From Timișoara Back to Ireland: Reflections from the ASHRAE Region XIV CRC 2026
By Dr John McKeon, President, ASHRAE Ireland 2026–27
It was a privilege to represent ASHRAE Ireland at the 2026 Region XIV Chapters Regional Conference in Timișoara, Romania.
A Chapters Regional Conference is much more than a formal meeting in the ASHRAE calendar. It is where individual Chapters come together to share progress, compare challenges, exchange ideas and strengthen the relationships that connect local activity to the wider Society.
For me, this CRC was particularly significant because it came at the beginning of my year as President of ASHRAE Ireland.
One of the responsibilities of each Chapter President is to report to colleagues across the Region on where their Chapter stands and, more importantly, where it wants to go.
Standing in front of colleagues from across Region XIV to present the Ireland Chapter report was therefore both a proud moment and a useful opportunity to articulate the ambition we have set for the year ahead.
That ambition can be summarised simply:
Healthy Buildings. Stronger Community. Greater Impact.
Those three themes are becoming a useful lens through which I see the work of ASHRAE Ireland.
Healthy Buildings
ASHRAE has always brought extraordinary depth in engineering, building performance, energy, ventilation and environmental control.
But the conversation around buildings is evolving.
Increasingly, we need to understand buildings not simply as technical systems, but as environments in which people live, work, learn, recover and spend the majority of their lives.
That places indoor environmental quality, health and human performance firmly alongside energy efficiency and decarbonisation.
My own background in medicine has made this intersection particularly important to me.
As we presented the Ireland Chapter’s priorities in Timișoara, one of the messages I wanted to reinforce was that ASHRAE Ireland can play a valuable convening role at the interface between engineering, building science, indoor environmental quality and human health.
Ireland has substantial expertise across engineering, construction, healthcare, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, data centres and technology. There is a real opportunity for our Chapter to bring those communities into closer conversation.
Healthy buildings are not a niche topic.
They are increasingly part of the mainstream discussion about what good building performance actually means.
Stronger Community
The second theme is perhaps the one most naturally reflected in a CRC itself.
ASHRAE is powered by volunteers.
Chapters are strengthened by people giving their time to organise events, mentor younger members, contribute technical expertise, develop programmes and maintain the relationships that make a professional society meaningful.
The Irish delegation in Timișoara reflected that spirit.
I was delighted to be joined by Howard Neville, Conor Murray, Alireza Etemad and Donal Finn, each contributing to the Chapter and the wider Region in different ways.
It was also encouraging to see Ireland represented at Regional level, with Conor Murray addressing the conference in his role as Regional Vice Chair for Chapter Technology Transfer Committee activities.
That matters.
One of the things I would like us to achieve during the coming year is a stronger pipeline between involvement in ASHRAE Ireland and participation at Regional and Society level.
For a student or young engineer, ASHRAE should not feel like an organisation that sits at arm’s length.
It should feel like a professional community they can enter, contribute to and grow within.
That may begin with attending a local technical event, but it can lead to involvement in committees, standards, research, conferences and leadership roles.
We need to make that pathway more visible.
Greater Impact
The third theme is about reach.
ASHRAE Ireland already has a respected technical base, but there is a significant opportunity to broaden our impact across the Irish built environment.
That means strengthening relationships with universities, professional bodies, industry associations, employers and emerging sectors.
It also means becoming much more visible in our communications.
One point that came through repeatedly during the CRC was that strong Chapters do not simply organise good activity — they communicate it well.
Members need to know what is happening.
Potential members need to understand why ASHRAE is relevant to them.
And the wider industry needs to see the contribution ASHRAE can make.
That is one of the reasons we are putting renewed emphasis this year on the ASHRAE Ireland website, LinkedIn and our wider communications programme.
The goal is not communication for its own sake.
It is to make the value of the Chapter visible.
The real value of CRC: learning from one another
Formal presentations are important, but some of the greatest value of a CRC comes from hearing how other Chapters are approaching familiar challenges.
What is working in membership?
How are Chapters engaging students?
What kinds of technical events are attracting strong attendance?
How are Chapters using Distinguished Lecturers?
Where are sponsorship models working well?
How do we make volunteer leadership sustainable?
And how do we ensure that Chapter activity creates genuine value for members throughout the year rather than concentrating engagement around a small number of events?
Listening to Region XIV DRC Eduardo Maldonado, hearing reports from other Chapters and discussing experiences informally with fellow delegates helped put our own Ireland plans into perspective.
It was reassuring to find that many of the priorities we have identified are shared across the Region.
It was equally useful to see where other Chapters are already doing things from which we can learn.
For me, three opportunities stood out.
First, there is significant scope for greater collaboration across Region XIV — through shared technical programming, Distinguished Lecturer opportunities and more Chapter-to-Chapter learning.
Second, we need to continue sharpening the member value proposition, particularly for students, Young Engineers in ASHRAE and professionals working in rapidly developing sectors.
Third, we need to become much more consistent in telling the story of ASHRAE Ireland — what we are doing, who is involved and why that activity matters.
Recognition and volunteer contribution
A personal highlight of the conference was receiving a Certificate of Appreciation from ASHRAE Region XIV in recognition of my efforts to secure sponsorship for the Regional Dinner during the 2026 ASHRAE Annual Meeting in Austin.
I was very grateful to receive the recognition in the presence of ASHRAE President Sarah Maston and Region XIV DRC Eduardo Maldonado.
Volunteer organisations depend on people being willing to contribute beyond the obvious requirements of a role.
Recognition of that contribution is important, not because the work is done for awards, but because it reinforces the culture of participation that makes organisations such as ASHRAE function.
I see that same spirit throughout our own Ireland Chapter.
From Region XIV back to Ireland
The most important question after any conference is simple:
What do we do differently because we attended?
For ASHRAE Ireland, the answer is not to create an entirely new strategy.
If anything, CRC reinforced that the direction we have chosen is the right one.
We need to continue building an active and welcoming professional community.
We need to engage students and young engineers much earlier.
We need to create excellent technical programming.
We need to strengthen relationships with industry and other professional communities.
And we need to position ASHRAE Ireland more visibly at the intersection of engineering, building performance, sustainability, indoor environmental quality and health.
In other words:
Healthy Buildings. Stronger Community. Greater Impact.
CRC provided a useful opportunity to test that ambition against what is happening across Region XIV.
I left Timișoara with new ideas, stronger relationships and an even clearer sense of the opportunity ahead for the Ireland Chapter.
And, as is often the case with ASHRAE, some of the most useful conversations did not happen at a lectern.
They happened over coffee, around a lunch table and during the informal conversations that turn professional contacts into colleagues.
That sense of community may ultimately be one of ASHRAE’s greatest strengths.
The task now is to bring that energy home.
About the Author
Dr John McKeon is President of ASHRAE Ireland for 2026–27 and contributes to the Chapter’s thought leadership on indoor environmental quality, healthy buildings and the relationship between the built environment and human health.
A medical doctor by training, he is Principal of the iAIR Institute and Medical Director of Airmid Healthgroup, where his work focuses on indoor air, healthy buildings and interdisciplinary approaches to indoor environmental quality. He also serves on the ASHRAE Environmental Health Committee and contributes to the ASHRAE Indoor Environmental Quality Center of Excellence.
His work brings together medicine, engineering, building science and innovation to support healthier, more people-centred indoor environments.
