Nebraska ASHRAE - Newsletter

Calendar of Events

ASHRAE paintball outing

May 15th, 2026, 11:30 AM - 6:00 PM

Midwest Adventure Park 2111 Rue St, Council Bluffs, IA 51503

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ASHRAE society presidents LUNCH

May 22, 2026, 11:45 AM - 1:00 PM

Scott Conference Center - 6450 Pine St, Omaha, NE 68106

Food will be served at 11:45am. The presentation will start promptly at 12:00pm, please arrive early to get your food.

Healthy Buildings: Designing for Life

Bill McQuade, P.E., CDP, Fellow Member ASHRAE, LEED AP is ASHRAE’s President for the 2025-26 term.

McQuade previously served on the ASHRAE Board of Directors as president-elect, treasurer, vice president and director-at-large. He has also served as chair of the ASHRAE Members Council and Technology Council, liaison to the Center of Excellence for Building Decarbonization, vice chair of the President-Elect Advisory Committee and coordinating officer of the Conferences and Expositions Committee, the Communications Committee, the Chapter Technology Transfer Committee, the Honors and Awards Committee, the Membership Promotion Committee, the Research Promotion Committee, the Student Activities Committee and the Young Engineers in ASHRAE Committee. From 2021-2022, Bill served as president of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of ASHRAE and was awarded the ASHRAE Region III ACE award.

Prior to his term as President, McQuade was the ASHRAE representative to the Building Owners and Managers Association, the International Code Council and the Rocky Mountain Institute, liaison to the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force and was a member of the AIA Liaison Committee, the AiCARR ASHRAE Club and the United Nations Environment Programme, among other Society participation.

McQuade’s theme for the 2025-26 ASHRAE Society Year is "Healthy Buildings: Designing for Life."

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nebraska ashrae technical conference

August 07, 2026, 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM

Hilton Omaha 1001 Cass St, Omaha, NE 68102

Registration is now open! https://dionysustickets.com/nebraskacrc2026

The Nebraska ASHRAE Tech Conference is being held in conjunction with the CRC we are hosting August 6-8 in Omaha. Complete with vendor booths, 3 simultaneous session tracks, the ASHRAE Society President's Luncheon, and off-site tours, this will be our biggest Tech Conference yet! Local chapter members can register here. Be sure to register for the Zoo tour or the Steelhouse Omaha tour if you are interested in attending those Friday afternoon. Full day Tech Conference registration includes a breakfast buffet and the President's Luncheon. You can also add a la carte purchases for the CRC Awards Dinner at the Zoo that evening or other CRC events.

Registration for CRC as a full attendee includes the Tech Conference, so if you are already attending CRC, you do not need to purchase a separate Tech Conference registration.

Join us for a full day of presentations and tours with an opportunity to earn up to 8 PDH credits. More information on Tracks, Presentations, and Speakers coming soon!

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President's Report

Nebraska ASHRAE Members,

It's hard to believe the ASHRAE Society Year is nearing its end! We have quite a bit going on in May and June, so make sure you plan accordingly!

We have the honor of hosting Society President Bill McQuade on May 22^nd for a special President's Lunch. I hope you will join us to hear an update on Bill's Society theme and to get a chance to ask him your questions about indoor environmental quality. We'll be holding the lunch at the Scott Conference Center. Be sure to register soon! It's not every year we get a chance to host the Society President, so don't miss out on the opportunity to be part of the lunch.

May is also our tour month! We'll be doing an Omaha tour at the new Central Library and a Lincoln tour at LES to see their ice storage and boiler systems. Dates are being finalized but keep an eye out for an email soon to register. Paintball is also on May 15th. You can sign your team up now! We also have our Annual Golf Outing coming up on June 8th. Teams have already sold out, but you still have the opportunity to sponsor if you haven't taken advantage already.

Registration is now open for the Nebraska ASHRAE Technical Conference (formerly known as CEU Day) as well as CRC! Visit this link (https://dionysustickets.com/nebraskacrc2026) to register for the Tech Conference, CRC, or a la carte events like our Welcome Party at the Durham Museum or Awards Dinner at the Henry Doorly Zoo. The Tech Conference will be a full day of presentations and tours on Friday, August 7th. Registration for the full day gives you the chance to earn 8 PDHs and includes a breakfast keynote, access to the presentations, the President's Lunch, and the opportunity to tour Steelhouse Omaha and/or the zoo. Be sure to register early to get the early-bird pricing - the price goes up in July! I hope to see many of you there!

We are also looking for volunteers for CRC. There are many roles to fill, including registration, preparing welcome bags, VIP guest transportation, meeting setup, and hospitality suite staffing. If you're interested in volunteering for a short time slot, please fill out the quick survey at this link (https://forms.office.com/r/Eu5shmN39Z) or reach out to Shaun Nienhueser ([email protected]). We also still have sponsorships available for CRC. If your company or a manufacturer you represent is interested in sponsoring our CRC, reach out to Will Morris ([email protected]). We have been hard at work planning a great event and are so appreciative of your support!

It has been an honor to serve as your president this year. Many thanks to our Board of Governors and committee chairs and members for making this year an exceptional year for Nebraska ASHRAE. And thank you chapter members and volunteers for all the ways you make our chapter successful by sponsoring events, attending lunch meetings, donating to RP, and volunteering your time. Our members truly make our chapter special. I look forward to staying involved in the chapter and hope to continue to see many of you around at ASHRAE events!

Sarah Bordenkecher

President - Nebraska ASHRAE

[email protected]

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Government Affairs

Nebraska gac spotlight

GAC: A Society Year in Review

Every year, GAC has a very tangible way to review progress and improvements throughout the year: the list of legislation that has received action partly as a result of our input. Legislative Bills (LBs) are draft bills that are assigned to a committee to review, and if they pass committee, they go to the Unicameral floor to be voted on. Our point of greatest impact is in the committee stage, because it has the least amount of individual senators to find touch-points with, and has the greatest ability to stop a bill ASHRAE opposes before it even reaches most of the Unicameral. That’s why our Day On the Hill events are so important!

LB 800 was a proposal to adopt updates to the building and energy codes for Nebraska. This bill would have updated the building codes to the ICC 2024 versions, and included IECC 2024, which directly adopts ASHRAE 90.1 as a compliance pathway. As such, ASHRAE society supported this bill. A version of this bill is often introduced each year and is passed when the Unicameral decides it is time to update. While this bill was indefinitely postponed this year, it will likely come up again, and GAC was able to pass along the positive feedback from many engineers regarding updating the codes.

LB 1134 was a proposal to roll back the state building, electrical, and energy codes to 2009, and provide limitation on local jurisdictions trying to adopt more recent energy codes. While the stated purpose of this was to reduce the cost of building housing in Nebraska, the reality is that the costs would have been saved on construction while placing the cost burden on the individual occupying the building in the form of energy and gas bill increases. GAC at the direction of Jeff McCaslin issued a members notice to submit comment to their local legislator. Partly as a result of the public comments from ASHRAE members and testimony from GAC, the bill was indefinitely postponed.

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ASHRAE RESEARCH PROMOTION

research promotion spotlight

Target Goal: $25,250

Current Donations: $12,993

Click the link below to donate to the 2025-2026 Nebraska Research Promotion fundraising campaign:

https://www.ashrae.org/about/invest-in-the-rp-campaign

If you do not have a specific area you would like your donation applied to (YEA, scholarships, etc.), please consider donating to the Nebraska Chapter's Endowment Fund!

Choose the option "Endowed Research Funds"
In the dropdown list next to "Apply To Existing Endowed Fund"
Select "Nebraska Chapter Research Fund"

Donating to the endowment fund works similarly to growing an investment account. The more donations made to it, the larger the account grows. Every year, we are guaranteed a 5% minimum return on that investment which goes directly to research projects and counts towards our Chapter's RP fundraising goal for the year. In essence, the more we grow the fund, the easier it will be to improve our fundraising capabilities every year! If you regularly donate to the "ASHRAE Research" category, consider this as a way for your donation to have an even larger impact.

Again, THANK YOU to our donors!

Individual Donors

Major Donor ($500 - $999)

Sara Robbins

Nicholas Mandel

Major Donor ($250 - $499)

Dan Holtmeyer

Frederich Granzow

Honor Roll ($150 - $249)

Abigail Brophy

Tim Wentz

Sarah Bordenkecher

Ryan Hempel

Tyler Glesne

Jeff McCaslin

Patrick Killeen

Jessica Renner

Other Donors

Geir Rimmereide

Donald Horn

Corporate Donors

Major Donor ($1,000 - $2,499)

Samsung

Victaulic Co

ASHRAE NE Chapter - Member Appreciation Casino Night

Major Donor ($500 - $999)

Sys-Kool - Omaha

Hydronic Energy

Honor Roll ($150 - $499)

Engineered Controls Inc

Mechanical Contractors Association - Omaha

Hayes Mechanical

Mechanical Sales, Inc.

Verne Simmonds Company

Tune Facilities

Johnson Controls Inc.

Grundfos Americas Corporation

Trane - Ralston

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Community Announcements

Certification application discount

NEW! 25% Certification Application Discount

Apply May 1 - 31

Note to Chapter leaders: PAOE Point Opportunity!

Exciting news! Apply May 1-31 with the discount code CERT2026 to receive a 25% discount on applications for any of ASHRAE's seven (7) building design or building performance certifications.

Here’s how the discount works:

Apply anytime May 1-31 using the Discount Code: CERT2026
Take your certification exam at any of ASHRAE's new 1,000+ test center locations worldwide

Discover what ASHRAE-certified professionals say about the Benefits of Certification:

►Credibility

►Recognition

►Career Opportunities

►Earning Power

Learn More!

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Region IX CRC

REgion ix crc sponsorships

The Nebraska ASHRAE chapter is seeking sponsorships for this incredible event that will be held in Omaha in August. Sponsorships of ANY amount are greatly appreciated! If you are interested and have questions regarding available sponsorships, please contact Will Morris @ [email protected].

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ASHRAE Chapter Officers

President: Sarah Bordenkecher

President Elect: Abby Visty

Secretary: Peter Koneck-Wilwerding

Treasurer: Will Morris

Board of Governors: Ryan Hempel

Board of Governors: Jeff McCaslin

Board Ex-Officio: Sara Robbins

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May 2026 Newsletter