November 4, 2009 - What was once the turn of a page will now be the click of a mouse. The ASHRAE Handbook is now available online to allow for quick and easy access to a vast amount of HVAC&R information. “The advantages of the ASHRAE Handbook Online are numerous,” Dennis O’Neal, 2009-10 chair of the ASHRAE Handbook Committee, said. “For one, the text is fully searchable and includes live links to figures, tables, footnotes, equations and other Web references.
Going online also allows for fast navigation among all four current Handbook volumes, with live cross-reference links.” Unlike the ASHRAE HandbookCD+ 2006-2009, an ASHRAE Handbook Online subscription provides immediate access to Handbook content, in contrast to the two weeks required for the shipping of the CD; requires no software installation; eliminates dependency on one computer by allowing for quick and easy access from any computer with an Internet connection; and costs considerably less than the price of purchasing each volume separately, offering a $331 savings for non-members. The benefits of the ASHRAE Handbook Online don’t stop there.
Taking the Handbook online will provide an opportunity for the Society to fulfill its mission of advancing the HVAC&R industry through publishing by making the Handbook more accessible. “This helps ASHRAE position its publishing program for customer expectations in the digital age,” O’Neal said. “Additionally, having the Handbook online opens it to members globally and makes ASHRAE information more readily available.”The ASHRAE Handbook is the most widely cited reference source for HVAC&R technology in the world. The hardback version of the Handbook is published in a series of four volumes, one of which is revised each year, ensuring that no volume is older than four years.
The ASHRAE Handbook Online, however, allows access to all of the four most recent volumes at once. ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is an international organization of some 50,000 persons. ASHRAE fulfills its mission of advancing heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education.
