Fifty-five Pittsburgh, PA-area homeowners recently received free furnace inspections through utilities Equitable Gas, Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, and Dominion Peoples, and the western Pennsylvania chapter of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA).

College students around the country are completing 14 custom-designed solar-powered homes, and each house will be transported to the nation’s capital for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) first Solar Decathlon.

Plumber Roger Lippoth of Pearl River, NY, has been honored as a "Hometown Hero," in a contest sponsored by Ace Hardware, for his commitment to the rehabilitation of 28 troubled New York and New Jersey boys.

Building Services Institute Inc. (BSI) has launched Performance Enhancement Program (PEP), a contractors’ business development program, to help increase both commercial service agreement and high-margin project business, the company says.

Bradford White Corp., Ambler, PA, a manufacturer of water heating equipment, announced that it has purchased Aero Environmental Ltd. of Mississauga, ON, Canada. Aero Environmental is one of Canada’s largest manufacturers of oil-fired heating products for domestic and commercial applications.

On Aug. 14, 2002, Excellence Alliance member Brian Hughes of Hughes Environmental Engineering, Montvale, NJ, presented a check for $2,000 to student recipient Roberto Ustica. The presentation took place at Lincoln Technical Institute in Mahwah, NJ. The presentation was the highlight of the HVAC graduation ceremony.

Excellence Alliance Inc. (EAI), an organization of independent mechanical contractors, has announced new electrical alliance members.

At the site where DuPont was founded as a family-owned gunpowder manufacturer during this week in 1802, the company marked its 200th anniversary by dedicating an 8-cubic-foot, stainless steel time capsule filled with artifacts, employees’ and retirees’ creative expressions, and a CD-ROM viewer.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced that it is providing $491,000 to the Fonda-Fultonville Central School District to demonstrate the efficiency of a combined heat and power (CHP) system.

The Durst Organization, a major Manhattan commercial property owner, has chosen an Off-Peak Cooling (OPC) system to reduce the overall cost of energy in its 20-year-old building on the Avenue of the Americas.