Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) released its monthly Trends report, showing average sales for HARDI distributor members increased by 12.2 percent in January 2017.

A recent report published by the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) found that a majority of utility new homes programs rely on the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) ratings for compliance verification.  The CEE's "The Overview of Residential New Homes Programs in the United States and Canada" summarizes currently active voluntary programs for the construction of new homes. The report is based on 71 utility programs located in 36 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.

The two companies began working together last year with the goal of providing an integrated project management and accounting solution for the construction industry. That core integration is now complete and tested with client companies, meaning that users can now easily share relevant data between the two systems, while keeping specific processes and operations independent.

AquaMotion Inc., a Rhode Island manufacturer of patented single, multi-speed, and ECM variable speed circulators and recirculation systems, announced The Walter F. Morris Co. as Sales Rep of the Year for 2016.

More than 550 current and future HVACR students submitted 250-word essays to enter hilmor’s annual Retool Your Future contest, which awards winners a prize package consisting of a $5,000 scholarship, an HVACR starter kit, and a hilmor merchandising Green Wall donated to their school.

The new location will be the sixth store for Johnstone Supply Balsan Group (JSBG), which has been a member of the Johnstone Supply cooperative since 1995. JSBG first opened its doors in Exton, Pennsylvania. That store moved to Downingtown, Pennsylvania in 2004. The same year they expanded, opening a second location in Annapolis, Maryland. Since then JSBG has grown to four stores in south eastern Pennsylvania and two stores in Maryland.

Venstar®, a thermostat and energy management systems supplier, announced that it has been named a winner in the 2017 BIG Innovation Awards presented by the Business Intelligence Group. Venstar is being honored for its Surveyor® Energy Management System (EMS).

Formerly the vice president and general manager at Grace Construction Products, Golen made the transition from the construction products industry to refrigeration at Heatcraft in 2010. He drew upon similarities between the two industries, such as relatively seasonal product demand and utilization of distributors in sales to contractors, to quickly learn the ropes.