stilts is amazing; they look a new species, grander than mere man yet visibly more vulnerable.

I think praying mantis or daddy long legs as I watch them step over obstacles on the floor with more ease than I possess on my grounded legs.

Outside, the seemingly never ending work on the retention ponds is nearly complete. Once again, my information is corrected: the visible ponds will not be a foot deep, but more like three or four…too shallow for diving, but leisurely laps would not be impossible. The presence of a giant drain gives flight to my fantasies. Retention will not be for long and pooled water, save in a torrent, will be short lived.

The “geo-thermal closet” has begun to take shape as the first of the pumps and valves have arrived. For some reason, this part of the project most fascinates me. Perhaps it is the thought of extracting free energy from the earth, or perhaps it’s the sheer simplicity of it. Perhaps it’s the vision of twelve 400 foot wells drilled into the granite. I like to watch the bulldozers and track hoe too, so that may explain it.

We shot video today of ASHRAE President Kent Peterson and his successor and chairman of the Building Committee, Bill Harrison as they reviewed the goals and aspirations for the renovated building. “Walking the Talk,” is how they phrased it and aptly, indeed. The newly remodeled ASHRAE Headquarters will be a joy for members, employees and visitors. And we may all learn a lesson or two, as well.