What can you do to maintain consistent quality of work? What can you do to control jobsite material costs? What can you do eliminate jobsite material storage and theft? Those participating in an Oct. 1 optional tour during the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors-National Association (PHCC) annual convention will learn how a PHCC company in Las Vegas has developed one solution to all four problem areas.

SMACNA Cares, the month-long community outreach project spearheaded by Valley sheet metal contractors, has led to new HVAC repair and equipment for 10 families in the Phoenix area.

Northwestern Energy recently filed a request with the Montana Public Service Commission to increase natural gas supply rates beginning July 1, 2003, due to sharply higher market prices and to recover approximately $13 million in undercollected revenues for the current tracker period ending June 30, 2003, says the company.

Atlas Heating and Ventilation has found the oldest working Atlas heater in the Bay Area. Kevin and Bridget Hiler of San Francisco’s Richmond District are the proud owners of an Atlas furnace that has been keeping their house warm since 1917.

Ted Heathorn, president of N.V. Heathorn in San Leandro, Calif., and a member of Bay Area SMACNA, is the new president of the California Association of Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association (California SMACNA). Other officers were also installed and a number of awards were handed out at the association's recent convention.

The Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA) of Arizona has relocated its office.

Three counties in the state of Washington have some of the lowest electric power rates in the nation due to the operation of hydropower dams by the local utilities. However, N.C. Machinery, a Caterpillar dealer in Wenatchee, went against the grain when it built a larger facility.

California Association of Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors National Association (California SMACNA) presented the 2003 Tom Guilfoy Memorial Architectural Sheet Metal Award to Custom Metal Fabricators Inc. (CFM) for the project, Cerritos Millennium Library, in Cerritos, Calif.

RK Mechanical Inc. (RKM), Denver, has started a new residential HVAC and plumbing group, Performance Residential Services (PRS).

Bob Vila is in the process of building an elaborate 3,200-square-foot multi-level home in Palm Springs, Calif. Vila said his “EnergyWise House” is to showcase energy-efficient design ideas and will incorporate high performance building materials and environmentally sound products.