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Stars of Our Community: Steve Taylor

Posted by jteo on Apr. 1, 2025  /  Member Spotlight  /  Subscribe 1

Meet our featured member, Steve Taylor, Founder of Taylor Engineers and a nationally recognized expert in HVAC system design, controls, and energy efficiency. With over 40 years of experience, including 12 in design/build contracting, Steve has played a pivotal role in shaping industry standards. A Fellow of ASHRAE, he is one of the few to receive all of ASHRAE’s top technical achievement awards. His contributions to ASHRAE Standards 90.1 and 62 have influenced energy codes and ventilation guidelines nationwide, while his expertise in building automation led to the development of ASHRAE Guideline 36 for high-performance HVAC system operations. With over 40 published technical papers and deep involvement in industry-leading initiatives, Steve continues to drive innovation in HVAC design and energy conservation.

How long have you been involved with ASHRAE in years? Describe the roles or capacities in which you are involved with ASHRAE.
I attended my first ASHRAE meeting in January 1978.  I worked for Westinghouse at the time as a programmer writing software for their commercial air-conditioning equipment division, including selection software for their chillers (eventually purchased by McQuay then Daikin) that I found out in the late 90s was still being used.  I manned in the Westinghouse booth at the AHRI show demonstrating our software.  My boss at the time, Phil Frank, was very much an ASHRAE fan.  And so was my next boss, Dick Charles, who later became a society level president.  I was very into energy conservation at the time, and still am, and Dick pulled some strings to get me onto the ASHRAE Standard 90 Energy Standard committee – I was an unknown and only 29 so it was a big honor and a big opportunity.  I have been a member of the Standard 90 committee (now 90.1) pretty much ever since, with a few years off when one of my partners, Mark Hydeman and Jeff Stein, were members.  I am pretty sure I am the longest serving member.  Involvement with 90.1 also led to involvement in CA Title 24 Energy Standards and I or one of my partners has been involved in T24 development since the late 80s.  

Membership on the Standard 90 committee eventually led to my joining the Standard 62 Ventilation committee in 1991.  Earlier, I had appealed the issuing of the 1989 version of Standard because it tripled or quadrupled the ventilation rates from the prior version without any documented rationale.  I lost my appeal, but I was asked to join the committee to provide “balance” as a design engineer with an energy conservation background.  I soon learned much more about indoor air quality and in 1995 I became the chair of the committee.  I was one of the primary authors of the ventilation rate procedure still in use today.  I am still active on the Standard 62 committee (now 62.1) including authoring a recent CO2 demand-controlled ventilation addendum.  

Other ASHRAE project and technical committees I have participated in include ASHRAE Standard 55 Thermal Comfort (member), Guideline 13 Specifying Building Automation Systems (chair), Guideline 16 Economizer Dampers (chair), TC 1.4 Controls (chair), TC 4.3 Ventilation (chair), and Guideline 36 Optimized Control Sequences (founder and chair).  Guideline 36 is my current ASHRAE passion.  I think it has the potential to save more energy than all of the HVAC system efficiency requirements I authored in Standard 90.1 and Title 24.  It has been slow to take off, but I am still confident it will – it is one of the few ASHRAE standards and guidelines that is designed to reduce costs for everyone involved in building control systems, including designers, controls contractors, commissioning authorities, and building owners and managers.  The key will be getting control system manufacturers to improve the quality of their G36 programming libraries.  I am confident that will happen, just not as quickly as I would like!

If you had to describe the ASHRAE community in three words, what would they be? 
Generous, dedicated do-gooders.  When I tell people outside the industry about how many of the best-of-the-best engineers in the world work together to create standards, guidelines, handbooks, etc. all for free – no compensation − they cannot believe it.  It still amazes even me.  

What has been your favorite ASHRAE memory, event, or experience, and why?
That’s a tough choice because there have been so many.  I suppose becoming chair of the Standard 62 committee in the 90s; that was a great honor in a tumultuous time (the tobacco lobby as in full strength back then). I also was very honored to win the F. Paul Anderson award, ASHRAE’s highest award for technical merit (first won by Willis Carrier himself).  But I have hopes for a future best memory: when Guideline 36 becomes standard practice. 

How has your involvement with ASHRAE influenced your career and personal growth? 
ASHRAE involvement has been an integral part of my career, and a huge part of my company’s culture.  I mentioned above that my first two bosses were big into ASHRAE, and I followed in their footsteps and became the same, as have all my partners and most of our employees.  Being involved in ASHRAE means you can lead rather than follow: we write the standards for energy, indoor air quality, comfort, controls, etc., we don’t just follow them.  

Where do you see the industry heading in the next 5-10 years, and what developments are you most excited about?
Electrification will be a big driver, and it is a major challenge to HVAC engineers in part because of the high cost of heat pumps.  Design features such as thermal energy storage and heat recovery, relatively rare before electrification, will become common.  No doubt, artificial intelligence will also be a substantial driver, but probably relatively minor for the next few years because our industry is notoriously cheap and slow to change!  

What is one key piece of advice you would offer to young professionals entering this field?
I would recommend working on both the contracting side (design/build) and consultant side before deciding where you fit in best.  I spent almost 15 years working for design/build contactors and the experience was invaluable, especially with respect to understanding costs, constructability, and practicality.  But because of the cost pressures with design/build, the consulting side usually offers more room to innovate and push boundaries.  Give both a try – whichever path you choose, you will benefit from having experienced the other.  

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