The last day of the AHR Expo is always the one that finds a number of sincerely interested people searching the aisles for “the next new thing” or that “competitive advantage.” As the 2007 AHR Expo and ASHRAE Winter meeting in Dallas drew to a close, no doubt some attendees walked away quite pleased.

It is the time of year for reviewing all the forecasts from 2006 and making early adjustments to the 2007 plan. If you’re at all like me, most of you hope that no one will recall the projections you made last year at this time.

John Lombardi, grandson of coach Vince Lombardi, discusses leaving work in the National Football League for the competitive field of HVAC in Green Bay Packer country.

In the last 18 months, DOE has sat in on meetings in which manufacturers’ equipment test procedures for efficiency ratings have been challenged. So, the government’s interest in this industry isn’t random. But what has brought about the high level of interest in the installation procedures utilized by contractors?

The Mechanical Contractor’s Association of America (MCAA) is betting on some eventual return on its investment as nearly 135 students from 25 colleges and universities descended upon Atlanta for the sixth annual Student Chapter summit. College students and their faculty advisors and instructors participated in the 2006 summit.

In 1951, Carlos Armella Maza and a partner founded Calefacciòn y Ventilaciòn S. A. (CYVSA®). Could Armella have imagined that a tour of CYVSA today would take nearly an hour as one passes through a number of security points in the 160,000-square-foot facility that is corporate headquarters for a 1,700-employee company?

HVACXchange is a unique opportunity for commercial mechanical contractors to discuss strategic business issues with top executives from HVAC manufacturing companies. It provides for one-on-one discussions in a secluded business setting.

During the opening session of The Unified Group’s Annual Meeting, the roar of an Air Force F-16 taking off echoed against the meeting room walls. It was Rob “Waldo” Waldman’s cue to take charge, and take charge he did. The former fighter pilot had flown 65 combat missions around the world, primarily in Kosovo during the crisis in that Eastern European area.

An often-quoted study, known as the LSU Study, is an important piece of work - completed in 1984, and still the de facto statement on preventative maintenance - but very few people in our industry seem to understand its significance.