While the recession has battered many HVAC companies, officials with indoor air quality franchise AdvantaClean says they are an exception.

For the second straight year, AdvantaClean says it has doubled its number of franchisees and opened new locations in 18 states. In 2010, the company was rated at No. 291 on Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500 list. The company was listed at No. 16 on the magazine’s ‘Top New Franchise’ list and at No. 91 on the “top home franchise” list.

“When we started offering AdvantaClean franchises to the general public in 2008, we knew there was a growing demand for this line of work and a huge opportunity for long-term success,” said Jeff Dudan, founder and CEO of AdvantaClean. “Disaster restoration and mold removal are both expanding segments of the national service economy, and that trend is projected to continue for years to come. Our franchise owners are some of the best in the industry, and our company’s accomplishments would have been impossible to achieve without their full commitment to making AdvantaClean the best business it can be.”