Dr. Hashem Akbari Receives Marty Hastings Award

PORTLAND, OR, USA — May 30, 2018

The Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC) is pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2018 Marty Hastings Award is Dr. Hashem Akbari of Concordia University. The award was presented to Dr. Akbari at the CRRC’s 20th Anniversary Celebration banquet dinner on May 19, 2018 in Sacramento, California.

Dr. Akbari has been a valuable contributor and expert technical resource to the CRRC over the past twenty years. As one of the founders of the CRRC, Dr. Akbari was instrumental in the creation of the organization in 1998. His extensive research and work on reflective surfaces as a senior scientist and the leader of the Heat Island Group at the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory through the 1980s and 1990s greatly contributed to the establishment of the CRRC. He currently serves as an Ex-Officio Member of the CRRC Board of Directors, is a member of the CRRC Technical Committee, and is the Chair of the CRRC’s International Committee.

In addition to his participation with the CRRC, Dr. Akbari is also a recognized global authority on cool surfaces and is a founder of the European Cool Roofs Council and Global Cool Cities Alliance. Over the past 35 years, he has also authored numerous highly-technical papers and journal articles on the radiative properties of surfaces.

As part of this distinguished award, the CRRC has made a donation in Dr. Akbari’s name to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF). The mission of the PCRF is to provide medical and humanitarian relief to Arab children throughout the Middle East, regardless of their nationality, politics or religion.

In 2011, the CRRC Board of Directors created the Marty Hastings Award in honor of its longtime Board Director, Treasurer, and Technical Committee member who passed away from cancer. Mr. Hastings contributed greatly to the CRRC and is fondly remembered for his upbeat attitude, enthusiasm, and sense of humor. To commemorate Mr. Hastings’ contributions to the organization, the CRRC created this annual award presented to a volunteer who has made outstanding contributions to the CRRC. Nominations for the award are solicited from the CRRC membership, and the recipient is selected by a Board of Directors-appointed committee. The award includes a $500 donation made in the recipient’s name to a charitable organization of his/her choice.

The CRRC is a non-profit educational organization formed in 1998 to develop accurate, credible methods for evaluating and labeling the radiative properties of roofing products, and to disseminate the information to all interested parties. Please contact the CRRC at [email protected] or (866) 465-2523 for more information on its programs.