3093 (RP-457) -- A Bibliography of Available Programs in the General Area of Heating, Refrigerating, Air Conditioning, and Ventilating PDF

Under sponsorship of ASHRAE and TC-1.5 (Computer Applications),a bibliography of computer programs has been developed that inventories available software in the general area of heating, refrigerating, air conditioning, and ventilating. The bibliography contains annotated software abstracts for all sizes of computers (programmable calculators, microcomputers, minicomputers, and mainframes) and includes the topical areas of acoustics, computer-aided design, mechanical equipment design, energy and economic analyses, lighting, fire protection, heating and cooling load analyses, solar systems, weather data analyses, and other related topics. This paper reports on the one-and-a-half-year research effort that generated the data and searching system for the software bibliography.

The bibliography is available from ASHRAE in both a hard copy and electronic formats. The electronic format will be operated by ASHRAE as an online database search service on a per request basis. Searches can be made by keyword, major subject category, cost, machine type, operating system type, and author or program name. The data base is continually updated and is planned to be accessible to over 50,000 ASHRAE members worldwide.

Data for the bibliography were collected through use of survey questionnaires. Each submitter was charged a listing fee for keeping the entry active in the database for a one-year period. After the one year expires, annual renewals will be available at an additional fee. ASHRAE is providing this bibliography only as an information source for its members and will still continue its former software policy -- i.e., ASHRAE will neither certify nor endorse computer algorithms and programs but will encourage their development and dissemination.