Near the Head of the Pack
The founders of the National District Heating Association – today’s IDEA –
certainly had foresight, giving shape to an industry organization even before
the power industry did. Take a look at a sample of other organizations that
have been formed over the ensuing decades.
1880 American Society of Mechanical Engineers
1894 American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers (now ASHRAE)
1907 National Association of Building Owners and Managers (now
BOMA International)
1908 National Governors Association
1909 National District Heating Association (now IDEA)
1914 Association of Superintendents of Buildings and Grounds [now
APPA (facilities officers)]
U.S. Conference of Mayors
Edison Electric Institute
American Public Power Association
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
Swedish District Heating Association
Euroheat & Power
Finnish District Heating Association
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
International Energy Agency
Electric Power Research Institute
Association of Energy Engineers
U.S. Department of Energy
Danish Board of District Heating
Italian District Heating Association
Canadian District Energy Association
National Association of State Energy Officials
Association for the District Heating of the Czech Republic
Japan Heat Service Utilities Association
Cogen Europe
Natural Resources Canada (but traces its roots to 1842)
U.S. Clean Heat and Power Association
District Energy Cluster of Slovenia
Korea District Heating Association
Middle East Chapter – International District Energy Association
1932
1933
1940
1942
1949
1954
1964
1970
1973
1973
1977
1977
1978
1982
1985
1986
1991
1992
1993
1994
1999
2004
2004
2006
Some Things Old Are New Again
Combined heat and power –1882: Thomas Edison’s Pearl Street Station
– the world’s first commercial power plant – began operation. It was considered the first modern use of energy recycling – or combined heat and
power. The technology was used prevalently in the late 1800s and early
1900s and is now seeing a resurgence.
Electric cars – 1891: First electric automobile built in United States. 1900
was the electric car’s heyday, but the product ceased to be viable in the
1920s as gasoline models became more popular and offered longer distances and more horsepower. Although still addressing the same issues,
electric cars are regaining popularity.
Alternate fuel vehicles – 1908: Henry Ford’s first mass-produced Model T
used ethanol, gasoline, or any combination of the two fuels. Ethanol is now
in use around the world. In Sweden all gasoline contains some percentage
of ethanol.
Business Partners Remain Vital Link
IDEA Archives
Vendors to the industry – business partners – have always
played an important role in IDEA’s ability to inform, connect
and advance the district energy technology in the U.S. and
around the world. IDEA found this 1920 ad for the St. John
steam meter on eBay and quickly snatched it up as one of
the few remaining ads for these products from that era.
FRESH ON THE SCENE: AIR CONDITIONING
While efforts to cool buildings date back to ancient Romans,
the invention of modern air conditioning is attributed to
Willis Haviland Carrier. In 1902, just one year after he
graduated from Cornell University with a master’s degree
in engineering, he put the first “air-conditioning” system
in operation at a Brooklyn printing plant. (Carrier’s patent
called it “the apparatus for treating air”; it was textile
engineer Stuart Cramer who first used the phrase “air
conditioning” in a 1906 patent claim.)
In 1911 Carrier disclosed his basic Rational Psychrometric
Formulae to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
The formula still stands as the basis in all fundamental
calculations for the air-conditioning industry. In 1921,
Carrier patented the centrifugal refrigeration machine.
The centrifugal chiller was considered the first practical
method of air conditioning large spaces.
In 1909 President William Howard Taft was inaugurated as 27th president of the United
States during a 10-inch snowstorm in Washington, D.C. His inaugural ball was held in
the National Building Museum, shown here, where IDEA will hold its 100th anniversary
gala in June 2009. The museum is billed as one of the world’s most prominent and vital
venues for informed, reasoned debate about the built environment and its impact on
people’s lives. For more on the museum, visit www.nbm.org.
Courtesy National Building Museum.
