Former Institute Board Member William J. Coad Dies

William J. Coad, PE, FASHRAE, a former member of the National Institute of Building Sciences Board of Directors, died on August 9, 2014, after a brief illness. Elected to the Board in 2007 as a professional engineer in the public interest category, Coad sat on the Awards, Budget and Finance, and Nominations Committees, and was a member of the High Performance Building Council and served as liaison for the Building Enclosure Technology and Environment Council. He chaired the High Performance Building Task Group, which submitted a report assessing high performance buildings to the U.S. Congress and U.S. Department of Energy. In that role, Coad testified before the House Committee on Science and Technology Subcommittee on Energy and Environment in April 2009. Coad retired from the Board in 2009.

“In his time on the National Institute of Building Sciences Board of Directors, Bill served with integrity and passion,” said Institute President Henry L. Green, Hon. AIA. “He was a great asset to the Board, providing guidance based on his experience and years as an engineer and with a keen business sense to improve the built environment. Bill we will miss you.”

President of Coad Engineering Enterprises, Coad was a consulting principal and past Chairman/CEO of The McClure Corporation (dba McClure Engineering Associates). Prior to forming Coad Engineering Enterprises, Inc., he had been with McClure Engineering Associates, a Mechanical/Electrical Consulting Firm, for 40 years. A registered professional engineer in 38 states, Coad received his degree in mechanical engineering from Washington University.

An educator, Coad was a mechanical engineering lecturer for 12 years at Washington University in St. Louis. For 17 years, he was an affiliate professor at Washington University, teaching graduate courses in mechanical engineering and serving as a thesis advisor in building environmental systems design.

Coad was a member of the Board of Directors of Mestek Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pa., and Exergen Corporation of Watertown, Mass. He was a member of the Consulting Engineer's Council and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and was an American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Fellow. He held all positions on the ASHRAE Board of Directors, including President. He also served on the ASHRAE Nominating Committee, Presidential Committee on Energy Resource Evaluation, Panel 12 Standard 90 75, Finance Committee, Energy Council, Technology Council, Members Council, Publishing Council, Research and Technical Committee, Education Committee, and the Continuing Education Committee, often as committee chair or vice chair, as well as numerous other ASHRAE technical committees and task groups. He also held all offices of the St. Louis Chapter of ASHRAE.

Coad served on the St. Louis Professional Code Committee, and the Missouri State Building Code Steering Committee. He chaired the Building Technology Advisory Committee to the Missouri Energy Agency, and was a member of the Building and Grounds Committee of the Washington University Board of Trustees and the Board of Directors of St. Elizabeth Academy in St. Louis.

He published several symposium papers and authored numerous articles on engineering philosophy and building environmental systems, including a monthly column for 15 years entitled, “Fundamentals to Frontiers,” in HPAC Engineering Magazine, where he was a member of the Editorial Advisory Board. Coad authored “Energy Engineering and Management for Building Systems,” published by Van Nostrand Reinhold, and was a co-author of “Principles of Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning,” published by ASHRAE.

Coad received the Society's Distinguished Service Award in 1980, the Crosby Field Award for the best paper published by ASHRAE in 1985; the Louise and Bill Holladay Distinguished Fellow Award in 1989; the award for Best Journal Article (1991); ASHRAE's highest award for technical achievement, the F. Paul Anderson Award in 1996; the Exceptional Service Award in 2001; and the Andrew T. Boggs Service Award in 2002. He was an Honorary Member of Pi Tau Sigma (Mechanical Engineering Honorary Society), a (1992) recipient of the Washington University Alumni Achievement Award, and the (2001) recipient of the Donald Julius Groen Prize of the British Institute of Mechanical Engineers (ImechE).

The Institute staff send condolences to Coad’s family, friends and colleagues. Read his obituary.