Parrish Services CEO/owner is finalist in Tradesperson of the Year™ contest.

Improvements to the design of the roof-mounted ladder rack equipment used on commercial vans and minivans have been made. The design modifications pertain to the Weather Guard® Quick Clamp ladder rack and the Nissan NV ladder rack units.

AirTight names production coordinator; Con Edison honors 2011 top performing contractors; Armistead Mechanical renews MSCA STAR designation.

The economy has been tough for many HVAC contractors over the last few years, and the signals are mixed as to whether things will get better in 2012. On the positive side, construction employment rose in 28 states and the District of Columbia between December 2010 and December 2011. On the other hand, only 302,000 new homes were sold in 2011, which is 6.2 percent below the 2010 figure.

Air Comfort Mechanical owner receives master HVACR educator certification; MM Comfort Systems celebrates anniversary; Halco Plumbing & Heating honored by NYSERDA; Source Refrigeration & HVAC appoints president/CEO.

While spring officially starts tomorrow, several HVAC contractors are still waiting for winter to arrive. The national average temperature across the 48 contiguous states in January was 36.3 — 5.5 degrees above the 1901-2000 average, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center.

James A. Wheat & Sons, one of the leading HVAC contractors in Maryland, was named Contractor of the Year by the National Comfort Institute (NCI) at its 2012 Annual Conference.

Direct Energy finalizes acquisition of Home Warranty of America; SCIenergy announces acquisition.

ACP Sheet Metal president elected to SMACNA board.

The first comment is in response to Peter Powell’s editorial “Is A/C to Blame for D.C.’s Mess?” in the Feb. 6 issue. The second concerns what contractors are doing about the rising cost of gas.