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Shaping Tomorrow's Global Built Environment Today
December 4, 2025
The U.S. White House has launched the Genesis Mission, a plan to feed scientific federal government datasets into artificial intelligence models. The Department of Energy-led project is meant to create and train AI agents and scientific foundation models to speed up scientific progress. Read more
A contractor was in the process of removing air-conditioner units when a blaze erupted at the Wang Fuk Court residential estate in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district in November. Hong Kong authorities now believe that the highly flammable polystyrene panels, which were applied to protect windows across the eight-building complex, helped accelerate the spread of the fire that killed at least 151 people. Read more
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Researchers have developed a scalable, biodegradable, transparent bamboo material enhanced with a tungsten-doped vanadium dioxide coating for energy-efficient windows. The composite achieves high transparency, solar modulation and thermal insulation—outperforming traditional glass in hot climates. Read more
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the country has geothermal plants in only seven states producing only 0.4% of utility-scale electricity generation as of 2023. To expand that potential, a start-up is focusing its sights on Newberry Volcano, an active, shield volcano 20 miles south of Bend, Oregon. Newberry is the largest volcano in the Cascade Volcanic Range, and the U.S. Geological Survey considers it a “very high threat” volcano, similar to Mauna Loa and Kīlauea in Hawaii. Read more
Join ASHRAE Journal Technical Editor Rebecca Norris and Darrell Peil as they discuss the often-overlooked benefits of pipe insulation and its impact on energy savings.
 
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ASHRAE Journal
By Joseph W. Lstiburek, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Columnist Joe Lstiburek regales us with a story from the early days in his career, including encounters with several legends in the building science field and a compelling explanation on how to tell the difference between the transport of water vapor by diffusion and airflow (“leakage”). Download here

Access more ASHRAE Journal articles through the Technology Portal.
ASHRAE News
ASHRAE’s Hamilton (Ontario) Chapter has created a seven-part program to explore this year’s ASHRAE Society theme, “Healthy Buildings Designed for Life.” The program is constructed around a Harvard study discussing the nine foundations of a healthy building. The Hamilton Chapter selected seven foundational topics that aligned closest with ASHRAE’s mission, using one topic for each chapter’s meeting: Ventilation, Air Quality, Thermal Health, Acoustics, Moisture, Safety & Security, and Water Quality. Read more
Products
In Case You Missed It
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published a proposed rule that would modify reporting requirements for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The revised rule aims to make the reporting regulations easier to implement in an effort to reduce unnecessary or duplicated records while maintaining the ability to collect the required PFAS information. Read more
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