CHANTILLY, Va. - The New Horizons Foundation (NHF), an HVAC and Sheet Metal Industry Initiative, issued a comprehensive study titled The HVAC and Sheet Metal Industry Futures Study: Industry Trends and Drivers Shaping Alternative Futures.

The report identifies over 35 significant changes or developments that will influence future market opportunities and the nature of HVAC and sheet metal contractor operations five and 10 years from now. More than 75 individuals, enlisted from the HVAC and sheet metal industry and from related industry partners and other sectors of the construction industry, worked intensively for more than a year to develop the 136-page report.

The group identified and then examined the effect of the cornerstone factors that drive change in the industry - sustainability, globalization, workforce, and technology. When releasing the study to the industry, NHF Chairman George “Butch” Welsch noted that the HVAC and sheet metal industry “can use the report and associated research as a guide to making decisions that will involve accommodation to change and change at an accelerated pace.”

The study detailed six sets of environments: social, technological, economic, political and regulatory, competitive, and natural. With those environments as a starting point, the advisory groups then identified 15 top-priority factors ranging from consumer/client preferences and buying behaviors to consolidation and cost-saving efforts. These 15 factors were instrumental in creating a variety of future scenarios for HVAC and sheet metal contractors to consider and act upon.

“At no time in the past have challenges and opportunities been so clearly defined. This research report provides a very valuable tool,” said Welsch. From the contractor’s perspective, the report makes it clear that today’s markets and services will have little relevance to prevailing markets in five to 10 years.”

For more information, visit www.newhorizonsfoundation.org.

Publication date: 09/29/2008