Most days, Lenoir City, Tenn., resident Kim Charles doesn’t even notice the solar panels on her roof, the hum of her SEER 17 heat pump water heater, or the integrated design that places most of her home’s plumbing within one wall, saving energy. What she does notice is an electricity bill that averages about 41 cents per day.

The most profitable HVACR contractors are those who monitor their expenses and cut costs whenever possible. Never has that been more evident than in an economically challenged state like Michigan. The NEWS recently sat down with three Michigan contractors to discuss cost-cutting measures.

The air conditioning season lasts almost the entire year in sunny Arizona but that doesn’t mean contractors have more than enough work to stay profitable. Cutting expenses is still a priority, several Arizona HVACR contractors told The NEWS during an informal roundtable meeting.

Combined U.S. factory shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps for May were down 14 percent compared with the same month a year ago. U.S. factory shipments of gas warm air furnaces in May dropped 23 percent compared with the same month a year ago.

The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) is preparing to seek a possible injunction in federal court against the city of Albuquerque, N.M., if its council and mayor continue to stick with the city’s new Energy Conservation Code and High Performance Building Ordinance, set to become effective July 1.

Providing the latest evidence of the ongoing downturn in the nation’s housing market, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that housing starts declined 3.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 975,000 units in May. This was the lowest total starts number since March 1991.

The downswing in single-family housing deepened in April while a bump up for the month in the volatile multifamily market lifted total housing starts 8.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.032 million units, according to figures released by the Commerce Department. Total starts were down 30.6 percent from a year earlier.

United States factory shipments of residential cooling and heating equipment declined in February, compared with the same month a year ago, according to the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).

Nonresidential construction will experience wide variance in demand, materials cost, and labor availability, according to a Construction Inflation Alert released by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).

If you’re down in the dumps over the latest news and views regarding the near term state of the economy, then don’t look at the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO’s) latest projections to brighten things up for the long run. But let’s first grasp a little history.