Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners announced its strategic partnership with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) to support innovation for smart city technologies.
Curiosity Lab is a 5G-enabled autonomous vehicle and smart city living laboratory located in Peachtree Corner, Georgia, a northern suburb of Atlanta.
ASHRAE represents more than 57,000 building systems design and industrial process engineers from around the world and will move their global headquarters into the Curiosity Lab neighborhood in Peachtree Corners. Under this agreement, ASHRAE’s new net-zero-ready global headquarters will be renovated to showcase HVAC&R equipment and technology in action.
ASHRAE said it will be demonstrating state-of-the-art IoT technologies to HVAC&R leaders from around the world. The society also hosts technical seminars on a wide variety of topics and will hold continuing education opportunities on a regular basis for members and industry professionals at its new headquarters in Peachtree Corners.
Curiosity Lab serves as a proving ground for novel technologies and will be available for ASHRAE members and other innovators to test, demo and deploy emerging smart city or sustainable energy technologies.
“Our close proximity will allow Curiosity Lab and ASHRAE to collaborate and learn from each other as we continue to encourage technological innovation and the development of new smart city and sustainable energy concepts,” said Betsy Plattenburg, executive director of Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners.
“Peachtree Corners’ innovative approach to technology testing and development made our relocation especially appealing, and we look forward to working with both the City and Curiosity Lab to advance our smart city knowledge and capabilities,” said Jeff Littleton, Executive Vice President of ASHRAE.
The centerpiece of the Curiosity Lab is a 1.5-mile test and demo track which provides a real-world environment to explore emerging technologies. Additional infrastructure includes a network operations center, smart poles, DSRC units, dedicated fiber and a 25,000 square foot tech incubator.
The ASHRAE has the main goal of advancing heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems design and construction. Its members are composed of building services engineers, architects, mechanical contractors, building owners, equipment manufacturers’ employees, and others concerned with the design and construction of HVAC&R systems in buildings. The society funds research projects, offers continuing education programs, and develops and publishes technical standards to improve building services engineering, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and sustainable development.