While improvements in instrumentation have moved ultrasonic testing technology into more areas, its benefits to facility managers, plant engineers, and technicians as a diagnostic and predictive tool are still widely unknown and underutilized.

For nearly two centuries ammonia has been used as a refrigerant. Its drawback is that in quantities much larger than a "sniff" it is poisonous. With proper precautions, however, the benefits of ammonia are compelling.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently launched the Energy Efficient Rehab Advisor, a free Web-based tool designed to help homeowners, contractors, architects, facility managers, and others to improve energy efficiency in existing homes during renovation and remodeling.

Filter driers on air conditioning or refrigeration systems are exactly what their name implies - front-line protection designed to filter out contaminants and dry the refrigerant to avoid ice formation and oil degradation. But all filter driers are not created equal.

Many Americans spend a major portion of their lives in conditioned environments and are concerned about the safety and health of those spaces. Green building helps alleviate those concerns.

Businesses of all sizes are challenged to improve their bottom line. Contractors can recommend that they adopt the following 10 steps to make their facilities more energy efficient, decrease energy expenditures, and support environmental stewardship.

Modern zoned comfort control systems employ the latest in electronics technology and care as much for the contractor's installation needs as the homeowner's comfort and convenience.

One thing all HVAC instructors agree upon is that one of the most important things they teach is safety.

A new refrigerant charging device (patent pending) has been developed to supply a simplified method of providing more precise system charging. It is intended to give technicians an easy and more accurate way to charge. This article details the invention.

When you have a large contracting company, keeping close control of job time and costs can provide substantial savings and help increase profitability. That was the goal when this contractor looked into the use of a global positioning system (GPS) application.