Ken Goodrich, owner of Goettl Air Conditioning, announced that the company has returned to Las Vegas, opening a new office in the city to service the greater Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada, areas to offer HVAC maintenance, repair, and replacement.

AirViz, MacroAir’s airflow simulation service, has been overhauled to provide automated custom visualizations. This enables customers to see how high volume, low speed (HVLS) fans would move air in their facility before purchasing and installing an HVLS solution.

The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), ASHRAE, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) are collaborating to fund research that will establish a more robust fact base about the properties and use of flammable refrigerants.

The International District Energy Association (IDEA) and the Microgrid Resources Coalition (MRC) announced a merger agreement to integrate the resources and technical and regulatory expertise of the MRC into IDEA to strengthen information exchange and advocacy efforts for microgrids.

Smartcool Systems Inc. has announced the addition of a new distributor, EESI Global of Lexington, Kentucky, to its U.S. distribution network. EESI Global is an energy consultant and service company providing energy conservation technologies to businesses of all types and sizes.

Henson Mechanical announced it is now One Hour Air Conditioning & Heating and Benjamin Franklin Plumbing. The Georgia contractor is joining forces with a national heating and cooling brand and a national plumbing brand with locations throughout North America.

During the past five years, the number of energy efficiency polices around the world has continued to increase, notes Navigant Research. While policies vary by region and country, and with more developed nations taking more stringent approaches, a lack of enforcement remains a significant barrier to implementation.

The International Code Council (ICC) and Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) have collaborated to publish two American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-approved standards.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), along with industry partner CLEAResult, is seeking crowdsourced ideas for residential energy efficiency applications for smartphones as part of the DOE JUMP initiative.

The global HVAC valves market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.64 percent during the forecast period of 2016 to 2020, according to the latest market study released by Technavio.