What's Happening in the News

ACCA’s HVACR Contractors Economic Indicator Inches Upward

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) has released the March results of its Contractor Comfort Index (CCI), a leading economic indicator for HVACR businesses. Looking to the near-term future, contractors report having somewhat favorable prospects, resulting in a CCI of 60. The number is moderately more favorable than last month’s indicator of 55.

The ACCA index is specific to HVACR contractors’ businesses. It gauges how contractors are feeling about new business prospects, existing business activity, and expected staffing decisions. Averaged into one number, a CCI rating higher than 50 reflects anticipated growth and one lower than 50 indicates expected contraction in the marketplace. Released monthly, the next CCI number will be released the week of April 26, 2010. Source: achrnews.com

AHRI Supports President’s Call for Passage of HOMESTAR Bill

The Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) is in support of President Obama's call for Congress to enact legislation to encourage consumers to purchase and install highly energy efficient HVAC and water heating equipment.  In remarks made while touring a training facility at Savannah Technical College, the President outlined more details of a new "HOMESTAR" program that would help create jobs by encouraging American families to invest in energy saving home improvements.

According to a White House press release, with unemployment in the construction sector near 25% and with substantial underutilized capacity in the manufacturing sector, the HOMESTAR program has the potential to jumpstart the economic recovery by boosting demand for energy efficient products and installation services. For middle-class families, this program will potentially help them save hundreds of dollars a year in energy costs while improving the comfort and value of their homes.  Source: Supply House Times

HVAC Prices Rise, Result of Chilean Earthquake

Due to the recent earthquake in Chile — the largest exporter of copper in the world — we will be seeing an immediate impact on anything that uses copper, including HVAC equipment. Prices are likely to go up as early as next year.

Billy Jobe, district manager for Comfort Supply Inc., a distributor of Ruud HVAC products, says his company will be warning contractors about price increases resulting from copper shortages. “Manufacturers will already have purchased all the copper they need for the year,” said Jobe. “But next year, we can expect to see some increased costs due to the earthquake’s effect on the copper mines in Chile.”  Source: the Bradford Group

First U.S. Green Building Code Announced

The International Code Council (ICC), the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) recently announced the launch of the International Green Construction Code (IGCC), representing the merger of two national efforts to develop adoptable and enforceable green building codes. The IGCC provides the building industry with language that both broadens and strengthens building codes in a way that will accelerate the construction of high performance green buildings across the U.S.

Leveraging ICC’s unrivaled delivery infrastructure to reach all 50 states and more than 22,000 local jurisdictions and ASHRAE, USGBC and IES’s technical strengths, this partnership will accelerate the proliferation of green building codes and standards developed jointly by ICC, ASHRAE and USGBC and IES, across the country.

“Bringing together the code expertise of ICC with the technical expertise of ASHRAE to create a comprehensive green building code will accelerate our transformation to more sustainable building practices,” Gordon Holness, ASHRAE president, said.  Source: ASHRAE

Houseplants Cut Indoor Ozone

As indoor air pollution poses new concerns worldwide, cost effective and easy-to-implement methods are needed to eliminate or reduce ozone concentrations. A research team from the Pennsylvania State University published the results of a new study of the effects of three common houseplants on indoor ozone levels in a recent issue of the American Society of Horticultural Science's journal HortTechnology. The scientists chose snake plant, spider plant, and golden pothos for the experiment because of the plants' popularity (primarily due to their low cost, low maintenance, and rich foliage) and their reported ability to reduce other indoor air pollutants.

To simulate an indoor environment, the researchers set up chambers in a greenhouse equipped with a charcoal filtration air supply system in which ozone concentrations could be measured and regulated. Ozone was then injected into the chambers, and the chambers were checked every 5 to 6 minutes. The data revealed that ozone depletion rates were higher in the chambers that contained plants than in the control chambers without plants, but there were no differences in effectiveness among the three plants. Source: Adapted from materials provided by American Society for Horticultural Science

Obama Administration Launches New Building Energy Efficiency effort
The Obama administration has announced a multi-agency initiative designed to spur regional economic growth while making buildings more energy efficient. Seven federal agencies issued a combined Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) of up to $129.7 million over five years to create a regional research center. The center will develop new building efficiency technologies and work with local partners to implement the technologies in area buildings.

DOE is providing up to $22 million for this project in the first year, and as much as $100 million over the next four years. The agencies are working together to leverage funding and resources to promote regional growth through an Energy Regional Innovation Cluster (E-RIC) that is centered on an Energy Innovation Hub. The hub, one of three funded by Congress in fiscal year 2010, is focused on developing new technologies to improve the design of energy-efficient building systems. Source: The Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration News