Engineering in History - An Advent of ASHRAE
In our next deep dive into the history of consulting engineering, Millies Engineering Group focused its research on mechanical engineering – and the advent of ASHRAE, formed after a merger to become the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.
For many, the quality of an indoor space is often invisible – only noticeable when something goes wrong. Truly, a perfectly air-conditioned room using germ filtration is always less noticeable than a groggy space that leads more often to sickness. These systems have been built upon for hundreds of years with the efforts of thousands of engineers, and organizations like ASHRAE helped standardize engineering practice in America. With March being Women's History Month, it is even more important to highlight early pioneers like Lynn G. Bellenger and Margaret Ingels, who brought critical perspective on topics like sustainability. Meanwhile, other ASHRAE alumni include future-thinking engineers like Pavel Ole Fanger, who recognized the importance of improving public health with filtration of the built environment. At Millies Engineering Group, we know that the best way to ensuring future success in our industry is careful consideration of the past.
Historical Context
Before diving deeper into notable figures of ASHRAE, it's essential to explore the historical context at the outset. Humans often strive toward comfort, and air conditioning was once reserved only for royalty. As far back as 1200 BCE, King Arzawa was utilizing under floor heating to combat the frigid Turkish winter. Byzantines, Romans, English Lords, or Ancient China – each created solutions to a more comfortable built environment. Even the Egyptians learned to wet reeds and hang them in windows to dull the desert heat. This human propensity for comfort would become exponential over time, expedited with the advent of electricity and global industrialization. How does ASHRAE fit into this storied history? Simple, the exponential progress invoked a need for organization across vast distances, and ASHVE or ASHAE filled that demand as early as 1894. Clearly, as the world became smaller, a merger was on the horizon, which was officially announced in 1954. Since then, it has grown to become among the most reputable engineering organizations in the world, in no small part due to the efforts of its notable alumni. A major rebrand for ASHRAE took place in 2012, the same year Millies Engineering Group rebranded – to give a modern skin to an ancient practice.
Lynn Bellenger
Lynn Bellenger was selfless, and quite early recognized the need for energy analysis as a method to improve the engineering practice. Like Millies Engineering Group, she worked often on large scale projects, like college campuses. Lynn did not arrive to her conclusion about the importance of sustainability out of a desire for prestige or money – her motive was philosophical, and she felt this was the right thing to do. Her undergraduate background was mathematics, dovetailing perfectly into a penchant for predictive analysis for energy alternatives. As president, she was notable for her ability to communicate intricate technicalities, balanced with exceptional ability to work with people in other fields.
Margaret Ingels
Without Margaret Ingels, the stage might not have been set for women like Lynn to break boundaries in the engineering industry. Undoubtedly a "Woman of Firsts", the glass ceiling was nothing but a suggestion to her. Though the first American woman to receive a professional degree of Mechanical Engineer, Ingels' career was about her work, not her gender. Born in 1892, her love of science was found accidentally as a young Margaret observed condensation. Nearly 100 years before the Covid-19 Pandemic, Ingels had perfected a portable machine capable of analyzing germ-laden dust in New York schools. Having given over 200 speeches, it is no surprise she is considered an inspiration to women engineers.
Povl Ole Fanger
Like Margaret, Povl Ole Fanger had an important understanding of the hidden implications of the built environment. His work is credited with revealing how poor home ventilation can lead to Asthma in children, and a great example of the global reach of ASHRAE. Originally from Denmark, Povl traveled to the USA to contribute to ASHRAE and to the field by teaching at Syracuse. Responsible for much of the standardization of Mechanical engineering, his other work regarding thermal comfort is a concept that Millies Engineering Group uses to this day. Truly an engineer capable of seeing the unseen, he recognized even the human body affects the perception of a comfortable space.
The legacies these legendary engineers left behind still echo in Millies Engineering Group's daily practice. Recently, MEG has found success in projects within the Healthcare and Education industries – finding ourselves especially capable at projects which often grow to massive scale. In just the last two years, MEG has completed several million square feet of k-12 schools across several states. Every inch is directly impacted by Povl Ole Fanger's conception of thermal comfort, as well as extensive work with improving HVAC and filtration influenced by Margaret Ingels and Lynn Bellenger. In celebration of Women's History Month, these engineers serve as a reminder in our office to be grateful for the incredible contributions of our female designers, staff, and engineers.
A multi-volume book series could be made regarding ASHRAE and its role in the history of consulting engineering. Though a new organization compared to ancient mechanical engineering, Millies Engineering Group has worked and grown considerably with the support of ASHRAE. As one of MEG's principals is a fellow, and as a company capable of working across the United States, ASHRAE plays a pivotal role in our daily tasks. It's no secret the industry relies heavily on professional connections, emphasizing the importance of engaging with cohorts on the industry level.
- Millies engineering group