The organizing partners of the Advanced Rooftop Unit (RTU) Campaign (ARC) have announced their award winners for excellence in RTU efficiency. ASHRAE, Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Better Buildings Alliance and Federal Energy Management Program launched the campaign in 2013.

To further advance energy efficiency in buildings, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced it is launching two new Better Buildings Accelerators to help American families improve the efficiency of their homes.

Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) announced that it has expanded its catalog of online education courses from 1,000 to 4,000 courses.

On June 8, 121 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Ernest Moniz urging him and his agency to reconsider DOE’s recent proposed 92 percent AFUE nationwide residential furnace standard. 

Renewable energy accounted for 9.8 percent of total domestic energy consumption in 2014, according to a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). This marks the highest renewable energy share since the 1930s, when wood was a much larger contributor to domestic energy supply.

Monarch Power announced it has been granted a U.S. patent for a new turbine that can power, heat, and cool homes and businesses using solar energy or natural gas. The Hui turbine is the invention of Monarch CEO Joseph Hui, professor emeritus at Arizona State University.