Home builders need to begin preparing for the big refrigerant shift that is quickly approaching.

Contractors focused primarily on service, maintenance, and repair should continue to see steady, healthy growth, even in a slowing economic environment.

A ban on the installation of natural gas infrastructure in new buildings is coming soon to a town near you, and the local HVAC industry needs to be prepared — or maybe not.

Manufacturers in the realm of IAQ are seeing an uptick in interest due to increased awareness among consumers as well, as the air quality concerns that come as a byproduct of efforts to tighten up buildings to increase energy efficiency. In response, they’ve been updating IAQ products for the age of the smartphone and the “smart” HVAC system.

B&I, based in Fort Myers, Florida, is one of a growing number of contractors across the country to adopt “lean construction” techniques: a plug-and-play approach to construction that lets workers prefab a project off-site, section by section. Then, at the job site, all that remains is putting the pieces together.

SAN ANTONIO — For years, one of the highlights of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America’s (MCAA’s) Annual Convention has been the economic forecast offered by Brian Beaulieu, CEO of ITR Economics in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Per the DOE’s second annual “National Energy Employment Analysis,” a total of 6.4 million Americans now work in the traditional energy and energy-efficiency industries. More than 300,000 net new jobs were added in 2016, which accounted for 14 percent of the nation’s job growth.

While many educational sessions were presented at the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration (AHR) Expo, perhaps the most popular was the course on global HVAC trends offered by the Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA).