Charity and Practicality Combine with HFOT

I couldn't be happier that HARDI's Impact Committee has chosen the fantastic organization, Homes for Our Troops, to be our primary philanthropic partner. HARDI met them at USGBC's 2009 Greenbuild. Homes for Our Troops does new builds and major retrofits for veterans who return from war with injuries and disabilities, and in testament to the organization's foresight, they do these builds and retrofits to maximize energy savings to keep the monthly operating costs as low as possible for the injured veteran. HARDI distributors have donated HVAC equipment and supplies to a few projects so far, and I'm estatic that we've got three members- Virginia Air Distributors, East Coast Metals Distributors, and Ferguson Enterprises- who all donated to Homes' 100th build starting this weekend in Fredericksburg, VA. Click here for more info on this build, and be sure to find any way you can to support Homes for Our Troops anywhere in the US.

The NEWS: DOE to Provide $7mil to 24 States to Update Energy Codes

If you've not seen this article from The NEWS, you need to. ARRA (the stimulus bill) provided the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with funds to use as a carrot and stick to states to adopt and enforce more stringent building energy codes (IECC for residential, ASHRAE 90.1 for commercial). For many states, and now 24 more, the time to debate whether the more stringent energy codes are reasonable, attainable, or justified has passed, and now it's up to our industry to figure out how to live with them (and not allow another California Title 24-ish disaster to occur). If you're not closely tied into your state(s)' energy offices, code officials, etc., you had better find a way to do so quickly...especially in these 24 states.

Ban on Electric Heaters Denied

A proposed change to the next version of IECC codes that would have banned the use of electric resistance heat in new residential construction and remodels was withdrawn just prior to the July 1 public comment deadline after a wide range of stakeholders, including HARDI, expressed strong opposition. There could, however, be a similar ban proposed as soon as 2012 when the code is next reviewed.

New Energy Star Label for Data Centers an HVAC Opportunity

EPA announced a new ENERGY STAR label the top 25% of data centers can attain to demonstrate their superior energy efficiency. Upgrading to high-efficiency HVAC systems will be one of the easiest ways data centers can achieve this new performance label.

ASHRAE Seeks Comments on Improvements to 90.1

Reported by ACHR News: "The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has announced that public input to help shape the technical requirements in Standard 90.1 is being sought through 21 proposed addenda, which could become part of the 2010 version of the standard.

ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, provides minimum requirements for the energy-efficient design of buildings except low-rise residential buildings. The proposed addenda cover a range of topic areas, including daylighting, air leakage, EER and IEER values, and requirements for VRF air conditioners and heat pumps."

Obama Visits HVAC School to Discuss HOMESTAR Incentive

The President is in Savannah, GA today at the Savannah Technical College where he'll outline the framework of a HOMESTAR program intended to incentivize more comprehensive residential energy efficiency improvements. Primarily led by AHRI, the industry has been working with the Senate to get this program in energy or jobs legislation this spring.

Free Webinar on Building Energy Code Adoption and Enforcement

The National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) is hosting a free webinar on building energy code adoption and enforcement, Friday, February 26 from 1:00 - 3:30 p.m. ET. Here are complete details and access information. There are significant financial and policy incentives for states to adopt and enforce much more stringent building energy codes that must affect HVACR systems so a free program delivered by a major driver of these code advancements is a rare and important opportunity.

Residential Energy Efficiency Market to Triple by 2014

This article in The News summarizes a recent Pike Research report projecting an increase in the residential energy efficiency market from $8.1b to $23.4b by 2014.

A Shot Across the Solar Bough for HVAC Distributors

This is why HARDI's Sustainable Building Committee is working on positioning HARDI distributors and their contractor customers as the best channel for solar products. I just hope it's not too late. The good news may be that perhaps this Lowe's initiative will raise all ships by helping to get prices down.

Energy Star Version 3 out Friday 11/13

News from the GREENBUILD session where Sam Rashkin, Director of Energy Star for Homes, announced that the ENERGY STAR Version 3.0 will be released tomorrow, Nov. 13 by EPA. This is the update to "Energy Star for Homes 2011." In order to maintain "vintage labeling" for the homes they are switching to the use of "versions." Included in Version 3.0 are three major requirements: 1) thermal enclosure; 2) Quality HVAC Installation; and3) Water managed Construction.

It is important to note that Version 3.0 has prescriptive Checklists and are NOT ratings like previous versions. There was a lot of discussion around the training aspect of HVAC installers requirement. The checklist responsibilities for this will fall on the builder as well as the rater. EPA intends to produce web-based training for each of these groups to help them understand their role. Also, while the requirements are to be met by Jan. 2011 as the start of the performance methods, there will be an additional twelve-month window to give the HVAC industry time to train.

(An interesting side note, a speaker earlier in the day suggested that between 40-50% of the trained HVAC workforce will be eligible to retire in the next decade.)

Check out the full ES Version 3.0 (which supposedly includes improvements based on the 300 comments they received from the first announcements) at the EPA website: http://www.energystar.gov/homes.

Some Green Facts & Figures

Some facts and figures that might surprise you from GREENBUILD: 27% of all global venture capital is currently invested in green technology. In 2005, $7 billion was spent on green market products in general in the U.S.; this moved to $12 billion in 2007 and is predicted to hit $60 billion in 2010. Many of today’s presentations started talking about retrofitting green as opposed to focusing only on new construction for energy and dollar savings. As the President and Founding Chair of the USGBC, Rick Fedrizzi, stated: “Going Green no longer needs to be proven; it just needs to be implemented.” From the several hundred presentations delivered this week showing real projects across the world with some amazing cost and energy saving stats, it would appear we are well on our way.

Al Gore speaks at GREENBUILD

Big night at GREENBUILD– Al Gore spoke to the 28,000 attendees gathered at Chase Field (Diamond Back Stadium). He said never before has the U.S. had three crises coming at us simultaneously, namely economic, climate and security and they all have a common thread, i.e., dependency on carbon-based fuels. He was also quick to point out that we have all the tools and the people we need to solve 3 or 4 climate crises with the possible exception of political will. And he stressed “shared purpose” with other countries. He was preceded by eleven representatives from Green Building Councils in countries from Australia, to Italy, to Taiwan each giving a 60 second update on the state of resource saving steps being taken in their area. I was struck by the rep from London, England who said they have a mandate for zero carbon emissions in all new homes construction by 2016. He remarked that this short time frame has created an “unprecedented level of innovation” in the built environment.

Buildings and Resource Usage

I’m sure you’ve heard the reference from the US Energy Information Administration that buildings are the single largest contributor to global warming, accounting for almost half of total annual U.S. energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Here’s more from the same source: Impacts of US Buildings on Resources: 40% primary energy use, 72% electricity consumption, 39% CO2 emissions and 13.6% potable water consumption. It’s pretty clear this trip that green building can reduce all these numbers dramatically – building by building. More interesting stat from a 2006 study by the Davis Langdon company that “there is no significant difference in average costs for green buildings as compared to non-green buildings.” This study concentrated on design and construction costs. We’ll see if that holds up over time and carries over to providing “green” equipment as well.

Green I Am

Green I am. It’s hard not to be here at the GreenBuildConference in Phoenix, AZ. With over 25,000 people and counting it is obvious that the “green movement” is now mainstream. Yesterday I learned a lot about the history of the US Green Building Council which has no federal agency connection despite its name. USGBC started back in the early 90’s and is particularly known for its LEED program (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design). While the LEED designation is targeted to buildings, there are basically 6 elements that make up LEED. That’s where HVAC/R can participate. Our equipment can lend credibility to the point system used to designate LEED structures esp. in the areas of energy, water efficiency and indoor environmental quality. Yesterday’s speaker, an architect, is working with a hospital in CA to recapture 75% of the condensate from its HVAC systems cooling towers and using it for irrigation. There is definitely a role for our industry but I heard the word “collaboration” as the marching cry yesterday. Building design and development has always been a joint effort of architects, engineers, equipment providers and operations people. The new effort of “green collaboration” is meant to bring in all these people at the beginning of the process in a true collaborative approach before any foundation is even poured.

Check Out HARDI's Commentary from Greenbuild 2009

HARDI's Director of Education, Patricia Kutt, is on her way to Phoenix this week for the U.S. Green Building Council's Greenbuild 2009. Patricia will be blogging from this massive event recapping the sessions and workshops she attends and the products, applications, and opportunities she sees there for the HVACR industry. All posts from this year's Greenbuild will be tagged "greenbuild 09" so you can follow everything from Phoenix with this link. You can also see last year's Greenbuild '08 commentary here.

And Here is Why Home Performance w/ Energy Star Will be Discussed in Orlando

The US EPA released a report detailing the importance of home retrofits for reducing energy consumption, utility costs, and greeenhouse gas emissions, largely focused around the Home Performance with Energy Star program. Recognizing this whole-home trend, HARDI's HVAC Systems & Equipment Council and the Sustainable Building Committee are both slated to discuss different aspects of the Home Performance program during their upcoming meetings at the Annual Conference next week in Orlando.

And This is Why We Talk So Much About State Energy Offices and Utility Relations

This article will be everywhere at the upcoming Annual Conference in Orlando, and by the end of it, HARDI members will be able to able to recite these words in their sleep: "HVACR is the key to energy efficiency and state energy offices and utilities are the keys to paying for it"

Despite Economy, LEED Projects Continue to Grow

I spoke with a member today who mentioned that LEED projects, especially for existing buildings, are still moving. That reminded me of this fantastic summary of the latest version of LEED that Mark Smith of Ductmate Industries wrote for our magazine earlier this year. Every HARDI member, especially those in the West, Northwest, and Northeast and those interested in publicly-financed building or renovation projects should be sure to read this.

Squarely in the Center of Energy Efficiency

After two recent weeks spent at three conferences devoted to energy efficiency (the annual meeting for state energy officials in mid-September, the Consortium for Energy Efficiency's Industry Partners Summit and the AHRI/ACEEE Energy Efficiency Summit last week), a few brief observations will help set the state for more thorough summaries to come later:

• HVACR cannot help but be a major focus for any energy efficiency discussion
• Industry input to efficiency officials- government, utilities, consultants- continues to be lacking but is extremely appreciated
• HVACR distributors are absolutely essential for the success of utility efficiency programs which are growing rapidly and experiencing ever-increasing pressure to achieve greater energy savings
• HVACR distributors have a role with state energy offices, but exactly what that is remains uncertain much like the prospects for their robust, long-term energy efficiency funding at the state level
• Big changes are inevitable for any industry tied to the built environment and energy efficiency because the whole-building approach isn't going away
• HVACR distributors will be needed/expected to fill the competency and quality gaps (in terms of infrastructure, administration, and support) as the bar raises ever-so-slowly for HVACR contractors

Learning How to be a Better Subsidized Industry

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently launched an online training program to help small businesses compete for and win federal contracts, especially as they relate to ARRA, the stimulus bill's massive funding. With so many ARRA funds being directed towards energy efficiency improvements for government buildings, any HVACR business looking to expand during this unprecedented period of government expansion should have a basic knowledge of how government contracting works.