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In the July 5 and Sept. 6 issues of The NEWS, there is going to be a lot of talk about food and drink. Much of the material comes from the Food Marketing Institute’s FMI 2010 and the 2010 National Restaurant Association (NRA) Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show®. A major topic at these shows was food and drink safety.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the Home STAR legislation, which will invest $6 billion in a rebate program for homeowners who perform energy-efficiency upgrades. Meanwhile, a parallel bill is being considered, called Building STAR. Passage of a comprehensive energy/climate bill in 2010 remains uncertain.

As good ideas become old ideas, some will stand the test of time, and some will not. A good old idea that seems to be gathering momentum, especially as governmental bodies seek ways to ensure that equipment efficiency promises can be delivered upon, is the idea of installed quality.

Everyone learns in different ways, and researchers have categorized the variety of learning styles into three main categories: listening learners; seeing learners; touch and experience learners. There are huge advantages to knowing how each member of your team learns so you can provide training that matches their style.

Lately I have wondered if something is missing in the education some business owners receive. Let’s call it Accountability 101. The training should have started in childhood, the first time you made a mistake and Mom, Dad, or another authority figure asked if you did it.

How many of you do any business training for your service technicians and installers? I’m guessing not very many. However, how many of you have ever been asked by one of those service technicians or installers regarding the fact that you charge at least $90–130 per hour and yet he only takes home $25 per hour?

Home Star is a proposed new national weatherization incentive program. There is one issue associated with the wording of the bill which troubles me, and no disrespect intended to the Building Performance Institute (BPI), but where are the other certifying and/or accrediting bodies such as North American Technician Excellence (NATE) and HVAC Excellence.

As more people look for ways to be ecologically responsible, and maybe save a few dollars, it’s no surprise members of the business community are doing the same. HVACR contractors are not only recycling metal, paper, and plastic; they are using less water, applying green technologies to their buildings, and encouraging employees to follow the example.

Good news: The recession is over. Even though Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke is shy about going out on a limb just yet, The NEWS is not quite so reluctant. Obviously, there are a lot of bad things still going on in the general economy. However, there have been enough good signs to point toward an end to the Great Recession.

In an industry now heavily regulated with concerns about “what the Environmental Protection Agency might do next,” there is at least one aspect that is hardly regulatory and actually finds the EPA as a partner. It is called the GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership, and it has caught on with equipment suppliers, refrigerant manufacturers, and supermarket chains.