ARLINGTON, Va. — The different sectors of the HVAC industry oftentimes are criticized for not working together. And while that may be true in some cases, close to 30 HVAC leaders team up each year in Arlington, Va., to identify solutions for some of the industry’s biggest problems.
The group, recognized as the Joint Futures Committee, was created in 2002 to improve communication and interaction between contractors and manufacturers. The group has since blossomed to include contractors, distributors, manufacturers, associations, builders, and members of the trade press.
“The genesis was after a contractor-OEM exchange where OEMs lamented that contractors are not well positioned to implement newly introduced technologies and contractors observed that OEMs pretty much keep new development concepts under wraps until the equipment hits the streets,” said Glenn Hourahan, senior vice president, technical, accreditation & educational policy, Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), who organizes the annual gathering.