AMCA Members-Only Newsletter

March 31, 2021

MEETINGS AND EVENTS

2021 AMCA Idea Exchange

April 13

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. EDT

Virtual event of particular interest to sales and marketing, human-resources, and manufacturing professionals from AMCA member companies.

Register now!


Update Your AMCA Library

Click here to shop for AMCA technical documents, including the revised AMCA Publication 211, Certified Ratings Program Product Rating Manual for Fan Air Performance, and ANSI/AMCA Standard 500-D, Laboratory Methods of Testing Dampers for Rating.

Click here to learn more about CETIAT's AMCA CRP fan-testing capabilities.

AMCA White Papers

Stay abreast of topics that are top of mind for AMCA and its members. Check out AMCA's white-paper library by clicking here.

A Message From President Mats Sándor ...

It is with great honor and humility that I assume the role of president of AMCA International for 2020-2021. This is the culmination of a journey that began in 2014, when I was elected to the AMCA Board of Directors. My relationship with the association, however, goes all of the way back to the early 1990s, when I joined Systemair and was tasked with building the company's first laboratory. Trust always has been a core principle of Systemair; for accreditation of the laboratory, we entrusted AMCA. In 1996, the laboratory, located in Skinnskatteberg, Sweden, became one of the first laboratories in Europe accredited by the association.

In the years since, Systemair and AMCA have continued to strengthen their partnership. AMCA's mission is to represent the interests of its members. Therefore, all of the organization’s initiatives in the field of laboratory accreditation, product certification, education and training, and advocacy have the single unifying purpose of helping members reinforce their market position within the ventilation industry.

Since my election to the Board of Directors as well as the European Region Steering Committee seven years ago, I have made an effort to personally engage in various activities within AMCA. This has caused me to gain a deep appreciation for the importance of AMCA's work as a non-profit organization advocating for manufacturers of ventilation products. Today, AMCA has 392 members from 32 nations on six continents, with an international board and steering committees representing North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. In total, there are about 50 volunteer leaders on steering committees and the Board dedicated to serving AMCA’s members.

The growing appreciation for, and importance society has placed on, sustainable practices, which is underlined by the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, will drive the demand for energy-efficient ventilation and greater indoor-air quality. In view of this, I predict that AMCA's function and the demand for AMCA’s services will only increase across all regions over the next few years.

As president, I will strive for the continued internationalization of AMCA. A key aspect of this initiative will be increased product certification in Asia, which is a market deserving of greater attention. We have as many members in Asia as we do in North America, but Asia has far fewer certified products. At the end of the day, we must close that gap, considering that product certifications create customers' trust in products.

In line with this, I aim to support each market in developing a regional strategy that’s actionable. Ultimately, each region should bear its own costs to have a greater sense of independence. At the end of the day, I want us to enhance the sense of community and foster stronger information channels among the four regions.

I also am committed to ensuring AMCA moves toward greater female representation on the regional steering committees and international board and promoting a spirit of inclusion through implementation of a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy.

Achieving a lot of the ambitious goals we have set will require partnerships and collaboration. Hence, I am eager to explore AMCA’s cooperation with other interest groups, similar to the ongoing collaboration with ASHRAE, so long as it benefits AMCA members.

Unfortunately, in 2021 we continue to feel the socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19. My hope is that, in the coming year, we still can achieve much of benefit not only to AMCA member companies, but the general public, by raising standards within our industry, which plays a crucial role in meeting indoor-air-quality and energy-performance objectives.


Committee Reorganization, New Bylaws Taking Effect


Credit: tombaky/Bigstock

Change is coming to AMCA.

“With AMCA’s growth and increased activity in all areas, the AMCA Board of Directors concluded the organization of AMCA’s committees, particularly how they relate to AMCA’s regions and divisions, needed a reorganization to facilitate and energize member engagement,” AMCA Executive Director Mark Stevens said. “The board … looked at every facet of AMCA’s existing structure and determined if it made sense or needed improvement. … The board’s work resulted in changes to AMCA’s committee org chart and in changes to AMCA’s bylaws.”

Within the purview of the Board of Directors, the changes to AMCA’s committee organization chart were presented to the membership during the general session of the 2020 AMCA Annual Meeting, held virtually Dec. 8 (a video recording is available in the members area of the AMCA website).

“AMCA is a reflection of the quality and engagement of its committees,” Stevens said. “AMCA committees develop AMCA standards and publications, select nominees for the AMCA Board of Directors, develop and review AMCA technical content, refine publications governing the AMCA Certified Ratings Program, and drive AMCA advocacy in the code, standard, and regulatory arenas. In short, they are responsible for advancing AMCA’s mission to ‘advance the knowledge of air systems and uphold industry integrity on behalf of AMCA members worldwide.’

“The reorganization clarifies the regionality and, sometimes, the internationality of legacy committees and defines regional steering, advocacy, engineering, and marketing committees,” Stevens continued. “Also, the Airflow Measurement Station and Acoustic Duct Attenuator divisions were merged into the Air Control Division. This creates better committee alignment and cuts the number of administered divisions in half.”

AMCA staff are developing or refining resources to make accessing AMCA committee information and serving on and chairing AMCA committees easier. The resources include a committee directory, a committee-participation handbook, and an onboarding program for new committee members.

The changes to the bylaws, which were unanimously approved by the membership in January, will take effect April 1. They include:

  • The expansion of eligibility for associate status to include “a company that designs and sells a product under AMCA’s scope, but subcontracts assembly and fabrication” (Article III, Section 7). This change has the potential to grow AMCA’s base, augment AMCA’s technical expertise, and increase non-dues, non-assessment revenue.
  • The chair of each region becoming the region’s steering-committee chair (Article VII, Section 5) and each region steering-committee chair (or his or her designee) serving on the Nominating Committee (Article IX, Section 2C). This is expected to strengthen the connection between the Board of Directors, the steering committees, and the regions; improve communication; increase opportunities for coordinated leadership; and simplify the nominating process.
  • Limiting committee chairs to terms of two years and not more than two consecutive terms (Article IX, Section H [new]). This will increase churn at the chair level, increasing leadership opportunities, and prevent staidness from a committee working under the same leadership for an extended period.
  • The replacement of an association-wide engineering committee with product-section engineering committees (Article 9, Section 2B). This will formalize the role of committees responsible for product sections and eliminate a “speed bump” in the standards-approval process.
  • The mandate that each region have a marketing committee (Article IX, Section 2D) and an advocacy committee (Article IX, Section 2E [new]). This will place responsibility for marketing and advocacy strategies with the regions, where the outcomes are most keenly felt.

To view the new bylaws, log in to the members area of the AMCA website.


ICYMI: 2021 AMCA Idea Exchange Going Virtual; Registration Open

How businesses can manage operations and staff and sustain performance and quality in a COVID-19 world is the focus of the 2021 AMCA Idea Exchange, which will be held virtually April 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. EDT.

For $100 (USD), attendees can view:

  • The opening general session, “Ideas for Managing Your Workforce in Challenging Times,” presented by Keri De Bruin, human-resources consultant and coach, Apex Coaching & Consulting LLC.
  • Either of two breakout sessions: the sales-and-marketing-focused “How to Be a Dynamic and Successful Virtual Seller!” presented by award-winning sales trainer Sue Hershkowitz-Coore of SpeakerSue or a human-resources-and-manufacturing-focused roundtable discussion with human-resources consultant Beth Ann Fell of e-360 Solutions LLC.
  • The closing economic general session, “Moving Forward,” presented by Alex Chausovsky, senior business advisor, ITR Economics.

A special $50 (USD) rate is available for those who wish to view only the closing economic general session.

For more information, download the event brochure.

To register, click here.


AMCA Upgrades HVAC System to Safeguard Against COVID, Future Epidemics


AMCA Lab Manager Tim Reilly looks for high levels of carbon dioxide in the training room at AMCA headquarters.

AMCA in mid-February completed upgrades to the HVAC system at its headquarters in Arlington Heights, Ill., aimed at minimizing the potential for disease transmission in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

“According to the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force, properly functioning HVAC systems mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” AMCA Lab Manager Tim Reilly explained. “We took a hard look at our system and found ways to leverage it to reduce risk.”

The process began last summer with a building-wide air survey. Reilly was looking for high levels of carbon dioxide, indicators of pockets of inadequate air change, which, in turn, indicate areas where aerosolized germs can be concentrated. The survey informed the changes to the HVAC system, including the mitigation of system effect to a control room.

In July, AMCA opened the economizers on all of the building’s rooftop units and began operating the blowers 24/7 to ensure maximum air exchange and aerosolized-germ dilution.

“Research shows allowing more fresh air into a building helps to decrease the risk of spread,” Reilly said. “The old saying is, ‘The solution to pollution is dilution.’ … The more fresh-air mixture you have, the less chance a virus will have to recirculate.”

Throughout the building, AMCA placed standalone air-purification units utilizing high-efficiency-particulate-air (HEPA) filters. MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) 13 pleated filters, meanwhile, were installed in the building’s air handlers.

“MERV 13 filters, while not as effective as HEPA filters, trap smaller particles than the standard filters we had been using and do a better job at trapping the virus,” Reilly explained.

In the building’s ductwork, AMCA installed germicidal ultraviolet (UV) lights.

“Research shows that if the COVID virus is exposed to UV radiation for a specific duration of time or dose, the radiation will effectively kill the virus,” Reilly explained.

For added protection, AMCA installed ion generators, or ionizers, in the building’s rooftop units.

“This technology creates an electrical field in our rooftop units that all air passes through and causes the virus to, put simply, explode,” Reilly said.

Additionally, AMCA:

  • Increased the fresh-air mix in the building’s air handlers.
  • For times when the air conditioning is off, increased natural ventilation in the laboratory, which necessitated changes to the building’s security system.

For AMCA office and laboratory staff and—someday again—visitors to AMCA headquarters, the HVAC upgrades, it is hoped, provide peace of mind that appropriate precautions have been taken with regard to the current pandemic and future epidemics.

“The health and safety of employees and guests is of utmost importance to AMCA,” Reilly said. “We will continue monitoring available technologies and make any necessary improvements.”


AMCA Gains Women in Standards Recognition


Credit: Juriah/Bigstock

AMCA is now listed in Women in Standards’ directory of standards-developing organizations (SDO), following AMCA Manager, Publications and Standards Shruti Kohli-Bhargava’s recently joining the community of standardization contributors, users, participants, professionals, and service providers.

Part of Shruti’s efforts to increase female participation on AMCA committees and in AMCA processes, membership in Women in Standards allows AMCA to post calls for committee/consensus-body members on the Women in Standards website.

The purpose of the directory is to help Women in Standards members find SDO to engage with. Listings include the SDO’s name and Web address, the type(s) of standard(s) the SDO develops, and how one can join and participate in standardization activities. For student members, the listings include scholarship opportunities and special student-membership options.

“The standardization process benefits from the inclusion of all stakeholders lending their experience, insights, and perspectives into how a standard will affect them and the people around them,” the Women in Standards website reads. “These contributions to standardization create a better standard for everyone.”

For more information on getting involved in AMCA standardization, contact Shruti at +1 847-704-6285 or [email protected].


Going for a Three-peat: 2020 Edition of AMCA inmotion Named Finalist for PRNEWS Award


AMCA will be looking to win a CSR & Nonprofit Award for a third consecutive year when PRNEWS streams the 2021 CSR & Diversity Awards virtual ceremony April 27.

The 2020 edition of AMCA inmotion magazine this month was named by PRNEWS one of five finalists for Annual Publication or Brochure, an award the 2019 and 2018 editions of AMCA inmotion won last year and the year before, respectively.

The Annual Publication or Brochure award “recognizes outstanding publications for shareholders and other key constituents.” The finalists “represent the communicators who use their platforms for the betterment of their communities and the global community at large.”

Polybagged and mailed with the October issue of ASHRAE Journal, the 2020 edition of AMCA inmotion was edited by AMCA Manager of Industry Content Scott Arnold and art-directed by Chicago-based freelance designer, illustrator, and photographer Bonnie James. It contains the following articles:

AMCA wishes to thank the following advertisers for their support of the 2020 edition of AMCA inmotion: Greenheck, Loren Cook Co., Aire Technologies Inc., American Ultraviolet, Big Ass Fans, ebm-papst, The New York Blower Co., Pottorff, Ruskin, Systemair, Berner International, Nailor Industries Inc., UV Resources, Howden, Mars Air Systems, and 2021 AHR Expo.

PRNEWS is a source of information, education, recognition, and data for Fortune 1000 professionals, agencies, and government/non-profit organizations. The CSR & Diversity Awards will honor the finalists in both PRNEWS’ CSR & Nonprofit Awards and inaugural Diversity Awards.

Scott Arnold is accepting article proposals for the 2021 edition of AMCA inmotion. Contact him at [email protected] or +1 847-704-6335.


AMCA Hiring for Certified Ratings Program Manager


Credit: soupstock/Bigstock

AMCA is accepting applications for the position of Certified Ratings Program (CRP) manager.

The CRP manager administers and is responsible for the performance of the CRP. This involves providing detailed direction to CRP participants, coordinating activities with other departments, initiating and executing improvements to processes, developing new processes as needed, and communicating with authority to participants and partners overseas.

For more on this opportunity, see the job posting here, or contact AMCA Technical Director Nazme Mohsina at [email protected] or +1 847-704-6265.

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