OF ADVOCACY

Grassroots Government
Advocacy Committee (GGAC)
What We’ll Cover

• “Lobbying” v. “Advocacy”
• Staying Out of Trouble
– Email Signatures
• Moving an Issue Forward
• Identifying “Players” & Coalition
Partners
“Lobbying” v. “Advocacy”

• Laws and regulations vary state to state,

jurisdiction to jurisdiction, country to
country, so consult the law no matter what
• It is your responsibility to know what can
and can’t be done (see the governing
documents) – and to convey the same to
your chapter chairs
 “Lobbying” v. “Advocacy”
In Simplest Terms…

Lobbying

Payment for your time

 “Lobbying” v. “Advocacy”
In Simplest Terms…

Advocacy

No payment for your time

 Staying Out of Trouble

It is your
responsibility to
know what can and
can’t be done (see
the governing
documents) – and to
convey the same to
your chapter chairs
 Staying Out of Trouble
• ROB Section 2.433
• MCO Section 2.6
• GGAC MOP
• GGAC Resource
Manual
• GGAC Public Policy
Priorities

https://www.ashrae.org/government-affairs/grassroots-government-advocacy
 Staying Out of Trouble
• Clearinghouse
• Technical resource
• Appointment (not
election) of
members to
governmental
bodies
 Staying Out of Trouble
• No conflicts with
official ASHRAE
policy, documents,
standards, MOUs,
etc.
• Don’t jeopardize
nonprofit [e.g.,
501(c)(3)] status
Email Signatures
• Signature blocks
specific to ASHRAE –
region, chapter,
section
• Separate blocks for
ASHRAE and
corporate emails
– No non-ASHRAE
designations (save
PE) in ASHRAE
signatures
 Email Signatures
Jeff Gatlin, PE Jeff Gatlin, PE,
Director and LEED AP, CxA
Regional Chair, Vice President and
ASHRAE Region VII Co-Owner
In Care Of:
Thompson
Thompson Engineers, Inc.
Engineers, Inc.
Etc., Etc.
Etc., Etc.
 Moving an Issue Forward

• Refer to
resources
– Policy priorities
list
– RVCs
– Other chapters
– Staff liaison
– Website
 Moving an Issue Forward

Identify a chapter
“lead” – it may or
may not be the
chair – to develop
a plan of action
and communicate
it to the RVC
 Moving an Issue Forward
• An RVC may make
connections
between chapters
vis-à-vis regional
trends
• The staff liaison
can assist the RVC
regarding trends
from a Society-
wide perspective
Identifying “Players”
• Engineering
licensure board
• Energy
efficiency/codes
staff in the state
energy office
• Any engineers in the
legislature
• Chairs of key
committees
 Identifying Coalition Partners

Be judicious and
strategic when
deciding who to
partner with
•ICC
•USGBC
QUESTIONS
?