Articles by Kimberly Schwartz

According to recent studies, the market for home automation products — including advanced thermostats — is poised for explosive growth. Many industry experts believe trends in consumer habits and technology are converging to create an increasing demand for these products.

Recommissioning is currently a hot trend in the commercial market, according to members of the industry who frequently work with facility owners and operators. 

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and that phrase certainly applies to the Texas Medical Center (TMC) in Houston. All of the TMC institutions share a critical need for reliable cooling, and many of them are supported by the Thermal Energy Corp. (TECO).

It’s no secret today’s customers are demanding more convenience than ever before. And, as consumer expectations and technology keep shifting, HVAC contractors are seeing a rise in the importance of online scheduling. 

The benefits of portables, including speedy implementation, reduced downtime, and cost-effectiveness, are continuing to gain recognition from end users. And, as end users experience these benefits and the resulting uptime, industry experts expect the portable market to continue to heat up.

Keeping people happy and cool isn’t always easy in a crunch, so it’s essential commercial contractors have the right practices in place — including access to portable equipment — to quickly restore cooling in emergency situations.

Since they don’t have to stay in one place, portable cooling units have been known to show up in some pretty unique places. Here’s a closer look at how portable units are serving in some outside-the-box applications.

Even as the economy has improved, some building owners and operators remain hesitant to make large capital expenditures to replace older chiller systems. In these cases, there are less expensive options available that can enable decision makers to achieve substantial efficiency upgrades by retrofitting their chillers.

As the millennial generation continues to join the workforce, the trend toward more flexible time-off policies and benefits is expected to continue.

When it comes to large commercial systems, cooling towers seem to receive less attention than other system components. Yet, cooling tower maintenance is vital to ensuring overall system efficiency and preventing downtime.