Sign up for ‘Selling Energy Efficiency in Today’s Marketplace’ roundtable session at AHR Chicago

Phc News is proud to present the brightest minds in the plumbing, heating/hydronics and mechanical industries, covering the hottest trend in the industry — Selling Energy Efficiency in Today’s Marketplace. Don’t miss the FREE session at the 2012 AHR show in Chicago, January 24 at 9 a.m. Moderated by Ellen Rohr, industry leaders Dan Foley, John Barba, Dave Yates, Bob ‘hot rod’ Rohr and Eric Aune will lend their unique perspectives and personalities to discuss how to integrate energy efficient products and technology into the lexicon of your business, and then how to successfully promote and sell energy efficiency, especially in today’s uncertain marketplace. From alternative energy sources to energy efficient system installations and applications, this FREE educational session will help attendees run a more “efficient” business.

Sign up at www.cds1976.com/ahrexpo.

High-rise fires cause quarter billion dollars of property damage a year

According to a new report released by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), in 2005-2009, there were an average of 15,700 reported structure fires in high-rise buildings per year with an associated $235 million in direct property damage. The report, “High-Rise Building Fires,” cites apartments, hotels, offices, and facilities that care for sick as accounting for roughly half of all high-rise fires. Structure fires in these four property classes resulted in $99 million in direct property damage per year. There is a downward trend in high-rise fires. In the last few decades, a range of special provisions have migrated into the codes and standards for tall buildings. At NFPA’s upcoming Fire & Life Safety Conference, division manager of Building Fire Protection Robert Solomon will explore code changes related to high-rise building construction, configuration, systems, planning and evacuation procedures. Other findings from the report:

• In 2005-2009, high-rise fires claimed the lives of 53 civilians and injured 546 others, per year.

• The risks of fire, fire death, and direct property damage due to fire tend to be lower in high-rise buildings than in shorter buildings of the same property use.

• An estimated three percent of all 2005-2009 reported structure fires were in high-rise buildings.

• Usage of wet pipe sprinklers and fire detection equipment is higher in high-rise buildings than in other buildings of the same property use.

• Most high-rise building fires begin on floors no higher than the 6th story. The risk of a fire is greater on the lower floors for apartments, hotels and motels, and facilities that care for the sick, but greater on the upper floors for office buildings.

ACCA, AHRI, HARDI to collaborate on hydronics, radiant initiatives

Washington —The three leading trade associations in the indoor environmental industry have announced that they will collaborate closely on educational initiatives to benefit the industry’s hydronics and radiant panel sectors.

The three associations are Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), which represents contracting businesses; the Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), which represents manufacturers and the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI), which represents wholesalers and distributors. These three organizations have a longstanding history of collaboration and partnering for the betterment of the air conditioning and heating industry.

The hydronics partnership was developed in a series of meetings at ACCA, which recently launched a radiant & hydronics council (RHC) to provide specific support to member companies who work in the hydronics field.
Through the collaboration, AHRI will continue to update basic hydronics training and curricula. This material will be used by HARDI to encourage its distributor members to provide hydronics training in their local areas. ACCA will use the material to develop online education for contractors and their employees and to encourage members to take advantage of HARDI member training where available. The ACCA RHC will develop advanced online training modules for contractors that need to go “beyond the basics” in hydronics design and installation.

The ACCA RHC and HARDI will be represented on the AHRI committees responsible for developing or revising hydronics training materials. The ACCA RHC will join AHRI, HARDI and many others in the North American Council on Hydronics, a U.S.A.-Canadian alliance group.