“Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another”

— G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

IIAR, as an organization, has lost a number of our key members to the passage of time and with those, some of our history and some of the core of our knowledge. With the recent loss of our first Chairman, George Briley, we lost a great deal of knowledge and an industry leader who exemplified the desire to pass it on.

To have spent any time with George was to have sensed his passion for our industry, the inquisitiveness of his spirit and the easy-going manner in which he willingly shared all those lessons learned. He was a prolific writer, and as such, a great contributor to the written record of much of the success and change in the practice of industrial refrigeration.

In addition to his writing, his one-on-one ability to communicate was one of his defining characteristics.

Perhaps it was the combination of his boyhood spent growing up on a cotton farm, an intellect that enabled his high school graduation at the age of 16 and his digging of foxholes for US troops engaged in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, but something in George’s background yielded a man who combined a common touch, a depth of knowledge and a sense of service.

These are great attributes for any person or organization to strive for. George embodied them.

We, as IIAR members, are now called upon to serve the future of our industry with the knowledge we have gained.

Today IIAR, like many organizations – is challenged as our membership grows older – to gather the essence of our collective wisdom and ensure its passage from one generation to the next. We need to make the process easy to participate in and the goal achievable for anyone dedicated to its attainment. Further, we need to make the experience inspirational to those participating so they are compelled to add to that core knowledge and to pass it on.

Therein lay the roots of the newly formed IIAR Academy of Natural Refrigerants. Under this banner, we are developing our first course, a “learn at your own pace” curriculum that enables the participant to develop and demonstrate knowledge in our industry’s definitive design safety standard, IIAR-2.

It is our plan to conduct testing on this material, in a controlled setting, at the IIAR 2017 Annual Conference. For those who have dedicated their efforts to the study of this important standard and pass the comprehensive assessment test, we will be awarding certificates, thereby documenting their competency in the knowledge of IIAR-2.

This IIAR Certificate Program has been reviewed with, and has been sought by, regulatory agencies seeking a standardized means to discern and document the attainment of best and safe practice knowledge by our industry’s participants.

The intent is for future classes, testing and certificate documentation to expand these education services to encompass the full suite of IIAR Standards, the IIAR Piping Handbook, the CO2 Handbook and an array of other IIAR publications.

This is a significant initiative, undertaken by the IIAR, to serve the needs of our members. It exemplifies the better part of our nature which seeks to enlighten others to the lessons in safety we have learned and to share openly to advance our industry and to advance the interests of the community at large.

The IIAR-2 Certificate Program and our future educational programs reflect the desire to pass forward a wealth of knowledge. The development of and passing on of knowledge is one of the original intents of IIAR’s founders, people like George Briley. Our educational efforts challenge those that follow – to continue to improve and grow our body of knowledge and to enhance the manner in which we communicate it.

We look forward to the success of this program and to the continued expansion of services to our members.