They passed another bill in the House. Good grief. It was close, but 220 Representatives thought that their version of the health care bill was good to go. Climate legislation is stalling in the wake of health care reform and many are wielding or trying to wield the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to its maximum potential. It is in this environment that contractors enter 2010. Did I mention the R-22 phaseout?

Many economists, politicians, and nightly news characters promise hope of better things to come, and many tell of tough times ahead. I don’t think they really know how 2010 is going to shape up; but if you saw the movie 2012 a few weeks ago, you might be a little more scared than the rest of us.

The future is unsure, but The NEWS is asking contractors to voice their opinion about some of the more known factors that will affect business in 2010. If you haven’t already, head to www.achrnews.com and in the column down the left side of the page, click “Survey Says.” Once there, please take a moment to fill out our brief survey. We will feature the results in an upcoming article.

I can’t twist your arm, like Carol Browner can Congress, but the more participation we have, the better the 2010 opinion data the survey will yield. I have my opinions, but for now, I will keep them to myself. Until then, keep an eye on Sen. Max Baucus and somebody please sit on Rep. Henry Waxman for a while.

Steve Yurek, president of Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), received an interesting introduction from Tom Roberts, chair of the HVAC Council at the Heating, Airconditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) organization, as Yurek was about to defend a somewhat unpopular recent AHRI action regarding regional energy-efficiency standards. The two organizations can’t agree upon how to spell Air Conditioning (The NEWS’ preferred style), so it should not be any great surprise they will not always agree.

HARDI opposed the action by AHRI because climate borders are not the same as trade borders. The degree day line by which the country is divided causes a number of HARDI members to trade across that line because of their multiple branches or service areas. Enforcement of these border issues with regard to regional efficiencies was also a big sticking point.

Yurek admirably defined the issues facing the industry with regard to certain Department of Energy intervention. The parties agreed at the meeting to disagree and yet acknowledged the necessity for AHRI to have acted decisively, as they did. The differences were aptly stated by Roberts, who said, “AHRI viewed regional standards as an energy issue, while HARDI viewed energy standards as a regional issue.” In the end, everyone remained friends.

Perhaps it was all just a different way of describing an elephant, but the fly in the ointment is still the fact that the language of the energy-efficiency standards does not provide for installation guidelines.

I just learned a new term — greenwashing. It is hardly a favorable term and is compared to whitewashing as in concealing a flaw or failure.

As defined by the Website www.sourcewatch.org:

“Greenwashing is the unjustified appropriation of environmental virtues of a company, an industry, a government, a politician or even a non-government organization to create a pro-environmental image, sell a product or a policy, or to try and rehabilitate their standing with the public and decision makers after being embroiled in controversy.”

The idea here is that you come up with an idea to make money, but the idea has lots of problems attached to it, but you push forward claiming to be green and environmentally conscious.

At this point, I will not offer any specific examples since I don’t really want a lot of lawyers calling me.

I simply offer it as yet another word we can throw around our industry as HVACR contractors get caught up in all this talk about green technology and the government regulations tied in with all the green talk.

There are those, I know, who like to place all the regulatory blame on “tree huggers” and “environmental whackos,” and similar named folks.

But those terms are getting a bit passé, so out of date, so not with it, so cliché. So here’s a new one, so hip, so with it, so now: Greenwasher.

There are many reasons there could be some strange noises coming from an old air conditioner. It could be loose hardware, a refrigerant problem, or a family pet getting a chill.

According to an article in the Brisbane Times, it was that last option as the sounds were from a cat that was stuck inside the air conditioner. I must say, that is one cool cat. Sorry, had to do it.

According to the story, it was a very old Air-Con air conditioning unit built in the 1970s that the cat got caught up in, so due to the age of the unit, it definitely is not the “Catillac” of a/c systems these days. The owner of the air conditioner had heard strange scratching noises coming from the unit but made the assumption that it was rats. Sounds like the owner has a lovely place.

Workers guesstimated the cat had been in the cool for at least five days and it had burns to her ears and legs. I don’t believe a “cat scan” was needed for this diagnosis. The people who rescued this feline have no idea how the cat got into the air conditioner. Here is guessing it is not a mistake the cat will make twice, or that any of her friends will become copycats.

The unit had to be ripped from the wall for the rescue. However, after that, it did not take the much “purrsuasion” to get the cat out. (I apologize again.)

And the name of the cat — wait for it: Daikin. Could a gig as a company mascot be in her future?

When the Fed reported a small rise in the gross domestic product (GDP) and signified the recession was over, most Americans understood this to mean, “We have officially reached the bottom and can now begin the climb up.”

That is because the GDP increase was small and most likely enhanced by the economic stimulus. It would be safe to say that nobody ran out to buy noisemakers in celebration of the end of tough times, either.

According to www.cnn.com, the economy and many industries are still in for a bumpy ride. The article cited the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), which reported that the “Auto industry, construction, and finance sector have shed 18 percent of their work force since the start of the recession, in comparison to the remaining sectors in the economy that have only lost 4 percent of their workers.”

NBER also made a prediction on when jobs will begin to return. After surveying multiple economic analysts, the consensus — standing at 53.8 percent — was 2012, with only 2.6 percent predicting 2010. Average hours in a workweek are down to historic levels as well, and as a leading indicator have yet to move.

There is still a long road to recovery and no one is denying that, but it is important to take the good with the bad and enjoy the victories, even if they are small. Please enjoy the latest victory.

The first winner of The NEWS’ Dealer Design Product Giveaway contest was recently announced. The lucky individual was Jennifer Rodriguez from Big Sky Heating and Air Conditioning in Caldwell, Idaho.

Tell her what she won, Don Pardo… “The new Western Enterprises VN Series nitrogen purging system that consists of a state-of-the-art regulator with an integrated cylinder valve combined with a lightweight aluminum 2000 psi cylinder. This compact purging system also features a built-in carry handle, high impact resistance shroud, and preset flow settings (Purge, Braze, and Test). The purging systems that are being used today consist of a heavy steel nitrogen cylinder and a separate nitrogen regulator (which tends to get damaged easily in the field).

The HVAC VN system offers increased safety, savings, convenience and consistency when purging oxygen from AC/Refrigeration lines during the brazing process.

The next prize will be drawn on Dec. 7. It is for Online-Access' Automated PagePilot E-Commerce System, which lets any licensed contractor easily and quickly creates an e-commerce store in their Website to sell filters, UV bulbs, and other replacement items in less than one hour. The system can be used as part of any website.

Included is a fully automated reminder system that can automatically remind homeowners on an ongoing basis when they should check their filter (or UV bulb, etc.) as well as provide a direct link to the product in your website showing only the model and size they require. Each reminder that goes out also includes a global marketing message the contractor can update and customize to ‘touch’ his customers as well as educate them about all the services and products he sells.

In order to register to win, visit www.achrnews.com/2009dealerdesign. You can register once a day.

Good luck.

Why do you follow people on Twitter? If you can’t answer that question, then I suggest you find a new social media avenue to explore.

Figuring out what will make people follow you or your company is the key to a successful Twitter endeavor.

I follow a few folks on Twitter, but the only person I follow closely is my favorite music artist. He has been one of my heroes since I was a teen. It interests me to hear about his personal life; things that go beyond the standard information found on his Website and in his album covers.

With this in mind, what is it going to take to make you a hero worth following? What’s going to interest your customer about your business, about HVAC, about you? First, you are going to have to think past special discount offer updates.

Next, you are going to have to create a persona, a singularity that will inspire folks to follow. I am not suggesting tights and a cape, but 15 twitterers out of one company is not going to work.

People don’t follow normal. They follow extraordinary. They are interested in you and who you are beyond the four walls of the office.

Finally, you are going to have to invest some time and some effort. The more familiar a program or technology becomes, the easier it is to use.

Do you want to be a part of the experiment? I need some HVAC heroes willing to put Twitter to the test. You game?

I had not been paying much attention to wind turbines as a source of power until two recent developments.

First, at the Food Marketing Institute Energy and Technical Services Conference in California, a presenter talked about the possibility of using such technology to partially power supermarkets. Then in the county in Illinois in which a live, a battle has erupted over a possible wind farm being constructed.

It’s a real donnybrook, this wind farm thing. Opponents are concerned about the clacking noise, the turbines being in the path of migratory birds, farmland being turned over to developers, and idyllic views being disrupted. Those most in favor of the project are local construction unions, who see more jobs once construction starts.

One of the most interesting quotes on this matter comes from Mark Burger, president of the Illinois Solar Energy Association, who is in favor of the project.

“We can no longer live in a segregated world where we want certain things but are not willing to accept the consequences of them. We cannot call for revival of the Midwest industrial base with green technologies, but eliminate entire swaths of locations for them to be sited because we don’t want our view spoiled. We cannot fight the look of a changed landscape while it’s okay to blow up mountain tops to get coal.”

I’ll keep you posted, because if indeed this technology has potential in supermarkets it could mean a great deal to HVACR contractors.

The Waxman-Markey bill is making its way through Congress, but officials are beginning to question the likelihood of the bill passing into law this year. According to an Associated Press report, Carol Browner, the White House “Climate Czar” said a few weeks ago that it would be great to have this bill passed before the end of the year, but she didn’t see how that would happen.

Obama and Copenhagen are still pushing for an American commitment by Dec. 2009, but it is highly possible that the bill will have to wait until 2010.

With the climate bill set to create widespread economic change, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is taking a position that is less than popular with environmentalists and some of its membership, including Nike, Apple, and Exelon. These three companies recently left the Chamber of Commerce because of its lack of support of the Waxman-Markey bill. The debate and accusations range wildly from there, but the Chamber of Commerce has officially taken the position that the environmental condition needs to be addressed but that the Waxman-Markey bill isn’t the legislation that will do it correctly. The lobbyist group is calling for an environmental trial of sorts in an effort to put the science of climate change to the test.

I’m game, how about you? After all, if the climate change scientists are right, then they really have nothing to lose; unlike you, the HVACR contractor who has a whole lot to lose when it comes to new economic structures and new ways of doing business.

I just finished an interview and article that highlighted a distributor and a contractor who found the courage to go beyond the bounds of common business practices.

This undiscovered territory brought some fearful times and unexpected challenges that each had to face with tenacity and dedication. Turning back at the first sight of trouble would have deprived them both of what is now a successful and lucrative partnership.

After completing the interview, I was curious as to why so many businesses had turned this contractor’s idea down in the first place.

I understand that this is a tough economy and watching the bottom line is more important than ever, but as a distributor and a contractor, if you spend all of your time surviving and not much of it growing, you could be in danger of not being a relevant business when “this thing turns around.”

I would suggest that you begin to change your way of thinking. Don’t lose all semblance of common sense, but be open minded enough to take the suggestions proposed to you back to the office and mull it over for a few minutes before you reply. Run some numbers, poll the staff; consider that the suggestion made may just be the niche concept that will set your business apart from the rest.

Perhaps it is time to let go of the staunch old ways of doing business and embrace some creative thinking when devising your 2010 business strategies. Maybe your pot of gold lies just beyond business as usual.

From the Associated Press:

Dallas police are looking for a man who they said repeatedly sneaks into backyards, dances around naked and then runs away. Police believe the man has been exposing himself in the same neighborhood since 2005. The most recent incident was on Sept. 30.

Police said he usually climbs a fence or goes through a gate and either dances naked or jumps in a swimming pool naked. Police said he also has danced naked on top of a backyard air conditioning unit.

Police said they're looking for a pudgy man who is about 6 feet tall and covers his face while dancing.

Well, that poses an interesting troubleshooting issue for a service technician who might be called in to repair that condensing unit.

“Your condenser seems to be severely dented on the top. Any idea how that happen?”

“Actually, I do but you are not going to believe it.”

“But how did it happen?”

“Well, you see, I heard this thumping noise one day and when I went to investigate, there was this…”

Or how about the possibility that the condenser can’t be repaired on site, so the contractor decides to ship it back to the manufacturer hoping the “cause” of the damage will be covered under some kind of extended warranty.

How exactly does the contractor fill out the service tag? “Unit was damaged due to fat guy dancing on top.” Wonder if any warranty applies to that?

Having just returned from two outstanding conferences, both sponsored by the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) and The NEWS, I rediscovered something from my ancient school days: sit in the front row if you want to stay engaged and learn something.

Until recently, most of the breakout sessions and keynote speakers have begun to run together; perhaps you have been to enough HVACR conventions to know from whence I speak.

A typical session finds me camped out in the back of the room, jotting a few notes, and trying to think of an angle to make an old story sound new. However, sitting in the front of the room during two different keynote addresses yielded interesting benefits this time around.

The note taking probably suffered a little, but I hope you won’t mind as that may manifest itself in a fresher perspective somewhere down the road.

Rather than experiencing my usual back-of-the-room mind wandering and doodling, the keynoters were literally in my face as they chose to work the floor rather than perch on a podium.

One can’t help but become engaged when sitting in the front row. It worked in school, all those years ago, when I often opted for a front row seat. Listening becomes easier. Learning becomes easier.

The next time you have the opportunity to hear someone artfully deliver a message you have heard time after time, do yourself a favor — move to the front of the class.

Monetizing social media ventures has proven to be a difficult task. With the pencil pushers and bean counters clacking away at profit and loss sheets, justifying the time spent on Facebook, Twitter, etc. can be next to impossible at times. If social media success is measured by being able to point to a balance sheet and state, “See we made a dollar,” then maybe it is time to find another measuring stick.

The key here may not be how much money is being made, but how much money is being saved. Take Facebook for example. Starting a company page is free, simple, and takes a limited amount of time investment. Once created, updates are quick and not only do they reach the actual page, but they also reach directly into many page members’ personal e-mail boxes.

To evaluate social media for each individual company, consider the cost of direct communication with customers; the geographical limitations that standard advertising programs experience, and the cost of obtaining a standard lead.

Don’t be shy about building the company’s social audience. Maybe it’s time to ask customers to post their experience with your company on a social media site or comment on your page. Sales gurus have proven that sales people have to ask for the sale, maybe it is time to ask your customers to get involved in the conversation.

I would like to hear about your social media successes and failures. Take a minute to write a comment and get in on the conversation.

Inside sources would not spill their guts about an Oct. 13 agreement regarding energy-efficiency standards. I promised not to share it with any other magazines, but the high powers refused to open up to the (arguably) most trustworthy editor covering the HVACR industry. I feel like Rodney Dangerfield, but not quite as dead.

The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), the Alliance to Save Energy, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and the California Energy Commission (CEC) will sign a landmark agreement on energy-efficiency standards for residential central air conditioners, heat pumps, and furnaces, according to a news release from AHRI.

By the time most of you are reading this, the breaking news will be on our Twitter and Facebook pages, and maybe even our Website, www.achrnews.com.

COULD IT BE …

Hmmm, the story about HCFC refrigerant phaseout is old news; and the next round of efficiency standard increases for air conditioning and heat pump equipment is at least a few years away; gas furnaces aren’t scheduled to get an efficiency bump until 2013 … so, what could such an important announcement be about?

TOP 10 LIST

10. HCFC phaseout (just because it’s old news doesn’t mean everyone knows about it)

9. NEWS staffers get raise

8. AHRI builds in-ground pool for visitors

7. Golf no longer expensed by AHRI members

6. AHRI Annual Meeting moved to Paris

5. (Paris, Texas)

4. David Letterman pays AHRI $2 million

3. Gargaro’s World up for a Pulitzer

2. Murphy’s Law banned from AHRI publications

1. Regional standards

The growing attention to green buildings seems to be chasing me.

The first time I immersed myself in the technology was at a United States Green Building Council seminar probably four or five years ago. It was in downtown Chicago and it was quick train ride from my office into the city. Chicago is a city where a lot of green initiatives have been underway, from grassy areas atop commercial buildings to residential rehabs filled with energy-efficiency innovations.

When I moved some 80 miles northwest of Chicago three years ago, those initiatives were not as extensive here, aside from some geothermal projects and a wind turbine or two.

But now the Chicago Chapter of USGBC has established a Northern Illinois Branch, which is drawing attention to a growing number of projects in the area.

The Chicago Chapter is planning a name change to Illinois Chapter to reflect its reach throughout the state with its various branches. In fact, throughout the United States there are now more than 80 USGBC chapters and affiliates.

Part of USGBC is its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. HVACR contractors should find more and more buildings focused on seeking LEED recognition. If they are not nearby just yet, they soon will be.

For many contractors to be part of a LEED registered project means a bit of a learning curve. But it is worth getting involved in that learning.

It’s not pretty, but I have an announcement to make: Most of your energy-efficient equipment and maintenance offerings sound like sales crap and high-pressure mumbo-jumbo to a good many of your customers.

Still there? Good, then let me explain. Last week, a service technician came to my house to repair the a/c. After slamming his company’s installation crews and criticizing our upkeep attempts, he desperately worked to sell us a maintenance contract.

That maintenance contract offer led to an interesting dinner-table discussion as to the legitimacy of duct cleaning and sealing, component lubrication, system sizing, and other lesser-known maintenance and installation practices.

I proudly piped up and shared my knowledge and understanding of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America’s Quality Installations, California’s Home Energy Rating System program, the necessity of duct cleaning and sealing, etc. My mother, who had heard this service tech’s earlier sales pitches, said that without the extra information and explanation I had provided, it sounded like he was just trying to make a quick buck. I think the words hooey, hogwash, and garbage got tossed around, too.

It was interesting to hear the perspective of those who aren’t in the HVAC industry. And, as a contractor, you have to ask, “What is my customer’s perception of these maintenance and installation procedures that produce higher efficiency and better overall comfort?”

Are your salespeople and service techs coming across as fact-delivering consultants endeavoring to provide the best and most efficient options to the customer, or do they appear to be fast-talking shysters? I suggest you ask your customers. They’ll tell you.

While mucking through large sections of the U.S. House passed Waxman-Markey bill, I stumbled upon an interesting little tidbit that could change the industry’s standard operating procedures. All sections, titles, and legal jargon aside, the bill — if passed — will require everyone to have the structure they live in, work in, etc., audited for energy efficiency. Once audited, incentives will be provided according to the percentage amount of energy efficiency improvements made. These incentives will last for the first few years and after that, everyone will just have to live without the major incentives and absorb all of the energy rating and efficiency improvement cost.

This shouldn’t sound too unfamiliar. California has been practicing this concept with its Home Energy Rating System (HERS) for quite some time. Having certified raters on staff is how much of California does business. That leaves the contractors in the other 49 states something new to look into this fall. Taking heed that the bill has not passed yet, federal energy rating standards for all structures is something worth putting on the HVACR contractors’ business radar.

The requirements are not just for new buildings, they also apply to existing structures, both commercial and residential alike. Having studied the pending health care and climate legislation bills, I have decided that whether the industry agrees with the politics or not, some or all of these bills will most likely eventually exist in some shape or form. It is my opinion that early adopters will be at a competitive and financial advantage.

I have always thought that “free” was the best word in the English language. As long as it is not followed by the word “advice,” sign me up for anything that is free.

With that in mind, The NEWS has launched an exciting product giveaway contest of which everyone reading this is eligible to win. All you have to do is visit our 2009 Dealer Design Awards Website (www.achrnews.com/2009dealerdesign) and register to win. Of course, while you are at the site, you can check out all the new product information, write-ups, and videos.

Visitors can come to the site to enter once each day, and each time they do gets them an entry in the contest, so everyone is invited to come back to enter once each day for more chances to win.

A prize will be awarded each month. This month’s prize is the new Western Enterprises VN Series nitrogen purging system, which consists of a state-of-the-art regulator with an integrated cylinder valve combined with a lightweight aluminum 2,000-psi cylinder. This compact purging system also features a built-in carry handle, high impact resistance shroud, and preset flow settings (Purge, Braze, and Test). The purging systems that are being used today consist of a heavy steel nitrogen cylinder and a separate nitrogen regulator (which tends to get damaged easily in the field), according to Western Enterprises.

The HVAC VN system offers increased safety, savings, convenience and consistency when purging oxygen from a/c or refrigeration lines during the brazing process.

Go to http://www.achrnews.com/2009dealerdesign to register for the contest.

I received this letter from a guy who received a letter from a guy who can’t find a job in the HVAC industry. Call me stupid, but I’m betting somebody wants to hire this guy. Let’s find him a job.

Dear NEWS,

I received this letter from a friend today who is in his late thirties and is looking to get into HVAC. He currently works in the printing/graphic design industry, and is also a master guitar builder. He is married with kids and is clean, sober, responsible, etc.

Here is part of a letter he sent to me:

“I looked for a HVAC guy that I could work part time for, but no one wants a rookie close to 40 years old. I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”

That's interesting because there is a shortage of good workers in our industry. There is a shortage of skilled people and rookies who are ready to learn.

It's very short sighted of the guys he spoke to, to dismiss him. I would snap him up IMMEDIATELY. I have 31 years in our trade and 10 as owner/operator of my own HVAC company.

Someone his age and situation is perfect. Old enough to have some prior life/work experience, work ethic, responsibility, and social skills, and young enough to be able to do the work and to have many years ahead. Now, if an employer just wants bodies to install flex duct in residential, then I agree that the “younger the better” if they are conscientious and trainable. But for a rookie to learn service/repair work and install assist/start up — I'll take a competent person who is 30 to 50 years old, anytime.

Anyone who is in decent physical condition and height/weight proportionate will easily be able to do the physical work. In fact, you will stay younger by doing this work because it is active.

I have worked at HVAC shops that had older techs who had been truck drivers, warehouse workers, auto mechanics, soda pop salesmen, motorcycle mechanics, machinists, cabinet makers and more. These guys made excellent techs! In fact, at one shop, we had a tech in his twenties. Oftentimes the office would get a call saying, "please send out an older tech." The general population equates "older" to "wiser." And I have found that many customers, especially women, are more comfortable with an older tech.

This friend of mine is eager to work and go to tech school. He’d like to get a job with an HVAC company and go to school at night. He lives in Delaware County, Pa. Can we please give this willing young man a start in our fine trade?

You may be asking yourself, “If Doug likes this guy so much, why doesn’t he hire him?” Doug lives in Oregon, and our friend in need lives in Pennsylvania. Hint, hint. Any companies around Delaware County might want to get in touch with Doug Fergus at allaboutair2006@msn.com.

“No pleasure, no rapture, no exquisite sin greater than central air.”

That quote from the movie Dogma might be overshooting, but there is no doubt that air conditioning is an important part of society. I am always thankful I have central a/c on those hot summer days. And on those days, I always thanked Willis Haviland Carrier — the man who invented air conditioning.

I knew that important name before I started in this industry; although I didn’t know the Haviland. To be honest, if that was my middle name, I would keep it on the QT as well.

So imagine my surprise when I was trolling the Internet and ran across the name John Gorrie. The word on the Internet (and that is always correct) is that Gorrie came up with the original concept of air conditioning.

Gorrie was a doctor in the 1840s and was experimenting with gases in order to cool down rooms for patients who were suffering from fevers. He allegedly had the original concept of heating gas by compressing it, cooling it by sending it through coils, then expanding the gas to further cool.

The only thing that prevented him from making cabbage on the deal was a lack of start-up funds and the untimely death of a business partner.

And now Carrier has 1,319 words written about him on Wikipedia, while Gorrie has 306.

Has anyone heard this story? Can someone shed any light on this topic?

For right now, I am going to see if George Washington Carver is really responsible for my lunch sandwich.

In the interest of full disclosure, I sometimes (sometimes, mind you) watch bits of “The Price is Right.” My favorite aspect is when the announcer says the prize is a new car. Except that he says, “A new caaaaaaar!!!!!!!!!”

One recent such prize included in the breathless pitch that it was a “partial zero emissions” vehicle.

Huh? “Partial zero”? How can you have “partial zero”? Isn’t any fraction of zero, still zero? So it is either a zero emissions vehicle or it isn’t.

To do extensive research on this topic, I spent 10 seconds and went to Wikipedia and found this definition: “A Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle is a vehicle that has zero evaporative emissions from its fuel system, has a 15-year (or at least 150,000 mile) warranty and meets SULEV tailpipe emission standards.”

OK. Maybe that means something to you car guys or gals. But us bicyclists haven’t a clue what that means.

But it did give me a thought for HVACR. If a system isn’t running perfectly tight, we say it is a partial zero emission unit. In fact, contractors can ship a defective unit off to “The Price is Right.”

“The next prize assures you of perfect comfort in your home! It’s a new airrrrrrrr…conditioneeeer!!!! And best of all, it has partial zero emissions!!!!”

I figure if contestants and audience jump and scream over a partial zero emission car, they should do the same for an a/c unit.

This appeared in my e-mail inbox last week and was verified by snopes.com. With all the talk about the importance of green living, I thought my three readers would find this interesting:

Recently a 98-year-old lady named Irena died. During World War II, Irena got permission to work in the Warsaw Ghetto, as a plumbing/sewer specialist.

She had an ulterior motive. Being German, she knew what the Nazis’ plans were for the Jews.

Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the toolbox she carried, and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack for larger kids.

She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers, of course, wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the kids’/infants’ noise. She managed to smuggle out and save 2,500 kids/infants.

She was caught and the Nazis broke both her legs and arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her backyard.

After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family. Most, though, had been gassed. Those kids she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.

Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected.

Al Gore won — for a slide show on global warming.

The U.S. Bill of Rights grants me free speech; my Miranda rights remind me of my Fifth Amendment right to remain silent; and the National Wildlife Federation’s Clean Energy Bill of Rights helps me breathe, drink, and enjoy healthy air, water, and natural resources.

Though arguably essential to America’s way of living, none of these rights come without a price, especially the Clean Energy Bill of Rights.

It is the cost of these rights that has me considering both sides of the green fence.

Take the emerging trend of smart communicating thermostats, for instance. Right now, these units enable the utility and consumer to share the responsibility of using our natural resources wisely. Rebates are given to those participating in a shedding program that allows the utility to cycle a/c units on and off in areas experiencing peak demand.

It is a mutually beneficial choice made by the utility and by the occupant. I like it.

What happens in the future, however, when the rebate program potentially phases out and the utility begins charging a premium for electricity usage during peak demand?

The choice to be wise stewards is taken away, making it conceivable that running the a/c during the hottest times is when electricity is going to cost your customer the most money.

So, do we scrap the new, smart communicating thermostats?

Nope! In fact, I own one.

Just consider as you sell the features of new technology how it is going to possibly affect the market in the future. After all, most of you plan to still be in business 10 years or so down the road, and protecting your customers’ right to comfort is part of your job.

My wife and I spent the day at the local county fair. It was a good old-fashioned county fair.

There were pigs, cows, sheep, cattle, chickens, ducks, turkeys, and chickens.

There was a horse show with fancy hitches.

Even a queen of the fair contest.

There were midway barkers trying to get you to try your luck popping balloons, squirting water in a clown’s mouth, tossing rings over bottles, and even trying to land ping pong balls into water filled bowls each of which had a fish. I guess if you succeeded you got the fish.

There were midway rides; not as stomach churning as those at the big theme parks but plenty sickening given the heat of the day and the food that would have been consumed before.

Speaking of food: Elephant ears, foot long hot dogs, pizza, burgers, brats, donuts, cotton candy, ice cream, gyros, tacos, etc. etc. At that was just from the commercial vendors. Local service clubs turned out their specialties – corn in the husk, strawberry shortcake, grilled chicken, pulled pork sandwiches – I’m getting hungry recalling it all.

What does this all have to do with HVAC? Well, there were probably close to a dozen local HVAC companies with displays set up, one even having a unit running inside a tent that had cold air strips in front.

Fair sponsors said attendance was up this year as the economy prevented many longer vacation trips in the summer.

Hmmm, local folks staying near home and despite the high heat heading to the fair. Sounds like county fairs are a place for contractors to spend the word these days.

Going back to the 1860s, Maryland sided with other so-called border states as a supporter of the Union. Virginia, a little further south, favored slavery and seceded from the Union. The rest is Civil War history.

Tensions have certainly subsided since then; people freely travel the byways between the states; and many live in one state while working in another.

However, it wasn’t until September 2008 when the Air Conditioning Contractors of America National Capital Chapter (ACCA-NCC) invited Maryland’s Senator Thomas “Mac” Middleton to speak at a monthly meeting, when the two states really began to patch things up with regard to the HVAC industry. At that meeting, ACCA-NCC members requested license reciprocity between the two jurisdictions. But, good things take time.

As of July 31, 2009, what this means for licensed HVAC contractors in both states is that the Virginia Board for Contractors, and the Maryland Board of Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractors agreed to waive the normally required written examination for non-residents of the respective states, and issue Journeyman or Master HVAC licenses, provided the applicant has met certain requirements.

This is another example of partnering at its best. The political machine does work sometimes. A tip of the hat to our friends in Maryland and Virginia for a job well done!