Rising prices of health case affected most industries, HVAC included. With a watchful eye on the bottom line of business, many companies found themselves scaling down benefits or cutting them completely.
Ninety-one percent of HVACR contractors responding to a survey on The NEWS' Web site in Aug. 2005 reported that high gasoline and diesel fuel prices were hurting their business' profitability.
Sheet metal unions hit rocky water in 2005 according to a report issued by the New Horizons Foundation. The Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association (SMACNA) and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA) were encouraged to work together to solve the problems and dispel the myths of the sheet metal union's future.
It should come as no surprise that the issue of 13 SEER is the biggest thing on the minds of contractors. But there must be other things that contractors have seen as big news in 2005, right? That's what The NEWS' Contractor Consultants were asked recently.
Prices at the pump were high in 2005, but prices at the meter became shocking by the fourth quarter. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), natural gas production has been declining 30 percent each year for the past few years.
President Bush stressed the necessity of the United States to reduce its dependence on foreign oil. An important step in that direction would be to pass the Energy Policy Act of 2005, he said. The president later signed the passed bill into law.
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