In the green movement, the most measureable aspect is the LEED — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — certification program. There is a need for HVACR contractors to fit into the mix of trades. Is it worth it? Well, it depends on who within the HVACR sector you talk to.

While manufacturers continue to look at ways to make HVACR equipment as energy efficient as possible, just as much attention is being paid to finding ways to get that equipment off the electric grid and powered as much as possible by such alternative energy sources as solar, wind, photovoltaic (PV), and geothermal.

A flurry of recent announcements is signaling some new directions for controllers that can be used in refrigeration applications. See what some of these new announcements and products have to offer. 

I’ve been following the attention to green since way back to the mid-80s with the first wave of changes in refrigerants related to first ozone depletion and then global warming.

The NEWS' newest eNewsletter is targeted to refrigeration contractors and distributors.

The use of R-744 (carbon dioxide/CO2) as a refrigerant in HVACR applications has been gaining attention. But it faces installation and servicing challenges for technicians familiar with fluorocarbon refrigerants.

Tools are so important these days that when Milwaukee Electric Tool Co. held its fourth annual symposium for products used in its core markets of electrical, plumbing, remodeling, and HVAC, it attracted 50 plus trade press from seven countries.

An oft-repeated comment from me in recent years is that while the air conditioning side of the HVACR industry has been dealing with 13 SEER and R-410A as its basic components, we over on the refrigeration side deal with a wide range of efficiency standards.

When it comes to small HVAC contractors drawing attention to themselves, they find putting a company name on the back of a jersey, buying ads in a hometown newspaper, and volunteering for a service project becomes a way to draw attention to the company.

Every year the National Restaurant Association (NRA) publishes Forecast, a detailed report designed to go “inside the mind of today’s consumers.”