Incoming ASHRAE President brings retrofit focus

Maston is the Geographic Discipline Leader for Commissioning & Energy Services in New England for Colliers Project Leader and has announced her theme for the year will be, Changing the Game: Retrofitting for Resilience.

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution or game plan for retrofitting buildings,” she says in her inaugural address.

“Every building has its own constraints – mechanical systems, budgets and operational needs. Also, financial constraints, or utility infrastructure, plays a part in deciding the game plan or resilience strategy of a building. That’s why teamwork is absolutely essential.”

The theme will focus on how the building industry can work together and create cross-functional teams.

“Today, we’re facing one of the greatest challenges of our time: climate change. As we work toward a more sustainable future, we need to figure out how Team ASHRAE, with its wealth of knowledge and educational offerings, can help create a game plan to make existing buildings more efficient, healthy and resilient,” Maston says.

“This year we are going to focus on codes, technical guidance and building our team.”

• Read Maston’s full statement here.

At the 2026 Annual Conference, ASHRAE also announced other leadership appointments including officers and directors.

Elected officers who will serve one-year terms:

• President-Elect: Ashish Rakheja, B.E., M.Tech, Fellow ASHRAE is Director/Chief Operating Officer at AEON, Uttar Pradesh, India.
• Treasurer: Wade H. Conlan, P.E., BCxP, Fellow ASHRAE, CxA, LEED AP BD+C is Assistant Vice President/Commissioning & Energy Discipline Manager at Hanson Professional Services, Maitland, Florida.

The new Vice Presidents who will serve for Society Years 2026–2027 and 2027–2028:

• Vice President: Mahroo Eftekhari, C.Eng. CDPhil, Fellow ASHRAE, FCIBSE, MInstR, SFHEA is a Professor, Building Services Engineering at Loughborough University, Loughborough, England.
• Vice President: Blake E. Ellis, P.E., CDP, Fellow ASHRAE, MCIBSE, LEED AP is Principal at Burns & McDonnell, Overland Park, Kansas.

New Directors and Regional Chairs who will serve three-year terms from 2026–2029:

• Region VII Director and Regional Chair: Caroline Kelty, P.E., LEED AP is a Project Manager & Mechanical Engineer at CMTA, Lexington, Kentucky.
• Region VIII Director and Regional Chair: Keith Reihl, P.E., HBDP, CEM is Principal Engineer at Southland, Houston, Texas.
• Region IX Director and Regional Chair: Daniel C. Russell, P.E., HFDP is an Application Engineer, at Norbryhn Equipment Co., Nampa, Idaho.
• Region X Director and Regional Chair: Colin E. Laisure-Pool, P.E. is an Account Executive at MPSW, Inc., Phoenix, Arizona.
• Region XIV Director and Regional Chair: Eduardo Maldonado, Life Member ASHRAE is a Professor, Faculty of Engineering of The University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.

New Directors-at-Large (DALs):

• Filza H. Walters, Fellow ASHRAE, FESD is Senior Associate, Director of Mechanical Engineering at Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., Westland, Michigan.
• Martin Dieryckx is General Manager, Environment Research Center at Daikin Europe EV, Oostende, Belgium.
• Krishnan Gowri, Ph.D., BEMP, Fellow Life Member ASHRAE, LEED AP is a Senior Engineering Fellow at Energy Solutions, Bothell, Washington.

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