A new, national program from Carrier and Orca Energy, a leading geothermal utility provider, is designed to makes geothermal heating and cooling more accessible in new construction homes. Orca Energy will provide financing for geothermal earth loops in new residential developments with the purchase of a Carrier geothermal system.

Consumers in Chicago and across northern Illinois are now eligible for rebates on smart thermostats that can cut the cost of the devices nearly in half, making their convenience and increased control of energy use more affordable.

Dwyer Group Inc., one of the world’s largest franchising companies of trade service brands including the Aire Serv® heating and cooling brand, has announced that Jon Shell has joined the company as chief financial officer and Grayson Brown has joined as general counsel.

Emerson Climate Technologies Inc. and ABCO® HVACR Supply + Solutions hosted a three-hour product training course for the Korean Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Association (KARA) of New York.

ServiceTitan has announced a new Custom Forms feature for its mobile home service software, designed to give service businesses the ability to easily customize, create, and implement a variety of forms that can help their businesses significantly cut down on the time associated with paper-based processing.

In the global market for building energy management software, eight firms — Elster EnergyICT, EnerNOC, Envizi, eSight Energy, IBM, Schneider Electric, Siemens Building Technologies, and Verisae — have the capabilities and momentum which position them as market leaders, according to a new report from research firm Verdantix.

Dexter + Chaney, provider of Spectrum® Construction Software, has announced a partnership agreement with Atlanta-based Strategies Group to resell Spectrum in the Georgia, South Carolina, northern Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, and Louisiana markets.

Bosch Thermotechnology Corp., a division of Robert Bosch North America, announced that Oct. 20, 2015 is National Geothermal Day in recognition of the geothermal heating and cooling industry in the U.S. The recognition day comes as part of National Energy Month. 

Driven by lower installed costs, improved project performance, and a race to build projects ahead of a reduction in a key federal incentive, utility-scale solar project developers have been negotiating power sales agreements with utilities at prices averaging just 5 cents/kWh.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a pre-publication version of a proposal to expand and amend the National Recycling and Emission Reduction Program, also known as the Section 608 program, which governs the handling, use, and sale of ozone depleting (ODS) compounds used as refrigerants.