Most businesses can provide really good customer service when the conditions are perfect. If a business can’t accomplish this, they best close up shop.

I’ll admit, I’m an avid Google user. I use Google search for just about everything — when I need to figure out a song lyric; look up a movie; find local restaurants; get directions; and especially when I need a witty, wise-guy meme or GIF to respond to my boss’s email.

It’s impossible to take stock of the thousands of sustainability measures being incorporated into commercial buildings today — the market and technologies appear to have nothing but unlimited opportunities for growth ahead.

Daikin is disrupting the HVACR industry. This notion was evidenced at the global manufacturer’s biennial Daikin Group Sales Meeting 2017 (DGSM) held Oct. 13-16 in San Antonio.

The residential boiler market in the U.S. is somewhat small when compared to the rest of the world. In fact, according to some estimates, only about 9 million U.S. homes are heated with boilers, 60 percent of which are in the Northeast.

When Wayne Gretzky was asked in an interview why he was so good, the Hall of Famer stated that he skated to where the puck was “going” to be rather than where the puck was at the time. And much like Gretzky, you should not necessarily be looking at what your market is demanding this week or even next month. Skate to where the puck is going to be.

I’ve preached throughout the years that having objective standards, clear communicated goals, and known and practiced policies and procedures for everyone at the company is the best path for being fair. As people, we all want to feel we’ve been treated fairly, regardless if we’re getting a carrot or the stick as a reward or as a consequence.

Programmable thermostats were first certified by Energy Star in 1995; however, they were removed from the government-backed program in 2009 because, on their own without proper programming, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) disqualified them as energy-saving products.

It's no secret that the world is going digital. You check your bank account balance on your iPhone, pay your energy bill via email, and can tell Amazon Echo to play your favorite song — or adjust the temperature in your home — it's a digital world. So, thermostat manufacturers are keeping this trend in mind while developing products that will pique customers' interests.

As homeowners become increasingly aware of home performance and the benefits it offers, home-performance contractors must continue to find ways to promote and differentiate themselves from their competitors. Training and certification is a crucial differentiator, and it has the added bonus of making contractors more trustworthy to prospective customers.