Energy, efficiency, and economics were the key topics at the 13th Danfoss EnVisioneering Symposium held in Washington, D.C., recently at the Russell Senate Office Building. It was appropriate that Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) keynoted the event as he is the Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

The 43rd Annual ACCA Conference and Indoor Air Expo of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) attracted a record number of people to the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center in San Antonio. Attendees were considerably upbeat about the recovery from the recent recession, which had redefined the way organizations have approached business in the last two years.

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), the nation’s largest association of indoor environmental systems professionals, announced the winners of the Residential and Commercial Contractor of the Year awards during the ACCA’s 43rd Annual Conference and Indoor Air Expo, held in San Antonio.

There have long been cries from the business community that excessive federal regulation can strangle a company’s ability to compete and thrive in the market. But lately lawmakers actually seem to be paying attention. HVAC is a heavily regulated industry, and each facet of the industry is engaging with government in different ways to alleviate the effects of regulation.

Zoning systems can be beneficial to both homeowners and the HVAC contractors who install them. However, their complexity can sometimes lead to confusion, and perhaps avoidance among contractors. A new standard developed by the Air Conditioning Contractors of America aims to help with zoning design to improve the installation and operation of zoned systems.

After being in the HVAC industry as a contractor and a rater for 30 years, I’ve seen a lot of things that have been done wrong. But really, there has never been a system in place that required contractors to do things correctly - and verified that they had. All that is changing with the Energy Star for New Homes version 3.

On April 14, President Obama signed into law House Resolution 4 (H.R. 4), which repealed an unpopular provision of the new health care law that would have created a paperwork burden for many small businesses. The passage of H.R. 4, which repealed the 1099 reporting requirement, was the culmination of months of effort by small businesses across many industries.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is in the midst of creating guidelines that could become the standard to which contractors must be certified to do work involving federal funds. However, a coalition of industry organizations says the guidelines are flawed.

RSES has partnered with Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) to offer American National Standards Institute- (ANSI) recognized quality standards to its members.

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America Educational Institute (ACCA-EI) Standards Task Team (STT) announced an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) public review period for its Manual J8.