The 2025 ASHRAE Winter Conference recently brought together HVAC and refrigeration industry leaders, experts and professionals for an event focusing on key topics such as artificial intelligence, emerging technologies and workforce development.

Taking place February 8-12 in Orlando, Florida, the conference attracted close to 3,800 attendees and featured more than 400 committee meetings, 111 technical sessions and numerous networking and social events. Running concurrently, the AHR Expo occupied the Orange County Convention Center, hosting more than 1,800 exhibitors, showcasing the latest HVAC&R technologies, products and services to an estimated 50,000 attendees over three days. 

Among the most well-attended in-person Winter Conference sessions were:

• Seminar 13: Low and Ultra-low GWP Refrigerants and Equipment to comply with Current and Future Decarbonization Efforts;
• Seminar 8: Earth, Heat and Ice: Expanding the Effectiveness of Geothermal Systems Using Ice Storage;
• Seminar 42: The Wonderful World of Dedicated Outdoor Air Systems and Energy Recovery Equipment;
• Seminar 25: Energy Storage Solutions to Enhance Building and Grid Resilience; and
• Seminar 11: Advances in AI Technologies for the Buildings Industry.   

The most popular livestreamed session was Seminar 36: LIVESTREAM: Interdisciplinary Dimensions of Occupant Behavior, Indoor Environmental Quality for Building Health. 

In his State of the Society Address, 2024-25 ASHRAE President Dennis Knight provided updates on the current Society Year theme: "Empowering Our Workforce: Building a Sustainable Future." 

“As we look to the future, I call upon each of you to continue to be passionate ambassadors for our industry,” said Knight. “Share your stories, engage in conversations, and inspire the next generation of professionals. We need to demonstrate to the world what we do and the profound impact our industry is making today – and the even greater potential it holds is in the future to address indoor environmental quality, sustainable development and resiliency.”

Knight highlighted progress on key initiatives, including a newly-released workforce development roadmap which outlines strategies for attracting, engaging and retaining talent to the HVAC&R industry. Knight’s full State of the Society address manuscript and presentation can be found at ashrae.org/president.

During the conference, President Knight announced the winners of the 2024-25 ASHRAE Decarbonization Challenge, a grant program supporting ASHRAE chapters in implementing local projects focused on energy efficiency and emissions reduction. The challenge, led by the Young Engineers in ASHRAE (YEA) committee, received 14 project submissions, awarding seven projects with grants ranging from $2,970 to $10,000, totaling $59,970.

Further reinforcing its commitment to industry innovation, ASHRAE announced the establishment of the $1 million Gordon Holness Presidential Fund. Created through an endowment, this fund will provide an annual $50,000 grant in perpetuity to support ASHRAE chapters in developing and executing creative solutions to some of the industry’s most pressing building challenges. Holness, who served as ASHRAE President in 2009-10, joined Knight at the 2025 Winter Conference to announce the fund’s launch.

ASHRAE honored the outstanding contributions of its members during its Honors and Awards Program. Additionally, ASHRAE Executive Vice President and Secretary Jeff Littleton provided updates on the Society’s progress in advancing the built environment in his report.

“ASHRAE remains steadfast in its mission to serve the built environment through research, education, and the development of industry-leading standards and guidelines,” said Littleton. “As we navigate the evolving challenges and opportunities within our field, our commitment to innovation, knowledge-sharing and workforce development is stronger than ever. Through collaboration with our global network of chapters and industry partners, we will continue to drive meaningful advancements that shape the future of HVAC&R. ASHRAE is not just adapting to change—we are leading it.”

The ASHRAE Learning Institute (ALI) provide valuable educational opportunities, offering 20 courses during the conference. Among the most popular were:

• Changing Environments and Loads for Data Center (High Density, Liquid Cooling, Edge Computing);
• Guideline 36: Best of Class HVAC Control Sequences; and
• V in HVAC – Health and Energy Improvements Using Indoor Air Quality Procedure. 

All registered attendees, both in-person and virtual, will have access to the virtual conference platform during the conference and 12 months post-conference.

The 2025 ASHRAE Annual Conference will take place June 21-25 in Phoenix, Arizona. The 2026 Winter Conference will take place January 31-February 4, 2026 and the AHR Expo, February 2-4, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada.