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Over the last 23 years ASHRAE has made dramatic progress towards the use of the electronic communication/publication technology and the internet for technical Society publications and communications.

Prior to 1976 publications were created on a society mainframe computer at headquarters and distribution was only by paper copies. The development of desktop personal computers in the 1980s led Steve Comstock, ASHRAE Publisher, to start investigating and adopting workstations, computers and software to better handle the highly technical literature ASHRAEwas producing. In 1987 ASHRAE Research Project RP 457created the first ASHRAE electronic CD productUpdate ofthe Bibliography of Available Computer Programs in the areaof HVACR. From this first electronic publication to todays24/7 use of the internet ASHRAE Society electronic communicationhas been transformed beyond anything imaginable23+ years ago.

During this time, prior to 1990, ASHRAE relied primarilyon the United States Postal Service (USPS), FedEX for overnightdeliveries, fax and the telephone for Society communications,since the Societys technical literature was not easilyaccessible to all members electronically. Then, beginning inJune of 1995, ASHRAEs entry onto the internet was officiallybegun with the appointment of the first Electronic CommunicationAd Hoc Committee (ECAHC) by ASHRAE PresidentRichard Hayter, followed shortly thereafter by ASHRAEs firstofficial web page appearance in October 1995 and announcementin the November 1995 ASHRAE Journal.

The first ECAHC was followed by a second ECAHCappointed in 1996 by ASHRAE President James Hill. Thesefirst two ECAHCs were assigned the task of reviewing, prioritizingand recommending ASHRAEs first policies and guidelinesthat would move ASHRAE into the rapidly evolving worldof internet-based communications, including the paralleldevelopment of ASHRAEs first web page. This paper presentsan historical review of these early developments to help documenthow ASHRAE moved rapidly to a web-based existencefrom the previous paper-based existence, and attempts toinclude recognition for the key ASHRAE members andASHRAE Staff who made this all possible.

Citation: 2020 Winter Conference, Orlando, FL Technical Papers