AHRI presents 2025 Standards Achievement Awards to HVACR leaders

The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) has announced the recipients of its 2025 Standards Achievement Award: Richard Lord of Carrier, Paul Sohler of Burnham Holdings Engineering Company, and Rusty Tharp of Aozora Consulting. The awards recognize their volunteer contributions and technical guidance in the development of HVACR industry standards. The presentation took place on June 23 during the 2025 Annual ASHRAE Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

Richard Lord, ASHRAE Fellow and Senior Fellow at Carrier, was recognized for his role in the development of AHRI Standards 1340 and 1365, focused on performance ratings for commercial and industrial unitary air conditioning and heat pump equipment. He also contributed to AHRI Standard 340/360 and led the development of new efficiency metrics IVEC and IVHE. Lord is active on several AHRI Standards Technical Committees (STCs), including Commercial Unitary, Chillers, Commercial Smart Grid Interface, and Decarbonization.

Paul Sohler, Senior Engineering Manager at Burnham Holdings Engineering Company, has chaired the Hydronic Systems STC since 2021. He was instrumental in publishing AHRI Standard 1500 and ASHRAE/AHRI Standard 155. He is currently leading the development of AHRI Standard 1560 and played a key role in resolving a standards overlap issue with ASME.

Rusty Tharp, Principal at Aozora Consulting and former Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and Environmental Research at Daikin, has served on AHRI's Standards Committee for over ten years, including terms as chairman and vice chairman. He led revisions to AHRI Standard 210/240 and introduced metrics such as CVP, COPPeak, and DFUE. He also guided the development of AHRI Standard 1600, which includes SHORE and SCORE metrics. Tharp has contributed to multiple STCs including Air-to-Water Heat Pumps, Hydronic Systems, Laboratory Qualification, and Unitary Small Equipment.

“The contributions of these individuals have had a profound and lasting impact on our association and industry,” said Bill Tritsis, AHRI Senior Vice President of Certification and Standards. “We are truly grateful for their dedication to standards development, which helps AHRI to ensure consistency in manufacturer specifications, increase consumer confidence, and provide a means for manufacturers, third-party laboratories, regulators, and certification bodies to assess products objectively and consistently.”