When Southern California was blasted by record-breaking heat, the tenants of an LAX Airport Center office building were fortunate that the cooling tower that works in conjunction with the building’s chillers had just been replaced. So, rather than having to endure the sweltering heat, the tenants remained cool and comfortable.

Housing starts declined 4.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 529,000 units in the final month of 2010, according to figures released by the U.S. Department of Commerce. However, the year-end data indicate that production of new homes improved 6.1 percent in 2010 over 2009. On another positive note, permit issuance for construction of new homes and apartments rose 16.7 percent in December.

There have been two approaches to capturing the sun’s energy: photovoltaics, to turn sunlight into electricity, or solar thermal systems, to concentrate the sun’s heat to boil water to turn a turbine, or use it directly for hot water or heating. But there’s another approach that was sidelined because nobody found a way to harness it in a practical, economical way.

Housing starts rose 3.9 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 555,000 units from an upwardly revised number in the previous month, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. This marked the first upward movement in new home production since August, and was entirely attributable to a nearly 7 percent gain in single-family home building.

Ingersoll Rand has made energy ef­ficiency a priority by joining the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) Save Energy Now LEADER initiative. Since implementing a tiered internal energy audit program in 2005, the company has saved more than $4 million in energy costs.

QwikProducts has announced a partnership with the Home Builders Institute (HBI), the workforce development arm of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The partnership offers specialized HVACR and building maintenance training/certifications from QwikProducts to students in HBI Job Corps programs.

Diebold Inc. and major design-build mechanical contracting and systems integration firm, McKenney’s Inc., have teamed to provide advanced monitoring services to McKenney’s customer base across the southeastern United States.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently helped Thermal Energy Corp. (TECO) celebrate the opening of a new combined heat and power (CHP) plant at the Texas Medical Center in Houston. The dedication ceremony marked the completion of the 48 megawatt facility that will provide steam, chilled water, and electricity.

IKEA, the Swedish home furnishings retailer, has teamed with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to showcase and study the advantages of a geothermal heating and cooling system currently under construction in Centennial, Colo.

While many students associate the beginning of a school year with the end of summer, outside Texas temperatures suggest otherwise. To combat triple-digit August heat, school districts across the state recently tapped HTS Texas to supply energy-efficient, state-of-the-art cooling systems just in time for students’ arrival.