Hvac upgrades - Articles

New President, New Year, New Challenges

2025 is a New Year, and our HVAC community of designers, builders, and equipment manufacturers need to 'Reflect and Move Forward!'

Howard McKew, P.E., C.P.E.

February 13, 2025

Our industry is familiar with the phrase "3-steps forward and 2-steps back." We need to proactively accept the 2-steps back but not give up on the forward direction, writes ES NEWS columnist Howard McKew.

Project Files: Episode 64 — Flame-Free Retrofit at Smithsonian Vault

RLS press fittings joined HVACR lines in museum’s cold storage

Maria Taylor

November 3, 2023

Press fittings took flame out of the equation in an HVAC project conducted near fragile books from the Middle Ages.

Project Files: Episode 63 — University of Cincinnati Chiller Upgrade

Smardt chiller install achieves 32% reduction of kWhr in energy needs

Maria Taylor

September 12, 2023

Like many universities across America, the University of Cincinnati faced a major infrastructure challenge: having to operate aging central utility plants with older technology.

Is it Time to Upgrade Your HVAC System

HVAC systems last a long time, but every piece of equipment requires replacement eventually.

Emily Newton

April 1, 2023

Knowing when to replace your HVAC system will help prevent the most dramatic effects of aging — high maintenance costs, inefficiency and costly breakdowns.

Historic Preservation Tax Credits Fund VRF Retrofit for High-Rise

900 on Lee Elevates West Virginia Capital

Dan Vastyan

January 26, 2023

One of the tallest buildings in Charleston was originally a division of Huntington National Bank. AB Contracting Inc. acquired the 17-story building in April of 2021 and immediately began creating a modern, mixed use-space in the circa-1960 high-rise.

Three Ways Contractors Can Make High-End Furnaces ‘Sell Themselves’

With a 28% rise in natural gas prices predicted, homeowners are primed to realize the value of high-efficiency HVAC

Hannah Belloli-Oster

November 21, 2022

If contractors in colder climates focus on educating their customers on what new higher-efficiency furnaces bring to the table, often times the furnaces will sell themselves.

Hydronics Provide Comfort in Farmhouse Airbnb

A Vermont farmhouse Airbnb on 50 acres of land uses hydronics to provide a comfortable stay

Dan Vastyan

October 4, 2022

A historical farmhouse built in 1791 has seen its days as a gentleman’s farm and a horse farm, but has most recently seen days as a hydronic-heated Airbnb.

Custom Heater Design Enables Chicago Buildings to Deliver Floor-to-Ceiling Heat

October 2, 2022

While planning to install linear wall-to-wall convector heaters on a perimeter curtain wall at the 150 North Riverside Plaza high rise in downtown Chicago, the owner sought an effective way to maintain the aesthetic of the building without sacrificing floor space.

Home Energy Upgrade Incentives: Programs in the Inflation Reduction Act, Other Recent Federal Laws

September 30, 2022

The recent Inflation Reduction Act, along with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) from last year, provide more than $25 billion for programs and tax incentives for home energy upgrades.

Stressed Homeowners Make it Harder to Close HVAC Sales

Kyle Gargaro

August 12, 2022

With inflation being a hot topic, Modernize Home Services, a provider of marketing services for contractors, conducted a survey of more than 500 homeowners considering home improvement projects — including HVAC.