DEI

2025-2026 DEI Chair: Hanna Dickens

DEI is essential to ASHRAE because the built environment serves everyone, but it is not experienced equally by everyone. Buildings, HVAC systems, and indoor environmental standards affect people across different climates, cultures, ages, and socioeconomic conditions. A diverse and inclusive professional community brings a wider range of perspectives to these challenges, leading to more effective, equitable, and innovative solutions.

Equity ensures that standards and technologies developed within ASHRAE consider underserved and vulnerable populations—such as communities with limited access to reliable cooling, heating, or ventilation. Inclusion ensures that professionals from different backgrounds feel empowered to contribute their expertise, which strengthens collaboration and improves the quality of technical outcomes.

From an engineering standpoint, DEI improves problem-solving. Complex issues like energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and climate resilience benefit from varied viewpoints and lived experiences. A more diverse membership also helps ASHRAE remain globally relevant, as its standards are applied across different regions with distinct needs and constraints.

Finally, DEI supports the long-term vitality of the profession. By welcoming and supporting a broader range of talent, ASHRAE can help address workforce gaps, foster innovation, and ensure that the field continues to evolve in step with the communities it serves.