Albuquerque’s new Energy Conservation Code calls for raising HVAC equipment standards on all new and retrofit commercial and residential applications to 15 SEER air conditioning and 90 percent AFUE furnace equipment. While the tree huggers might approve, not so with local wholesalers and contractors.

Even though the two scheduled keynote speakers were unable to make it, the 2008 HVACR & Plumbing Instructors Workshop was anything but a bust. Not by a long shot. More than 320 attendees had the option of participating in numerous HVACR- and plumbing-specific technical sessions.

There are three ways to provide IAQ: ventilation, filtration, and/or source elimination or capture. In today’s green world, Tim Wentz recommends the last method. “This is usually the least expensive,” said the University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor.

Eugene Silberstein can say he spent St. Patrick’s Day in Vegas. He could not say his day was filled with gambling and imbibing in Sin City. Rather, his day was filled with learning more about the HVACR industry, technology updates, and much more at the 2008 HVAC Excellence National HVACR Educators and Trainers Conference.

With all the material handed out, suggestions made, tips offered, and networking experienced over five jam-packed days, you could say attendees of the 2008 AirTime 500 Expo went home thick with information and knowledge. Then again, “Thicke” may be more appropriate.

While duct cleaning may be the one service all attendees of the National Air Duct Cleaners Association's 2008 convention have in common, most participants dabble in far more areas in the heating and cooling industry.

After meeting Kadir Isa, I’ll never call anyone a “turkey” (in a negative way) anymore. Isa, an HVACR training specialist from Istanbul, Turkey, attended the recent HVACR & Plumbing Instructor Workshop.

AirTime 500 members can now have actor Alan Thicke as their personal spokesperson. Well, kind of. Thanks to the efforts of Terry Nicholson and others, AirTime 500 members can now buy into a program that will put Thicke on their company’s Website.

It did not take long for Butch Welsch to respond. “Steel prices,” answered the owner of Welsch Heating and Cooling, without hesitation. “I can’t believe how much it has gone up.” The St. Louis-area contractor purchases steel to fabricate its own rectangular ductwork and fittings. The jump in price from mid-December 2007 to February 2008 was 28 percent.

Do you want to see The NEWS bring back its feature on the Top 10 residential contractors in replacement/add-on and in new construction? We’re taking a vote on it. In this election process, there are no caucuses, super delegates, primaries, or a convention. Just a straight “yes” or “no” ticket. As is the American way, majority will rule.