Chapter History
August 30, 2008
ASHRAE was founded in 1894 as an International Society and is headquartered in Atlanta,
GA. ASHRAE is the premier organization worldwide for the advancement of heating,
refrigeration, air conditioning, and ventilation sciences. ASHRAE has its roots in two
engineering societies: ASHVE for Heating and Ventilating Engineers (1894) and ASRE for
Refrigeration Engineers (1904). In 1954, ASHVE added Air Conditioning to its name and
became ASHAE. In 1959, ASRE and ASHAE merged to become ASHRAE, the international
society we know today. Fifty year ASHRAE SOCIETY member, David C. Allen served as the
first Connecticut Chapter President of ASHRAE as well as the last President of the local
ASRE and ASHAE chapters. Dave Allen passed away on June 16, 2006 at the age of 77.
The Connecticut Chapter is one of ASHRAE’s oldest chapters, dating back to June, 1940, when it was originally chartered as a chapter of the ASHVE. In 1959, the Connecticut Chapter of ASHVE merged with the Connecticut Valley Chapter of ASRE to become the Connecticut Chapter of ASHRAE. In 1961, the Southern Connecticut Chapter of ASHRAE, led by its Presidents, Gaetano DeFeo and Stanley Bronski, also became part of the Connecticut Chapter. In 1989, a portion of the Western Massachusetts Chapter was added to the Connecticut Chapter. David P. Brown, Western Massachusetts Chapter President for two terms in 1982 to 1984, continues to play an active role in the Connecticut Chapter. Today, the Chapter geographically serves the State of Connecticut (except Fairfield County) plus three counties in Massachusetts (Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin). The Chapter has grown to be one of ASHRAE's largest with 534 Society members.
Monthly meetings have been held in several places over the years: Club Alden in
Wethersfield, DePasqualli's in Berlin, Hedges in West Hartford, the Sphinx Temple in
Newington and the Buckboard in Glastonbury. They are presently held nine months each
year at the Courtyard by Marriott (FORMER Holiday Inn) in Cromwell, CT, on the second
Thursday of each month. The Chapter had celebrated Past Presidents Night at its December
meeting each year since it was initiated during Joe Giannone's reign in 1982 - 83. In the
2007-2008 schedule, Past Presidents Night was permanently changed to the May meeting, in
consideration of more daylight and better weather. A Technical Session has preceded the
dinner meeting since 1967.
In November of 1998 Mike and Roberta Rocchetti set up the Chapter's web site,
www.ctashrae.org. Our chapter thus became one of the very first in ASHRAE to offer its
membership the convenience of an internet website. Today, about 100 of ASHRAE's 160
local chapters have followed Connecticut's lead in exhibiting a Web site. Our monthly
newsletter, the Nutmeg News, has grown from a one page meeting notice to a ten page
magazine with advertising added in 1992 - 93. In 1999 Roberta Rocchetti became the
Nutmeg News Editor and guided its growth until 2003, when Julie Williams took over as the
Editor. For the 2007-2008 year, William G. Dunn, as Webmaster, posted the Newsletter on
the chapter website and Julie simply sent out postcards to remind members that they could
download and read it. Many thousands of dollars are being saved on printing and mailing. A
revised Membership Directory will be printed and mailed this coming year.
Technical seminars are offered each year.. The main purpose of technical seminars is to
provide continuing education for ASHRAE members and nonmembers in the HVAC
community on topics of current interest.
In August of 2008, the CT Chapter hosted the Region I Chapters Regional Conference
(CRC). Preparations began nearly two years ago with a committee of ten members under the
direction of General Chairman, Phil Knowlton The CRC was held at the Mystic Hilton and
250 Region I members and their families attended.
The most recent Connecticut Chapter Presidents have been:
Dean H. Azzam, PE for 2001-2002
Joseph L. Furman for 2002-2003
Lt. Col. Michael J. Rocchetti, 2003 -2004
Barry M. McGuiness 2004-2005
Sean A. 0Bronson 2005-2006.
William G. Dunn 2006-2007
Paul D. Marques, PE 2007-2008
Matthew E. Mullen, PE 2008-2009
Philip B. Knowlton, PE 2009-2010
Rich in the traditions of participation, leadership, and contribution, the Connecticut Chapter is
proud of its many members who have made significant contributions to the Society and the
state of the art in our industry. The Connecticut Chapter is the fourth largest out of 15
chapters in ASHRAE’s Region I, in line behind Boston, New York and New Jersey. Region I
is ASHRAE’s largest region, comprising nearly eleven percent of ASHRAE’s world wide
membership.
Update 2009: This season began with the Region 1 CRC in Albany New York, hosted by the
Northeast Chapter. In attendance from Connecticut were Phil Knowlton, incoming President
and Regional Historian; Matt Mullen, Past President; Joe Furman, Regional Membership
Chairman; Hank Cullinane, Membership Administrator and Julie Williams, Newsletter Editor
and Historian.