Even though he’s a nightshift police officer, father of three teenagers, and doting husband, Sgt. Peter Pappas found time to act as his own land developer and general contractor for his nicely-appointed, yet low-impact home. In 2004, he purchased some property beside a 75-acre, spring-fed lake and selected a lot for his new home.

Here are some tips for HVAC and plumbing systems maintenance in commercial buildings that will help mechanical contractors and their customers save time and money.

An Android phone, Gmail, and 500-plus followers on Twitter. That doesn’t sound like the typical description of an HVAC contractor, but it sums up Rob Benefiel in a nutshell. In an earlier era, Benefiel, owner of Certified Comfort Heating and Cooling, would not have been able to start and run his business the way he does today.

Step aside green and make room for sustainable. Although arguably much the same, these two terms are jockeying for a prominent place in the HVACR contractor’s approach to the design, installation, and repair of HVAC systems as a whole. The resulting terminology war is launching another term into the green theater - high performance.

Hotel Indigo Athens is located five blocks from the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., 75 miles east of Atlanta. One of 33 upscale boutique brand hotels developed by InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), it is one of only five in the nation to achieve LEED Gold status. It is also the first LEED Gold certified hotel in IHG’s extensive portfolio of 4,500 hotels.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is predicting continued recovery for 2011. So is Ben Bernanke, chairman of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System, and so are many of the contractors with whom The NEWS discussed 2011 predictions late last year. These contractors offer economic and industry predictions, as well as business tips for first quarter 2011.

One of the technologies that has popped up in recent years is the motion (occupancy) sensor. This technology is designed to save energy costs beyond the traditional options of turning off lights and dialing down a thermostat. But can this technology find a place in the HVAC contracting world? Very likely, if it hasn’t already.

Comfort Supply, a wholesale distributor of Ruud HVAC products, opened a fifth location in Knoxville. The 14,000-square-foot warehouse and showroom at 608 Business Park Lane opened for business in April. Comfort Supply has stores in Nashville, Murfreesboro, Cookeville, and Clarksville.

Technical Training Associates, an Arizona-based training firm that provides HVAC technician training books, videos, and workshops, has launched a new website.

Nearly all buyers currently outsourcing facilities management services expect to maintain or increase outsourcing in the short to medium term, according to the inaugural KPMG 2011 global real estate and facilities management outsourcing pulse survey.