ASHRAE DECARBONIzATION CHALLENGE

During the 2024 ASHRAE Winter Conference, the ASHRAE Cedar Valley Chapter was awarded a $7000 grant from ASHRAE Society. This grant was awarded with the intent to pursue a Decarbonization project for the community of Ullo, Ghana. Cedar Valley chapter members teamed up with students from the Iowa State University's Engineers Without Borders Chapter to design a Solar Water Heater for this project. Months of design work was followed by a visit to Ullo, where the project team helped bring the design to life. 

This project has been a tremendous success for the Cedar Valley Chapter. The efforts of our chapter members and our EWB partners have made a positive impact on the Ghanaian community. The Solar Water Heater project in Ullo is a great example of our chapter members supporting ASHRAE's vision statement: "A healthy and sustainable built environment for all". The Cedar Valley chapter also supports ASHRAE President Dennis Knight's 2024-2025 Society Year Theme: “Empowering Our Workforce: Building a Sustainable Future.” . By working on this project, Cedar Valley chapter members have engaged and collaborated with students and young professionals to help fight one of the biggest issues facing humanity today: the climate crisis.

The following videos dive into all of the important details of the project. These details include the partnership between ASHRAE and EWB, the technical design of the Solar Water Heater, and the enthusiastic participation of both Cedar Valley members and the students from EWB.