Step aside green and make room for sustainable. Although arguably much the same, these two terms are jockeying for a prominent place in the HVACR contractor’s approach to the design, installation, and repair of HVAC systems as a whole. The resulting terminology war is launching another term into the green theater - high performance.
Even though he’s a nightshift police officer, father of three teenagers, and doting husband, Sgt. Peter Pappas found time to act as his own land developer and general contractor for his nicely-appointed, yet low-impact home. In 2004, he purchased some property beside a 75-acre, spring-fed lake and selected a lot for his new home.
No matter how state-of-the-art the heating, cooling and refrigeration equipment is, more than likely it is running on coal-generated power. So, what is being done to offset coal-generated power with renewable energy sources such as solar and wind? And can those sources create enough power to run HVACR equipment?
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.
IBE Consulting Engineers (IBE), a leading mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineering firm, announced the addition of Beckham Price, LEED AP, as sustainable services manager. An early adopter of sustainable building practices, Price has worked in construction management from both the client and contractor sides.
Aaron Rittenhouse is the senior solutions account executive with Brady Energy Services, a company that provides energy systems and building solutions for commercial and industrial facilities across North Carolina. The commercial-industrial-institutional contractor is preparing to become more deeply entrenched in the geothermal market.