COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Dr. David Claridge has been named Fellow of The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) at the Society’s 2008 Winter Meeting. Claridge is the director of the Energy Systems Laboratory of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station and the Leland Jordan Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University. He is a registered professional engineer. Claridge has made valuable contributions to energy efficiency technology such as the validation of the variable-based degree-day method, formulation of algorithms behind the four-parameter, change-point linear regression and development of expert systems. He developed the approach used in the Texas Loan STAR program, which creates baseline models of building performance based on engineering principles using pre-retrofit energy data and regression techniques. Claridge also developed the inter-zone temperature profile estimation (ITPE) method for calculating ground-coupled heat transfer. ITPE is the first analytical method capable of modeling all common building-to-ground configurations. The method has been implemented in program code suitable for use in two major public domain building simulation programs, while a simplified version is included in the ASHRAE Handbook, Fundamentals. The status of Fellow ASHRAE is a membership grade that recognizes distinction in the arts and sciences of heating, ventilating, air conditioning or refrigeration and is earned through achievement as a researcher, designer, educator or engineering executive. ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is an international organization with over 50,000 members, of which approximately 500 are given the title of Fellow. Its objective is to advance the arts and sciences of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration to serve the evolving needs of the public through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education.
