Founder and Principal,Lehr Consultants International

Valentine Lehr

Valentine Lehr is a Founder and Principal of Lehr Consultants International, an internationally-recognized mechanical engineering consulting firm. Val graduated from Manhattan College with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering degree from Polytechnic University in the U.S. He is a recognized industry leader, educator, lecturer, and a published engineer. Licensed in over 30 U.S. states, Val is also a Chartered Engineer in the United Kingdom and a licensed professional engineer in Australia.

Val is a former President of the New York Association of Consulting Engineers, a Fellow of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and American Society of Civil Engineers, and a Member of the National Society of Professional Engineers, American Water Works Association, American Society of Professional Engineers and American Society of Safety Engineers. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of Manhattan College, La Salle Academy and the newly formed East New York Academy Charter School. In addition to lecturing at numerous colleges and universities, Val is also an adjunct professor at New York University, having been on the faculty there since 1968. Additionally, Val has authored and/or contributed to numerous articles that have appeared in numerous journals and has authored portions of several books, including Dictionary of Architecture and Construction and Handbook of HVAC Design.

His firm has satellite offices in Auckland, Brisbane, Dubai, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Sydney, London, Germany and Japan, having worked on more than 6,000 projects.

Key lecture points from the Distinguished Sustainability Lecture Series

ChinaSeptember 17, 2013

convened by Carrier

Abu DhabiBangkok

DohaDubai

Kuala LumpurMuscat

New DelhiRiyadh

Rio de JaneiroSão PauloShanghai

Singapore

Valentine Lehr, Founder and Principal, Lehr Consultants International China 2013

Change is inevitable and progress is all about change.

We have to embrace change in order to achieve it. Embracing sustainable technology means change, and change needs agents of change.

The compression gasoline / diesel engine has not changed much over the last 120 years, and if you look at its evolution you become convinced that this is as far as you can go. When suddenly something comes around that is quite interesting, like the Circle Cycle™ engine. It has no engine block, no carburation system, and no fuel system. It operates by bringing a cylinder and compressed piston together. It has a higher efficiency than the standard engine and it is a brand-new concept in engines. Things are obvious to us if we look hard enough.

Deep geothermal energy is one to watch. Directly beneath us we have all the energy we need in the world. The question is how deep do we have to drill to extract it?

NEW  TECHNOLOGIES  COMING  OUR  WAY  

Embracing  Sustainable  Technology  Means  Change  

And  Change  Needs    

“Agents  of  Change”    

Change is hard; embracing change is hard. But, we can look for change and new technology in the most unusual places.

Valentine Lehr, Founder and Principal, Lehr Consultants International China 2013

Biomimcry shows us that in nature, we can find things that are amazing. Shape memory metals are an interesting device. They can be crushed up and distorted and then once put in hot water, reconstitute themselves. Have we thought about utilizing shape memory metals in a different way? Take for instance a pipeline that could regulate its own pressure. Shape memory metals can respond to temperature, stress or electrical impulse changes. Imagine a piping system that if the pressure gets too large, the pipes constrict, reducing pressure in a flowing system. Could this be applied to applications?

There are lots of things that we can learn in nature and there are lots of ways we can look around and we can see new opportunities and new technologies.

When it comes to sustainability technologies, there are a number of things that can be said. First, we have to embrace it and we have to be spokespersons for it. In order for that to happen, we have to hear about and investigate new technologies. We have to evaluate them and if they are worthy of advancement, we have to embrace these technologies. And finally, we have to proclaim them, and in proclaiming them we become an agent of change. And that is the way sustainability can be carried forward.

Things are complicated, but complicated problems are fun to tackle and solve, and that is what you are called on to do. Be an agent of change.