November 2025 Newsletter

We had 100 shooters at our Annual Sporting Clays Outing - our biggest turnout to date! Thanks to everyone who was in attendance for a great day. It was a special treat to get to introduce our Region III RVC - Membership Promotion, Christine Smith, and RVC - Research Promotion, Morgan Stevens, to our chapter members.

A special thank you to our event sponsors:

Comfort Supply Inc., Deckman Company, Havtech, Johnson Controls, K&I Sheet Metal, Standard Air

Pittsburgh ASHRAE History

Long before Eichleay Engineering Corporation bought Peter F. Loftus Engineers in 1982, Eichleay was known for moving buildings. Founded in 1875 in Pittsburgh by John Eichleay Jr. Eichleay branched out into other businesses in the early years but moving buildings gave them a national presence. Among the expanded businesses were steel production and fabrication. This would serve them well as the country’s industries transitioned to support the US in World War II. Eichleay built an atomic bomb containment vessel in 1945 called Jumbo as part of the Manhattan Project. Jumbo was a 214 ton vessel with 16 in. thick walls and measuring 28 ft. long by 12 ft. 8 in. in diameter.

After the war Eichleay continued to expand into other industries. They opened a Pittsburgh design engineering office in 1975 which eventually became the Peter F. Loftus Division of Eichleay Engineering. While no longer in Pittsburgh, Eichleay is still going with the 5^th generation of the Eichleay family.

Read More: Atom bomb containment vessel | Historic Pittsburgh

Government Affairs Updates

DOE Cancels Energy Projects

On October 2, the Department of Energy (DOE) cancelled roughly $7.6 billion in funding predominantly for energy projects in states represented by Democrats in the Senate. Affected states include Connecticut, California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. The cancellations would also affect 136 congressional districts, including 108 held by Democrats and 28 held by Republicans. However, DOE may cancel additional grants. An unconfirmed list includes the already-terminated grants with roughly 300 more, including some in Republican-led states and districts. These grants were funded under regular appropriations, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The $2.8 million Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation (RECI) grant ASHRAE secured is also included in this list. DOE has not made a final decision on which projects from this list will be terminated.

On behalf of the Pittsburgh Chapter of ASHRAE, we invite you to join as a Corporate Sponsor for the 2025-2026 year. Your sponsorship enables the chapter to hold valuable programs for our members and contribute to ASHRAE Research Promotion. To learn more about how your company can be bring value and be recognized, visit:

https://ashraepittsburgh.org/sponsors