HVAC contractors tell their customers there are many reasons for properly maintaining their furnaces, air conditioners, ductwork, and add-on equipment. A well-running system is efficient and provides greater comfort while saving on energy costs. It is a no-brainer. But an added bonus is the healthy ramifications.

The good idea of sealing up a building to make it energy efficient had some unwanted side-effects. Lack of circulation or the inability of a building to breathe compounded the high humidity problem. Fortunately, the HVAC trade has remained a leader in providing information, answers, and products to combat the humidity problem.

IAQ can play an important part in people’s comfort and health. Making IAQ products easier to install and service helps contractors with their financial health. Winners of the 2011 Dealer Design Award in the Indoor Air Quality category get kudos for what they can do to help a contractor’s bottom line through ease of service and installation.

The moisture content in a school’s building envelope can provide the medium that mold needs for incubation and growth. Whether a school is under construction or unoccupied during the summer break, it likely is without an HVAC system to help control moisture. Without humidity control, school buildings can become a breeding ground for mold and mildew.

In one sense, it’s almost comforting to think of radiation as an IAQ problem - a very big one - but whose first line of defense could be a HEPA filter. In another sense, it’s disconcerting to think of its likelihood due to the number of existing nuclear plants. The earthquake-tsunami events in Japan have drawn attention to defense against radiation.

Is online buying becoming just as important as one phone call and a pickup at the parts counter? Maybe the HVAC trade isn’t ready to concede that online buying will surpass local purchases or put a big hit on traditional relationships. Yet, online sellers are making themselves hard to ignore and are working to make the buying experience quick and convenient.

All homes breathe during the extreme weather conditions of the region. When outdoor temperatures are low and the wind is blowing, most homes get enough fresh air to be “healthy.” However, it is more accidental than controlled. Here are some guidelines for helping customers achieve the kind of IAQ they want, in a controlled way.

Steve Lauten, president of Total Air & Heat in the suburban Dallas area, seems to focus the company primarily on energy conservation measures such as home efficiency and energy conservation. But intertwined with the company’s systems-based approach is a belief that good IAQ must be part of the result.

For some time, energy efficiency and IAQ were thought to be mutually exclusive HVAC goals. They actually can have negative or positive effects on each other that can be mitigated by contractors in a number of ways: coil care, duct repair, and the judicious use of specific equipment among them. A recent trend has been linking the impacts IAQ and efficiency can have on each other.

Here are additional new products that The NEWS’ editorial staff found at the AHR Expo. Due to an internal error, these products were not included in The NEWS’ AHR Expo Post-Show Issue.