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Bob and Tim were at a no cooling call, the first of the year. They turned the thermostat to cooling and put it on a low setting so the heat pump would come on and stay on. They went to the outdoor unit and felt the leaving air and the piping and Tim said, “The unit is running in the heating mode. I wonder what is going on?”

Now is a good time for contractors — along with facility operators and engineering firms — to take a close look at ASHRAE’s pending Legionella standard. ASHRAE 188P, “Legionellosis: Risk Management for Building Water Systems,” could become a standard as early as July if the latest comments do not warrant another public review.

When Wendy’s International LLC created its employee handbook, the company probably never imagined it would become the poster child for what not to do. Yet the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has held up Wendy’s efforts as an example of illegal, overbroad rules and regulations in violation of federal labor laws.

A survey of over 100 ammonia refrigeration systems operating in food manufacturing facilities in the United Kingdom found that less than 20 percent met legislation covering dangerous and explosive materials.

Computer Guidance Corp., a developer of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for the construction industry, announced that Ivey Mechanical Inc., a customer of Computer Guidance since 1990, has successfully gone live with the company’s latest ERP solution — eCMS v.4.0.

In this troubleshooting situation a technician has responded to a complaint of “not cooling” on a six-year-old R-410A split system that employs an upflow gas furnace indoor air handler and a condensing unit that sits on the ground, and there is less than 20 feet of connecting tubing.

Absorption chillers use heat, instead of mechanical energy, to provide cooling. The mechanical vapor compressor is replaced by a thermal compressor that consists of an absorber, a generator, a pump, and a throttling device.

Everyone says they want innovation in their organization, but when an ambitious employee offers it, the idea is often shot down. Senior leaders often miss the value-creating potential of a new concept because they either don’t take the time to really listen and delve into it, or the innovating employee presents it in the wrong way.

A United Kingdom report from an influential cross-party group of members of parliament (MPs) has highlighted the potential for remanufacturing as a way to reduce both costs and carbon, with refrigerated display cases selected as a key area for improvement.