The sixth-annual Engineering Green Buildings (EGB) Conference and Expo, a component of the first-annual HVACR Week, began on Sept. 24 with a few righteous guitar riffs—appropriate for a conference being held in Nashville, Tenn. Author, entrepreneur, owner of Dark Horse Recording, and keynote speaker for HVACR Week, Robin Crow used his mastery of the guitar and music-industry experience to relate to hundreds of contractors and engineers about "The Power of Service."

Crow spoke about how leadership, responsibility, and exceeding client expectations can give businesses an edge in a tough economic climate.

"We are living in a time in which we are going to have to become more efficient at every level," Crow said.

The EGB Conference's technical sessions included "Sustainable Design and Energy Retrofits: A Collaborative Digital Workflow," presented by Robert Middlebrooks, AIA, and sponsored by Autodesk Inc.; "Busting the Myth that Green Costs More," presented by Paul McCown, PE, LEED AP, CEM, CxA, and James Qualk; "High-Performance HVAC Retrofits: Achieving 40- to 70-Percent Energy Savings," presented by Ben Erpelding, PE, CEM; "The Greenhouse Gas Impact of Various Chiller Technologies," presented by Gerald Williams, PE, LEED AP; "Evaporative Cooling: The Greenest of HVAC Processes," presented by Mark Lentz, PE; "31 Tannery: The Nation's First Net-Zero-Electric Commercial Building," presented by Edward Brzezowski, PE, LEED AP; "Commissioning: A Basic Ingredient for a High-Performance School," presented by Jim Seckel, PE, LEED AP, CxA, CBCP, and Colleen Smith, PE, LEED AP, CxAP; and "The Role of Controls in Commissioning Green Buildings," presented by Ron Wilkinson, PE, LEED AP.