It’s time again for IIAR’s Conference and Exhibition, and that means my term as Chairman is almost over.

Although the past year has flown by, we’ve reached many of our biggest objectives, and we expect to continue building on that success in 2016.

The primary focus entering the last membership year was the completion and re-release of the updated IIAR-2 standard.

You may have heard about this major milestone. The re-release of IIAR-2 – the first comprehensive benchmark standard for the safe and efficient design of ammonia refrigeration systems – took an industry-wide effort and years of dedication from our members. I’m pleased to report that it was well worth the work and time it took to produce.

The updated IIAR-2 standard covers all aspects of the safe design of ammonia closed circuit refrigeration systems. The new standard addresses significant issues such as machinery room design and location, equipment located outside the machinery room, controls, packaged systems and many other design safety issues that our industry must consider today.

It is a single authoritative source document that provides a path forward for the industry. But the unique feature of IIAR-2 is that . . . it is also the first IIAR standard to be written entirely in language meant for code adoption.

That makes IIAR-2 one of the most important, long reaching projects our association has completed in recent years because it has shifted the focus of our organization, orienting it towards code writing and adoption.

For the first time, the code-writing bodies around the country have a comprehensive single standard that specifically addresses safety for ammonia refrigeration.

IIAR-2, and other standards within the newly developed IIAR suite of standards – are already being adopted by code-setting authorities. This is an important step that will open new possibilities for the use of ammonia, provide appropriate guidance for the regulatory agencies, and lay the foundation for the growth of this industry for years.

Meanwhile, IIAR is already putting the tremendous volunteer effort represented by IIAR-2 – to work in the real world.

IIAR recently met with OSHA to discuss the ways in which our industry analyses existing design and compares older construction to new standards like IIAR-2.

As a result of that discussion, IIAR has embarked on a new effort to produce the industry’s first RAGEGAP standard for existing facilities.

This new standard will eventually provide invaluable guidance to our members, and the effort is already receiving a positive response from our regulatory community.

And it’s not just our standards committee that has worked hard this year. Our organization’s volunteer work is on display in many ways, large and small across all of our committees.

We’re expanding this organization’s advocacy on behalf of the industry through the work of the government relations committee . . . increasing our focus on safety under the leadership of the safety committee . . . and making a significant impact on code development through the effort of our code committee.

Meanwhile all of our other IIAR committees continue to play a major role in the development of the products that serve our members every day.

That development takes a substantial leadership effort, so I’d like to use this space to recognize the people who have worked in the last year to accomplish many of IIAR’s objectives: the IIAR committee members.

As I conclude my term as chairman, I’d like to urge all our members to become actively involved in the committees and leadership of IIAR. The demands on our organization are greater than ever, and we need more and more committed people to help shoulder the load.

There has been tremendous growth over the past year, and my term, working with our staff and the many committed volunteers has been incredibly rewarding.

IIAR’s work on behalf of the industry is essential, and none of it can be completed without the focus and fortitude of you, our volunteer membership, and our headquarters staff.

I offer a heart-felt thanks to everyone who played a part in IIAR’s success this year.

To all of our members, friends and colleagues, it has truly been an honor to serve as your Chairman. I am looking forward to seeing many of you at the conference. And beyond that, I’m looking forward to seeing where the achievements of the past few years take us as we move towards the future of our industry.