Archive for January, 2011

Calculating ventilation rates just became a little easier with a new iPhone application designed specifically for an interactive calculation spreadsheet related to ASHRAE’s ventilation standard.

Developed for Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, the ASHRAE Standard 62.1 app allows for convenient calculations while in the field, performing the outdoor air calculations found in the Ventilation Rate Procedure and the interactive 62MZCalc spreadsheets contained in the ASHRAE User’s Manual for Standard 62.1, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality.

“As a leader in the advancement of the latest HVAC&R technology, it’s only right that we utilize the latest smart phone technology,” Jim Fields, volunteer head of ASHRAE’s publishing activities, said. “This new application ensures that engineers in the field have instant access to the most accurate information without having to return to their office to perform calculations.”

To read more click hereRegisters and Grilles

Federal legislation signed into law this week will provide training for federal building personnel in the areas of building operations and maintenance, energy management, safety and design functions. On Tuesday, Dec. 14, President Obama signed the Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act.
The legislation will help provide federal workers with the necessary training to construct and maintain environmentally sound buildings. Federal workers will be able to be trained in a series of core competencies relating to building operations, maintenance, energy management, and safety and future performance. Workers can take courses and be able to obtain licenses and certification for their efforts.

“This law is a significant advancement for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of our nation’s federal buildings,” Lynn G. Bellenger, ASHRAE president, said. “ASHRAE applauds the federal government for demonstrating what can be accomplished in building and maintaining energy efficient buildings with excellent indoor environmental quality.”

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Construction of the four new patio homes, a rare sight these days in a largely vacant portion of the subdivision, will likely be a good test of the market this year. Builder, Gary Hoover, is betting on it.

Hoover, president of Harmony Homes of Windsor, knows he is taking a bit of a risk building them as spec homes — or empty homes without ready buyers. But he’s banking on a couple of lucky charms: Greeley’s housing market in the $200,000-plus range is sputtering back to life, and the thousands of new jobs headed to this area in the next year are bound to help drive demand.

Tim Swanson, Greeley’s chief building official, said when you take out the enormous number of new roofs on homes this year, plus the Leprino plant construction, Greeley building permits rose roughly 2 percent to 3 percent. That includes commercial construction, as well as home remodels, which builders have been relying on to stay afloat. “Even when I backed all that out, there was 2-3 percent across the board increase in permits,” Swanson said. “It’s just enough to where we’re not into the freefall. I’ll certainly take that over a 10 percent decrease.”
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HVAC Upgrades: How-to Tips

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

Planning and Coordination Helps HVAC Projects Succeed

Facility managers know that major HVAC upgrades can be some of the most difficult projects of their professional careers. There exists tremendous potential for workplace disruption, unanticipated equipment challenges and the wide-ranging opinions from building occupants over the definition of comfort — a factor that should never be underestimated. But a healthy implementation plan, open communication between tenants and service providers, and realistic expectations can prevent HVAC equipment installation from being a bane.

When planning major replacements of HVAC equipment, facility managers should consider the age of equipment, repair history and cost, potential impact of downtime on critical business functions, indoor air quality benefits accomplished by the upgrade, estimated energy efficiency anticipated from new equipment, refrigerant requirements (plus any known or anticipated phase-outs), future expansion or renovation plans for a particular building (including re-roofing), utility company energy rebate programs, plus any state or federal tax benefits that result from the change.

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Revolutionizing HVAC Sales

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

HVAC industry presents excellent business opportunities due to constantly increasing consumer demands and rapid technological advancements. The HVAC market is estimated to grow even faster than average in the upcoming decade according to prognoses of many industry analysts. However, manufacturers are finding themselves at a crossroads with a decision about what technological tools should be applied for market proliferation and business process automation.

At the heart of a purely HVAC-oriented system is the Selection Program – used by many HVAC manufacturers and distributors to automate the selection of HVAC products and solutions. Simply put, it is an electronic catalog of all available equipment and components used to build HVAC solutions.  This technology has become an indispensable tool for sales professionals; many of which prefer to cooperate with HVAC manufacturers that utilize this type of system.

 To read more about the tools available to organize and manage HVAC distributor pipelines click here.