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As I have followed recent legislation, I have noticed a disconnect between current tax efforts and efficiency legislation. Legislation that is enamored with high individual system efficiency levels, which are not economically feasible, fails to spend taxpayer money effectively and does not benefit the masses.

We anticipated that during the first part of 2011, business would be slow. The new residential construction market is still down over 70 percent from its peak. With new reports that nearly 25 percent of the home mortgages are larger than the value of the home, it is likely that we are probably another year from a real turn around in that market.

On Feb. 11, the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) announced that it will continue to list certified air conditioning systems using the HCFC refrigerant R-22 in its Directory of Certified Product Performance (www.ahridirectory.org). Therefore, in 2011, the actual total unit sales will be reported.

More geothermal coverage, please. Don’t depend on government incentives to help your business.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all our readers! This is a suitable time to think about relationships of all sorts, business as well as personal. The ones that work have a lot in common - like trust and honesty. As we at The NEWS continue the celebration of our 85th anniversary, we want to find the long-term relationships among our subscribers.

To paraphrase George Costanza: We are back, baby! That was the most important observation I made while recently attending the Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition (AHR Expo) in Las Vegas. The NEWS will cover every aspect of the show, including all new products introduced, in the Feb. 21 post-show issue.

So now it’s 2011. How are you planning for this New Year? In some ways, it’s going to be different than 2010. The tax credit has been cut one-third and doesn’t sound near as inviting as the previous $1,500. And we can’t count on 100 degree weather in July and August, although naturally that would be welcome.

Changing the way people do business can be like trying to shave a lion’s mane with a disposable razor. It’s difficult, messy, and someone is going to get hurt. The image is a little extreme, but it seems that this is how many contractors view adding new technology to their businesses. Apple’s latest technology - the iPad - is no exception.

If I seem to be looking a little green lately, it is because I find myself paying more and more attention to environmental matters. Such talk, especially the regulatory aspect, has been a part of our industry for more than 25 years going back to the days of the Montreal Protocol. But over the years, green has become a larger part of our industry.

During my impressionable youth, I noticed that my mother had a bizarre sense of humor. She would often utter axioms (no doubt gained from living in the swamps of Louisiana) that made absolutely no sense, such as: “You couldn’t pour %^&* out of a bucket if it had a hole in it.”  The use of buckets, for one reason or another, seems to occupy an interesting place in our lexicon.