ASHRAE’s Technical Committee for Kitchen Ventilation is identified as TC-5.10 as all other technical committees are similarly labeled. What makes this TC-5.10 stand out from many of the other TC’s is their unusual willingness to cooperate with each other in improving commercial kitchen technology (CKV) and share that information with others.

A gentleman named Don Fisher, P.E., has been the driving force behind the committee for a number of years. A member of ASHRAE for some 30 years, Don has continually demonstrated his willingness to improve the knowledge of others and has worked tirelessly to make that happen. Many others have captured his enthusiasm and contribute their time, efforts and often dollars. It indeed is an unusual assemblage of dedicated individuals working for the common good.

With the many research project championed by the TC and Don’s leadership, Don is often quoted as saying “We have learned more in the last ten years alone than we have in the last fifty years.” As one who has been involved in the foodservice industry for 51 years, in choosing hoods and specifying air volumes, duct sizes and static pressures for engineers to work with, I believe we can say that we have learned more in the last five years than the last fifty. But then again, I have only been a member of the TC for the last six years.

Don chaired the Design Challenge seminar that was given with speakers such as Rick Bagwell. Rick is President of The Halton Company and gave a presentation titled “Display Cooking”. Rick’s presentation involved some very sophisticated slides that demonstrate how air moves within a kitchen and around the hood. He discussed the difficulties designers face when designing the very popular display cooking arrangements so popular in today’s marketplace. We will plan to bring you details of his presentation in later issues of the UP YOUR STACK™.com Newsletter.

Next up, was Bob Utech a popular speaker on the circuit and the General Manager of Greenheck. Bob’s presentation was labeled “Hood Selection”. A simple title, but it is hardly a simple decision for designers who must choose between many variables, designs and options. Bob detailed the different types of hoods and how they are best selected for specific purposes.

The third speaker, Greg DuChane is a Product Specialist with the Trane Company and spoke about “HVAC Integration”. He discussed the various types of both exhaust and make-up air plus HVAC fans and how and when they should be used. While the selection of integration and the choice of fans rests with the mechanical engineers, the designers and owners of foodservice operations learned the role fans play in a system.

Bruce Lukens , VP of the Gaylord Company spoke about “Fire Protection”, the types of systems and when they should be used, installed and serviced in commercial kitchens. The installed fire system in any kitchen is the first line of defense should a fire flare up and is critical to containing and putting out a fire before it pushes past this first line of defense and begins to involve the building structure. See Item 2 in this newsletter for his presentation.

Finally, John Clarke, P.E. Fellow, is one of our favorite mechanical engineers. John, is with Hammel, Green and Abrahamson and is an Associate VP for Mechanical Engineering. John spoke to the subject of kitchen comfort, an area often ignored in the past. Owners are now finding that in order to retain qualified help, they must now pay attention to this aspect of their buildings.

The Forum presentation titled “Old Codes, New Codes, Who’s Codes?” was chaired by Doug Horton, P.E. Doug is an HVAC consultant specializing in CKV and gives numerous lectures and classes around the country. Doug was aided by Jay Parikh, P.E. of Compliance Solutions International and UP YOUR STACK™.

This forum addressed the nature of codes within the US, the process and how ad hoc members of the TC as well as other interested individuals can help insure that this process represents all of us who deal with CKV. Rich Swierczyna of the Architectural Energy Lab and Jay Parikh of Compliance Solutions International and UP YOUR STACK™ agreed to step in as the new point men for this ad hoc effort.

Many good ideas and offers of assistance came out of this successful forum. One of the key points that were discussed was the issue of pizza conveyor ovens. Since operators are finding new items to cook in these conveyor ovens, grease is being produced and this has become an issue amongst code officials, owners and fire safety officials. The committee will plan to address this issue in the coming months. Doug wishes to thank all those who contributed their time and efforts.