In these turbulent economic times for HVACR contractors, promoters of franchising contend that their approach could be a bit of a safe harbor. They maintain that they offer marketing skills to find customers; tools to educate customers on investing in retrofit upgrades and preventive maintenance; and proven accounting methods to tighten the bottom line.

The Refrigeration Service Engineers Society has reached what it is calling a ‘tipping point’ in its 76-year history. During a business meeting at the society’s Annual Conference & HVACR Technology Expo, RSES Executive Vice President Mark Lowry told delegates the actions that are being taken.

A wide range of issues were discussed at the Intelligent Buildings Executive Summit hosted by Johnson Controls at both its corporate headquarters in Glendale, Wis., and at its Building Efficiency headquarters in downtown Milwaukee. The event drew close to 150 customers for two days of talks and seminars.

That wind turbine project near where I live that I have been blogging about has just about become a reality. The county board gave the go ahead recently.

I just learned a new term - greenwashing. It is hardly a favorable term and is compared to whitewashing as in concealing a flaw or failure.

As part of its Energy Efficiency Symposium, Modine Manufacturing Co. introduced its Effinity93 with Conservicore™ gas-fired unit heater. Modine CEO Tom Burke told an audience of contractors, distributors, and sales representatives that the new unit “is designed to be the most efficient gas-fired unit heater in North America.”

Sometimes you can back into a story that proves most interesting. I had been following the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for a number of years. But the recent backing started in the summer while attending an environmental event some 100 miles from Chicago.

In these tough economic times, contractors can find themselves going out of business, and their customers then will need to find another trustworthy contractor. One company offering a solution is Smith Services of Vero Beach, Fla. Its objective, according to an item in Inc. Magazine, is to “buy up HVAC competitors who are struggling because of the economic slowdown.”

Building owners trying to get Silver, Gold, Platinum, or even Certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) recognition know that HVACR contractors play a big part in getting there. But it is also important to know that the way to get the rating is changing as demonstrated by the arrival of LEED Version 3.

The refrigerant R-744 (CO2) has gained one of its strongest footholds yet in the commercial refrigeration sector with the announcement that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has “found it acceptable for replacing HCFC-22 in supermarkets.”