Four- and five-year apprentice programs that could meet licensing requirements of local municipalities are on the educational docket of the Refrigeration Service Engineers Society (RSES).

What if a manufacturer could come up with a new refrigeration valve that is comparatively lightweight, reduces leak potential to a minimum, and is able to work with a range of refrigerants, from HFCs to ammonia to CO2?

Decision-makers who still have a lot of systems running on HCFCs - or CFCs - may have gotten a wakeup call during seminars that were part of the 25th annual Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Energy and Technical Services Conference. For those who haven't started converting to HFC refrigerants, one speaker noted, "You need to get started now."

The Little Red Schoolhouse is 50 years old this year. As part of the celebration, there was a party for many of those who have been a part of the school during the last half century.

Contractors should be able to get the information they need regarding the application and regulatory aspects of refrigerants from wholesalers as well as manufacturers.

Plenty of wind and water damage along with gasoline shortages plagued air conditioning and refrigeration contractors in the early days following Hurricane Frances that swept across Florida over Labor Day weekend.

This is another installment concerning HVACR-related developments in China, a country that is expected to be one of the largest users - if not the largest user - of such technology within the next few years.

The message from the most recent Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Expo was that manufacturers are working together to develop the most efficient and cost-effective refrigeration systems for specific applications.

Chillers running on CFCs pose one of the major challenges to the industry. If an older unit can be retrofitted with some non-CFC refrigerant, that might be the way to go. It was in the case of the NutraSweet® Company's manufacturing plant in Augusta, Ga.

Honeywell commissioned surveys - one of HVAC residential contractors and the other of general contractors and others involved in residential construction projects. The surveys asked about the awareness of the phaseout of virgin R-22 refrigerant, supplies of R-22 in the future, and an understanding of R-410A.