Many contractors are asking what happened to Home Star, the proposed legislation that would have extended rebates to homeowners who invested in energy efficiency upgrades for their homes. While the bill was a hot topic for much of 2010, it ultimately failed to pass in the Senate, and has not been reintroduced in Congress so far in 2011.

It is a familiar lament for those who work on supermarket refrigeration. There is a problem. The owner wants it fixed immediately. The technician can apply a quick fix, but that won’t deal with potential recurring problems - and the fact that the equipment may not be operating all that efficiently or even be all that up-to-date.

Ferris State University’s Commercial Refrigeration Laboratory has gone totally chlorine-free. By replacing the refrigerant HCFC-22 that was in two medium-temperature commercial refrigeration cases in the laboratory, the students in the associate degree program in HVACR can boast that the lab is now chlorine-free.

Cypress Envirosystems and Adura® Technologies, leading providers of energy efficiency technologies, have partnered on an online course titled Retrofitting Existing Buildings to Improve Energy Efficiency.

With new construction still down, contractors who specialize in commercial controls can find more opportunities for their business by retrofitting existing buildings.

The Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA) has announced that its new Building Systems Analysis and Retrofit Manual, 2nd edition, is now available.

The obvious method to keeping energy bills in check is for homeowners to have regular maintenance performed on their gas boilers to ensure they are running optimally. Another way to cut down costs is to make strategic retrofits that can improve the efficiency and safety of older boiler systems.

As the HVACR industry continues to move away from HCFC-22 due to regulatory pressures, one of the new retrofit options for such systems is HFC-427A.

Bank of America has announced the selection of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) that will receive $55 million in low-interest loans and grants through the company’s Energy Efficiency Finance Program.

The Ohio Department of Development has launched the Energy Loan Fund, which provides low-cost financing to manufacturers, small businesses, public entities, and nonprofit organizations for energy-saving projects.