HVAC Industry News

Air Movement and Control Association (AMCA) International Inc. presents its Distinguished Service Award to three individuals—Rad Ganesh, PhD, PE, director, product applications, Twin City Fan Companies Ltd., Tim Mathson, principal engineer, AMCA, and Bob Valbracht, PE, vice president of engineering, Loren Cook Co. —during its 2019 Annual Meeting Oct. 5 in Maui, Hawaii. Fan-System Regulatory Compliance Rad Ganesh, PhD, PE, has over 32 years of experience in the air-movement industry...

The three central associations of the German heating industry, the Federation of the German Heating Industry (BDH), the Central Association of Sanitary, Heating, Air Conditioning/German Sanitation, Heating and Air Conditioning Association (ZVSHK) and the German Wholesale Association of Building Technology (DG Haustechnik) welcomed the fundamental decisions of the federal government to implement the heating transition, after years of back and forth, to finally start. Tax incentives Offered &ldq...

The Water Council and its corporate partners announced the second Tech Challenge, a global competition designed to identify cutting-edge freshwater technologies and ideas with high potential for commercialization or implementation. Finalists have an opportunity to win prize money, access to corporate R&D resources and a chance to partner on the development with corporate sponsors on the marketing, licensing or sale of their winning technology or idea. Tech Challenges are sponsored by corpora...

Trane, a global provider of indoor comfort systems and services and a business of Ingersoll Rand, announced that it has acquired Arctic Chiller Group, a Canadian-based HVAC manufacturer, specializing in high efficiency air- and water-cooled magnetic bearing, modular, and process chillers for commercial HVAC and process cooling applications. “We are pleased to incorporate Arctic Chiller Group solutions into our leading portfolio of energy efficient systems and services,” said Donny S...

ASHRAE has expanded its regionally customized training in the Middle East and North Africa. Organized from ASHRAE’s Global Training Center in Dubai, nine courses have been scheduled in four cities for the remainder of 2019. “The fast growing and challenging climates in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, require continuous high-quality training,” said Ayah Said, Manager of ASHRAE’s Global Training Center. “The regularly scheduled courses provided by the Global...

The Water Council and A. O. Smith Corporation announced the next round of the BREW Accelerator and BREW Corporate Accelerator powered by A. O. Smith Corporation. The program connects water technology startups with resources to validate and advance their business models and technologies. “The Water Council is excited to launch the seventh cohort opportunity with the BREW Accelerator,” stated Steve Glynn, Director of entrepreneurship at The Water Council. “If you're an entrepren...

On August 14, 2019, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) released five proposals intended to increase roadway safety and ease driving rules for truckers. The five key revisions by the FMCSA are: 30-minute break - Increase safety and flexibility for the 30-minute break rule by tying the break requirement to eight hours of driving time without an interruption for at least 30 minutes and allowing the break to be satisfied by a driver using on duty, not driving status, rather...

ASHRAE has announced the recipients of 33 Society scholarships, totaling $166,000, for the 2019-2020 academic year. “We are proud of the hard work and incredible determination of our 2019-20 scholarship recipients as they strive to achieve their academic goals,” said Samir Traboulsi, chair of the ASHRAE scholarship trustees." “One of the objectives of the ASHRAE Scholarship Program is to inspire the next generation of engineering professionals to work towards solving some of t...

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America has announced new workforce development resources to help ACCA members recruit, educate, and retain industry professionals and fill the employment gap impacting heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) contractors. Pledge to America’s Workers ACCA’s updated resources coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Pledge to America’s Workers. On July 25, 2019, President Trump invited ACCA to participate in the...

The 2019 ASHRAE Student Design Competition and Applied Engineering Challenge winners have been announced. The competition recognizes outstanding student design projects, encourages undergraduate students to apply their knowledge of practical design of energy-efficient HVAC systems and promote teamwork. Forty two teams competed and 26 were judged at Society level. This year’s Design Competition focused on a new small hospital in Budapest, Hungary. The project involved building a new four-s...

ASHRAE Learning Institute (ALI) has opened registration for its 2019 Fall Online Instructor-led Course Series. Courses will begin September 10 and conclude on November 13, with 12 three-hour courses and new one-hour courses scheduled. “ASHRAE Learning Institute fall online courses provide professional development through in-depth information that is timely, practical and targeted,” said Darryl K. Boyce, 2019-20 ASHRAE President. “These courses provide engineers in consulting p...

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) announces that pioneering home improvement financing company, Dividend Finance of San Francisco, California has joined ACCA’s corporate sponsor program. ACCA’s corporate sponsor program enables HVACR industry suppliers and manufacturers to demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to ACCA members and the contracting industry through year-round support of the association's activities. The corporate membership program also provides manu...

The Heating and Hotwater Industry Council (HHIC) warn that the proposals in the Government consultation for the Energy Company Obligation (ECO3) threaten the livelihoods of thousands of heating and plumbing businesses. The consultation is seeking views on proposed changes to the current ECO3 scheme. This includes: Incorporating the TrustMark Government Endorsed Quality scheme (a result of Each Home Counts) into ECO3, as a route to demonstrating compliance with the most up-to-date relevant PA...

When it is published later this quarter, the 2019 edition of ASHRAE/IES 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, will be the first standard, code, or regulation to use the new fan energy index (FEI) as the metric for efficiency provisions for commercial and industrial fans and blowers, Air Movement and Control Association (AMCA) International Inc., the developer of FEI, announces. Determined in accordance with ANSI/AMCA Standard 208-18, Calculation of the Fan E...

The Manufacturing Institute estimates that there could be as many as 2.4 million vacant skilled trade positions in industry across the country by 2018. This is a huge gap that can only be overcome by partnering with other organizations and companies to make a meaningful difference. GE Appliances, a Haier company, believes that partnerships matter and the industry would do better together. That idea has never been more important as they tackle workforce development issues going forward. So, when...

Good news for building owners, engineers/architects, and HVAC contractors who can now save energy, construction costs, and space in commercial facilities with this approved code addition. Doorway air curtains were approved as alternatives to vestibules on most commercial building entries in the upcoming ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2019 Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low Rise Residential Buildings. The professional association’s approved addition requires that the air curtain performance b...

Significant changes to refrigerant container color protocol will commence in January 2020, as outlined in the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute’s (AHRI) Guideline N, Assignment of Refrigerant Container Colors. Guideline revisions, first published in 2015, specify that all refrigerant containers should have the same paint color, RAL 7044, to reduce confusion among similarly colored refrigerant containers. Preventing safety issues “Misidentifying refrigeran...

Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) attended an event at the White House with President Trump to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Pledge to America’s Workers. This initiative recognizes the crucial role companies play in educating and training the American workforce. Representing ACCA at the event were, Barton James, ACCA President and CEO, Eric Knaak, ACCA Chairman of the Board and Vice President and General Manager, Isaac Heating and Air Conditioning, and Luis Serrano...

“Evaporative cooling, direct, indirect, and two-stage solutions, are being used across the board in a wide variety of commercial and industrial solutions,” said Randy Niederer, Director of Marketing, Cambridge Engineering Inc. “It is currently experiencing a renaissance, as large manufacturing and distribution facilities are choosing this technology to provide cooling relief for employees.” This renaissance, along with several new technology factors, creates a backdrop f...

The European F-gas Directive is all about the restriction of fluorinated greenhouse gases, which includes hydro-fluorocarbons (HFCs), commonly used as refrigerants for air conditioning. This is a regulation that has been adopted by the European Union to phase-down the usage of refrigerants, which have a high Global Warming Potential (GWP). Since the most common refrigerants used (e.g. R410A, R134a), by individuals and industry wide, are affected by this regulation, there has been a drive lately...

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) announces a partnership with Money Mailer of South Bay, a leading multi-platform advertising company to offer ACCA members an exclusive advertising discount. "Money Mailer of South Bay is excited to partner with ACCA and offer a generous discount to ACCA’s elite network of contractors. We have forty years of experience working with contractors and can help them reach our network of 15,000,000 customers across the U.S.,” said Ray Gede...

Schneider Electric UK, the provider of digital transformation of energy management and automation, has launched its ‘Rethink Energy’ initiative, a program aimed at changing business, consumer and government attitudes to energy waste and help combat climate change. Whilst other forms of waste such as plastics, fast fashion and food are highly visible, energy is frequently overlooked. A Schneider Electric commissioned study of 2,000 UK adults and over 600 UK businesses revealed that j...

Air Movement and Control Association (AMCA) International Inc. will launch the Air System Engineering and Technology (ASET) series of free webinars on topics impacting air systems in buildings July 31 from noon to 1 p.m. CDT with ‘Fan Energy Index (FEI)—Changing Our Industry.’ FEI is a new fan-efficiency metric headed for building energy codes and standards, including the 2019 version of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings....

Previously Airedale International have explained how Colocation providers are becoming “supermarkets” of data; with scalability, efficiency, accessibility and speed at the heart of their business models. This article will explore further how the supply chain needs to step up in order to meet this challenge and change their business models in order to succeed in a rapidly evolving marketplace. Similarities between the rapid rise of super-CoLos to the way supermarkets grew to prominen...

CoolAutomation is delighted to announce CoolMasterNet’s compatibility has been successfully extended to include the AUX Group’s VRF systems. As one of the largest HVAC manufacturers in China, this is a development that many CoolAutomation customers have been waiting for. This development enables AUX installers the ability to partner with Home Automation integrators in order to significantly simplify the integration of AUX VRF with Home Automation control systems. As a result, AUX cu...

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) announces that Donald Prather, ACCA Manager of Technical Services, received the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Distinguished Service Award. ASHRAE Distinguished Service Award recipient In recognizing his contributions, ASHRAE noted that, “It is the volunteer effort of people such as Mr. Prather, which allows ASHRAE to contribute technical advances for the benefit of the industry and pub...

A new publication is now available from industry leading organizations to demonstrate to contractors and designers that zero energy office buildings are attainable.  Advanced Energy Design Guide Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small to Medium Office Buildings - Achieving Zero Energy provides direction for designing and constructing zero energy office buildings in all climate zones. The guide was developed by ASHRAE, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating Engineering...

Rheem, a global water heating and HVAC manufacturer, is pleased to announce early success in the Home Energy Solutions – Income Eligible program in partnership with United Illuminating (UI), a subsidiary of AVANGRID Inc., and EnergyHub. As part of an innovative grid management strategy, UI is using EnergyHub’s Mercury distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) to aggregate, monitor, and leverage customer-deployed Rheem intelligent heat pump water heaters for demand respon...

Following the launch of ‘PAS 2035’ the Heating and Hotwater Industry Council, HHIC, warn that the changes, could leave the vulnerable without heating and will impede the professionals trying to do their job. New and replacement boilers to be plagued with burdensome administration and red tape, including simple boiler swaps, under PAS 2035, a new specification for the energy retrofit of domestic buildings. No Demonstrable Benefit Stewart Clements, Director, HHIC said, “With u...

The Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) announced that it has submitted comments to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), in opposition to a fourth round of Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports. Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports The comments, which were in response to a May 17 Federal Register notice, echoed AHRI’s previous opposing comments (Round 1, Round 2, Round 3), re-emphasizing that the tariffs limit member company access to...