Updated Information on Winter Break 2025 Andrew Ask Building Science Symposium

An event that grew out of an early IAQ seminar presented by the Ft. Myers ASHRAE chapter in 1993 has morphed into the AABSS-Andrew Äsk Building Science Symposium, a two-day regional hot-humid conference at the Naples Hilton on Feb. 18 to 19. Blame Rick and Rickie Sims of Johnson Air Conditioning in Naples for putting my name on it. They are the real energy behind this event. We get tremendous support from Pete Consigli, an internationally known restoration, building science, and indoor air quality grandee who now lives in SW FL.

Why should members of IAQA, RIA, or NADCA want to know about architectural details? (We won’t talk too much about HVAC.) So, you can defend yourselves! When a building experiences harm from moisture, the HVAC gets blamed. At AABSS, you will learn where moisture damage starts—it’s not in the HVAC—so you can defend yourself against economic responsibility and then tell your clients how to fix the problem and prevent it from happening in the future.

Leaks used to start at $50,000 to fix. These days, that number is closer to $100k. The 2024-25 edition (now held biennially) will feature not only ASHRAE fellow Joe Lstiburek, PhD, P. Eng., whom most of you may know as the founder of Building Science “Summer Camp,” but his Canadian colleague John Straube. Dr. Straube is a civil engineering / architectural professor at the University of Waterloo and a consultant with RDH, a major building science consultant in Canada and the US Northwest.

Bringing both preeminent North American building scientists together on the same card makes this a big deal. Although Joe and John are close friends and go back 30+ years to their days as undergraduates at the University of Toronto, they rarely appear together. It’s like reuniting Simon and Garfunkel. I can say without exaggeration there is no other one-stop venue for more or better building science.

To find out more, click here.