The NEWS’ eighth annual Dealer Design Awards’ Contractor Services and Software category brought ease, accessibility, and free to the table with its winning lineup of an online training course and two brand new apps. These electronic tools have changed the HVAC game and contractors participating in the electronic revolution find themselves the prime beneficiaries of gold winner HVACRedu.net’s ItsAboutQ; silver winner Emerson Climate Technologies Inc.’s Emerson e-Saver™; and bronze winner Genteq’s ECM Service Guide for iPhone.

GOLD WINNER

ItsAboutQ is an online technical education program designed and operated by HVACRedu.net for the Southern California Edison (SCE) HVAC Workforce Education and Training program. Its primary function is to educate and prepare technicians for North American Technician Excellence (NATE) certification exams and thereby create a NATE certified HVAC energy efficient workforce in the SCE service area.

The company’s online program is also being used by HVAC manufacturers, HVAC wholesale distribution companies, community college programs, workforce training centers, state apprenticeship programs, industry associations, utilities, national grant programs, government agencies, contractors, individual technicians, and registered state apprenticeship programs in Idaho, Virginia, and Arkansas.

The ItsAboutQ program is totally web based and requires no installation. To access the program, contractors must have Windows 98 or newer, or a Mac with a reasonably current browser, and access to the Internet.

One contractor judge said that this product is “good stuff. I think this is a wonderful product and definitely deserving of recognition for amongst the ‘best in class’ when compared to most.”

SILVER WINNER

“This is a sales tool that must be used.” Those were the words of one judge about Emerson Climate Technologies Inc.’s Emerson e-Saver™. This mobile application is available for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and Android platforms and provides annual cost savings comparisons for residential HVAC system replacement options. After inputting information like the current system, geographic location, and data on the contractor’s recommended system; the e-Saver app provides up to three replacement options with cost savings based on annual heating and cooling run hours. The results automatically populate a report, which can be customized with the contractor’s contact information. Contractors need to customize the homeowner report only once, and it will automatically generate a new version for each calculation. Results of the calculations can be immediately available for discussion during the same call or the report can be emailed to homeowners directly from the mobile device for later review and consideration. In addition to including recommendations on energy-saving HVAC systems, the reports direct consumers to a website with additional energy-saving tips, plus information on incentives and rebates.

“I really liked this app,” summed up one contractor judge. “It is simple to use and the benefits of having this kind of easy-to-access information available in the field could be huge.”

BRONZE WINNER

Genteq has developed an iPhone app of its ECM Service Guide. This free app can be downloaded from Apple’s App store onto any iPhone. Contractors who rely on the pocket-sized, spiral-bound ECM Service Guide usually keep it in their coat pockets, tool kits, or glove boxes for easy access to information and guidelines that help diagnose, service, and optimize Genteq-driven systems. The iPhone app puts all the information in Genteq’s ECM Service Guide at the contractors’ fingertips for quick, ready reference.

According to the company, the Genteq ECM Service Guide is the go-to guide for contractors in the field and having it on the iPhone puts critical information at their fingertips at all times, even when they’re working in tight or remote locations.

One of the judges agreed saying, “It was a smart move to offer this on an iPhone.”

2011 Honorees: Contractor Services and Software

Gold Winner
HVACRedu.net
www.hvacredu.net
ItsAboutQ

Silver Winner
Emerson Climate Technologies Inc.
www.emersonclimate.com
Emerson e-Saver™ mobile application

Bronze Winner
Genteq
www.regalbeloit.com
ECM Service Guide iPhone app

Publication date: 07/11/2011