HVAC Industry News

With the EU transition period set to cease on 31st December, attention has fallen onto the role of British ports in the supply chain. Those in the construction industry have been feeling the pinch of coronavirus-related supply issues through 2020, so with January looming, will the supply chain collapse as merchants run dangerously low on stock? The Guardian newspaper recently reported that since September, the port of Felixstowe has seen demand rise by 30%, due to ‘businesses rushing to r...

There’s been a flurry of activity on the drive to hit Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050. The Government’s recently announced ‘Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’ has pledged to implement the ‘Future Home Standard’ in the shortest possible timeline, extend the ‘Green Homes Grant’ for another year and aims to set out the ‘Heat and Buildings Strategy’ in 2021. However, confusion reigned, when due to a clerical error, a promi...

PuriFi Labs, who creates whole-building air and surface purification systems, has announced the formation of its new Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), comprised of prominent research experts and pioneers in the field of plasma physics. The SAB will help guide the company's journey toward cleaning indoor air of tested particulates, viruses, bacteria, odors, smoke, mold, ozone, and harmful chemicals. Americans, on average, spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors, where the concentrati...

As the evidence around the health impacts of poor indoor air quality (IAQ) continues to build, experts from across the ventilation sector have come together to drive awareness amongst installers and the wider public that the Green Homes Grant can cover ventilation improvements alongside insulation installations. Green Homes Grant scheme The UK Government scheme, which launched back in September 2020, aims to support improvements to energy efficiency and indoor air quality (IAQ). The scheme hig...

Renowned boiler manufacturer, Baxi Heating UK and Ireland, part of BDR Thermea Group, has promised to revolutionize the way one heats their homes and buildings. The announcement coincides with the Prime Minister’s 10-point plan for a Green Industrial Revolution and places Baxi Heating at the heart of the ‘heating transformation’ that is required to achieve the UK’s climate targets. Karen Boswell OBE, recently appointed Managing Director of Baxi Heating, said: “Futu...

Johnson Controls selected Ontotext's GraphDB to provide semantic data creation and management for their Metasys system - a Top-5 Integrated Building Management System. Johnson Controls Building Technologies & Solutions is making the world safer, smarter and more sustainable, one building at a time. Their technology portfolio integrates every aspect of a building, whether security systems, energy management, fire protection or HVACR, to ensure that they exceed customer expectations at all ti...

The 14th edition of Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Indicator study surveyed 150 commercials, institutional, and industrial facility executives in the U.S. in September 2020. The COVID-19 pulse survey included questions on coronavirus-related improvements, investments, and impacts. Flexibility, Health, and Safety Drive With the pandemic, facility managers have new concerns about building health, changing their motivation for building investments. Increasing building flexibility to respond...

Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are used to maintain indoor air temperature, humidity and, most importantly now, air quality at healthy and comfortable levels. Employers are required by law to ensure an adequate supply of fresh air and a minimum working temperature in order to provide a healthy working environment. This has not changed. A well maintained and operated system providing good ventilation can help reduce the spread of coronavirus. The Health and Safety Execu...

A total of 14 associations from the field of technical building equipment (TGA) have presented an updated version of the position paper on Building Information Modeling (BIM). In the paper, last published in January 2018, with the title, ‘Electronic product data exchange in technical building equipment (TGA) and its integration in Building Information Modeling (BIM)’, the authors formulate two key requirements: Electronic product data are used worldwide. Therefore, the German sta...

The Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE) is offering stark warnings to both the Government and house holders on the National Burn Awareness Day, as the number of contact burns from heating appliances skyrocketed by 25% and scalding incidents from taps rise by 9%. The NHS Digital Hospital Episode Statistics for England 2019-2020 shows: Admissions for burn injuries caused via contact with heating appliances, radiators and pipes rose by 25%, from 797 (2018-2019) to 99...

Zoning is used to enable homeowners to reduce conditioning energy usage in unoccupied areas, while simultaneously maintaining comfort conditions in occupied areas of the home. Multi-zone heating and cooling system allow to separately control various areas of the house. Zoned HVAC separates houses into different temperature zones which can be controlled separately. Each room can function as a zone.  Adding zones to your HVAC system Zone systems are a good choice when one has a lot o...

Air Technical Services and F.W. Webb Company partnered with other local contractors and Building Homes for Heroes during a Welcome Home ceremony in Barnegat, NJ, for Navy Hospital Corpsman First Class Corey Reed. After serving his country for more than 20 years, he suffers from severe PTSD, a traumatic brain injury, migraines, left foot fasciitis, elbow fractures, right knee injuries and tinnitus. His injuries require specific modifications to his home in order to live safely and focus on his re...

enVerid Systems, a renowned provider of indoor air quality solutions, fully supports the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force's (ETF) updated guidance on HVAC strategies for mitigating the airborne transmission of COVID-19 in commercial buildings. ASHRAE's ETF refined its recommendations in its Commercial Guide, acknowledging the significant energy impact of pursuing a strategy of maximum outside air (OA) ventilation. enVerid and other experts have highlighted this as an area of concern. Research has sho...

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have developed a 50-page report titled ‘Cooling Emissions and Policy Synthesis Report: Benefits of cooling efficiency and the Kigali Amendment’. The report highlights the growth of cooling appliances in numbers, addresses the COVID-19 estimated impacts and outlines six important opportunities identified under the K-CEP program. According to the report, there are an estimated 3.6 billion cooling a...

The UK left the EU on 1 February 2020. EU law continues to apply in the UK during the transition period lasting until 31 December 2020. Businesses must prepare for the end of that transition period. After the end of the transition period, Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 on fluorinated greenhouse gases will no longer apply to the UK. Quota allocation As of 1 January 2021, hydrofluorocarbons placed on the UK market no longer count towards the EU quota. UK companies with a legal representative in th...

PFHxA is considered to be the final degradation end point of any substance containing the C6F13-moiety. Up to now it is not registered under REACH. In early 2018, PFHxA was considered for inclusion in the list of substances of very high concern for authorization, but the possible inclusion was withdrawn at the end of 2018. The motives for inclusion were that PFHxA would be carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic for human reproduction and would remain in the environment. PFHxA is now proposed for...

TN Fireplace & Chimney, East Tennessee's chimney care company and a proud supporter of Tennessee football, encourages homeowners in the area to maintain healthy indoor air quality (IAQ) by making sure their chimney air circulates properly and isn't drawing outside dust, pollen, and other outside pollutants inside. Air drawn in by the chimney can contribute to odors, allergies, mold, and poor performance of the fireplace or stove. Chimney safety and performance issues "This is a situation...

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to keep in place the current nationwide air quality standards that limit emissions from power plants, vehicles and other industrial sources of smog. “Based on a review of the scientific literature and recommendation from our independent science advisers, we are proposing to retain existing ozone standards, which will ensure the continued protection of both public health and the environment,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said July...

The economic slowdown wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic will result in lower production, demand and electricity sales in nearly all sectors of the U.S. economy for 2020 and 2021, according to the Energy Information Administration in its monthly report. And it looks like those same trends are lowering carbon dioxide emissions as well. After decreasing by 2.8% (150 million metric tons) in 2019, CO2 emissions are expected to further drop by 12.2% (624 MMmt) in 2020 and then rise by 6% (268 MM...

Volvo Group North America recently received a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Better Plants Better Practice Award for preventing and reducing waste at several North American facilities. The Volvo Group was chosen among a record number of applicants to receive the honor. The Better Practice Award is presented to partners for innovative and industry-leading accomplishments in implementing and promoting practices, principles and procedures of energy management. The Volvo Group implemented several...

The German Bundestag passed the Building Energy Act (GEG) last week. The law brings together the Energy Saving Ordinance (EnEV) and the Renewable Energies Heat Act (EEWärmeG). "With the adoption of the GEG, the energy saving law for buildings will be reduced and simplified. Construction specialists also receive planning security, ”comments Dr. Lothar Breidenbach, Managing Director Technology at the BDH. The association also rates it positively that no further...

Just from implementing existing technology solutions for electrification of transport, energy efficient heating and cooling of buildings and sector integration - urban areas can bridge half of the gap needed to reach the 1.5°C Paris Agreement target in urban areas. It is both technological and economically feasible for urban areas to achieve the 1.5-degree target by 2050. That is the key message of a new report from Navigant. Cities’ impact on climate and health is enormous. If policy...

Home owners are going to run into problems with their air conditioning system at some point. ‘Problems’, of course, is a very broad term. An air filter that is too dirty is a problem, but it is one that homeowners can pretty easily resolve by themselves. Danger of refrigerant leak A refrigerant leak, on the other hand, is a very serious problem. If home owners have any reason at all to suspect that they have a refrigerant leak, then they absolutely need to schedule professional rep...

The Federation of German Heating Industry (BDH) sees the National Hydrogen Strategy (NSW) adopted by the Federal Cabinet as a positive move, as it creates a suitable framework for the future generation, transport, and use of hydrogen. National Hydrogen Strategy (NSW) “With the NSW, the federal government is sending a strong signal for the achievement of the ambitious 2030 climate targets,” commented BDH President Uwe Glock, adding “This means that climate-neutral energy sourc...

As retailers, supermarkets and businesses around the world look to reduce their impact on the environment, the use of natural refrigerants is becoming more and more important. Recognizing the need for more information, Panasonic is delighted to sponsor the latest in RAC’s Question Time series - RAC CO2 Question Time: Extra Time - focused on the benefits of using the natural refrigerant CO2 and timed to coincide with World Refrigeration Day - at 10am-11.30am on Friday, 26 June 2020. This o...

A number of American manufacturers of heating, cooling, and water heating products, and equipment, members of the Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), joined more than 750 contractors and distributors, from across the country, in asking the US Congress to extend and expand existing tax credits for home energy-efficiency improvements. In a letter to the US House and Senate leadership, the companies, which represent some 2.4 million American jobs, requested the extension...

The cost of household energy has risen many times faster than average household incomes since 2004, according to a study. Power companies are struggling to keep up. In order to offset some of the peak demands of heating and cooling, electric providers are offering incentives to reduce energy consumption. One of the many incentives being offered are rebates for products that help diminish electric consumption. The installation and use of evaporative coolers are often rewarded with substantial re...

A renowned ventilation specialist has urged businesses to consider the role that ventilation can play in maximizing the health and safety of employees as they return to work. Alan Macklin, Technical Director at Elta Group and Chairman of the Fan Manufacturer’s Association (FMA), has drawn attention to the critical role that ventilation will play as the UK begins transitioning out of lockdown. With many workspaces having been unoccupied for a prolonged period of time, guidance has been iss...

The team at Panasonic Ireland has introduced a series of interactive, online accredited CIBSE CPD courses to enhance skills during these unprecedented times. The CPD courses have been developed by Panasonic and support learning in a variety of heating and cooling disciplines. Panasonic’s CPD program has been running throughout the year in various locations and have been presented by the experienced and knowledgeable team from Panasonic Ireland. However, during these extraordinary times, t...

Phoenix Tree Holdings Limited (Danke), one of the largest co-living platforms in China with the fastest growth, released its indoor air quality control standard for co-living apartments, which is the first such standard set by an individual company in China's residential rental industry. The Co-living Apartment Indoor Air Quality Control Standard was jointly developed by Danke and the China Environmental United Certification Center (CEC), a state-owned enterprise affiliated with the Ministry of...