The HVAC System and Equipment Council covered a lot of ground at their committee meeting during the HARDI Annual Conference.

The meeting starting with Jon Melchi, HARDI Director of Government Affairs, giving a recap of numerous legislative issues. Of most interest was the continuing regional standards saga. Melchi reported that they were waiting for the court to respond to the briefing schedule that all parties had agreed upon. After that hurdle is cleared, there will need to be oral arguments, a trial, and a verdict. Melchi speculated that this issue would not be solved into the end of next year. The committee also discussed tax credits and R-22 allocations.

 Lauren Lievau of the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) presented to the committee about trends in energy efficiency. The group is seeing a big increase in whole home and building programs. In addition, the group is also seeing a trend to connected products that are two-way communication systems.