The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers wants people to submit papers for an HVAC conference this fall.

Abstracts for the International Conference on Efficient Building Design: Materials and HVAC Equipment Technologies are due Jan. 6, 2014. The conference will take place Oct. 2-3 in Beirut. It will feature discussions on building design and materials.

Papers are due April 14. Hotel accommodations are free for authors asked to present their papers, the society said.

Conference Chairwoman Nesreen Ghaddar said reducing energy consumption is an important issue in the Middle East.

This conference will serve as a platform for presenting advanced research in these topics with the intent to make recommendations for decision makers to implement,” she said. “Specifically, direction is sought on what technology is optimal and can be adopted when phasing out HCFC (hydrochlorofluorocarbon) refrigerants in equipment and systems in developing countries.”

Submission information is available at www.ashrae.org/Beirut2014.