Government Regulations - News

Cool Automation has announced releasing a significant update for CoolPlug. Beginning September 15th, 2020, CoolPlug and CooLinkHub will be able to connect to one another through a wireless connection. As always, CoolPlug and CooLinkHub will also be available as a wired solution as well. Wireless connectivity Each CoolPlug wireless unit will be able to sync to the CooLinkHub wirelessly, which means that retrofit projects can be upgraded to work with home and building automation systems, as well...

Greenheck’s new EHV-550 and EHV-550D are 5.5-inch deep stationary dual-module wind-driven rain louvers featuring horizontal front blades and vertical rear blades. The innovative horizontal front blades provide a more traditional appearance and prohibit sight of the vertical rear blades from any upward viewing angle. The vertical rear blades yield high ventilation rates while providing unsurpassed weather protection. The EHV-550 and EHV-550D louvers are licensed to bear the AMCA Seal for W...

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...

Europa was looking to refurbish their busy Minworth site and wanted to upgrade the climate control at the same time.  Adcock was appointed and recommended Mitsubishi Electric equipment which was both cost-effective and technically compliant for the application. Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Quality Status The extensive experience that Adcock has across all types of logistics businesses means they fully understand the importance of the need to keep the business operational. With a tight pr...

Panasonic has announced that they will be exhibiting at the CIBSE Build2Perform event this year, slated to be held at London Olympia on 26th and 27th of November 2019, on stand 226. For the second consecutive year, Panasonic will be demonstrating their latest product innovations and sharing their vast technical knowledge with building services professionals. CIBSE Build2Perform event James Chaplen, Specification Sales Manager for Panasonic, commented “This event is a great opportunity t...

Panasonic’s Aquarea Smart Cloud CZ-TAW1 will soon be compatible with IFTTT, the advanced technology which stands for the simple process of ‘If This, Then That’. Offering a new intuitive user interface, IFTTT is a helpful addition to an already progressive control system. Aquarea Smart Cloud CZ-TAW1 web-based service The Aquarea Smart Cloud CZ-TAW1 web-based service can be used to create chains of simple conditional statements, which are called applets. These are often pre-ins...

Trane, globally renowned provider of indoor comfort solutions and services and a brand of the international HVAC solutions and equipment firm, Ingersoll Rand, announced hosting a celebration marking significant expansion to its Columbia, South Carolina facility, and ongoing efforts in environmental, social and business sustainability. Trane Columbia facility South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, local and statewide public officials, and other esteemed members of the community joined Trane bu...

Residential ultraviolet duct disinfection systems arrived on the market about 1995. These are the standard ‘UV stick lights’ that most contractors are familiar with. They operate on the 253.7-nanometer germicidal C-band wavelength and are very effective for destroying germ carrying microbes and bacteria in the ductwork. “Everyone’s using UV-C. It’s a very effective wavelength for disinfection,” noted Aaron Engel, vice president, business development for Fresh...

LG Electronics (LG) is bringing voice recognition to customers via its ThinQ (formerly SmartThinQ) mobile app, giving users maximum convenience to connect to their LG ThinQ appliances from anywhere at any time. Smart home appliance management The first mobile application for smart home appliance management to support English leverages the Google Assistant’s voice recognition technology to manage all Wi-Fi enabled LG appliances including washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, ovens, dis...

Johnson Controls has announced a partnership with Capital Dynamics to increase the amount of capital available for customers in North America working on solar or battery storage projects. The agreement will grant easier access to funding for Johnson Controls customers utilizing a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for projects of varying sizes, starting at US$ 1 million, by aggregating them into a larger portfolio of projects. Battery storage and energy solutions systems Battery storage and energ...

In an effort to encourage and celebrate scholastic achievement, the A. O. Smith Foundation announced the awards of 24 global merit scholarships to employees’ children pursuing higher education. “Today’s scholars are tomorrow’s leaders,” said Mark Petrarca, Secretary of the A. O. Smith Foundation Board and senior vice president of human resources and public affairs for A. O. Smith Corporation. “There is perhaps nothing more important than fostering young talen...

If one owns transport refrigeration units (TRUs) and have one of the 56,700 TRUs that operate daily in California, one needs to be aware that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has proposed new regulations that impact TRU emissions in addition to other items. Main Proposed Concepts All TRUs must register with CARB – Timing 2022 All newly manufactured truck, trailer, domestic shipping containers, and rail TRUs manufactured with refrigerant must have a Global Warming Potential (G...

The Prospects Trust at Snakehall Farm's open-plan office was getting unbearable to work in during the hot summer months so to improve their working environment and support them, Adcock installed a Panasonic air conditioning system at cost. Rhian Cornell, the Executive Officer, said “Having an air conditioning unit has made such a difference at Snakehall Farm. We have 9 poly-tunnels on-site to grow our organic produce which all need harvesting no matter what the weather, so having somewher...

LG Electronics (LG) and LUMI United Technology, an Internet of Things (IoT) and smart home solution provider, have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop an ecosystem that goes beyond basic appliance management to deliver a more complete IoT solution for the home. The partnership will focus on developing innovations using AI and advanced sensors that can detect changes in indoor environments such as humidity level, temperature and movement of doors. Aqara sensor technology LG product...

Greenheck, a globally renowned company in manufacturing and distributing air movement, conditioning and control equipment, has announced that now they offer an option for its ceiling exhaust fan and ceiling radiation damper to be combined at the factory into one unit shipped ready to install. Model CRD-310WT ceiling radiation damper Model CRD-310WT, a UL Classified ceiling radiation damper for wood truss applications, can be factory-mounted to one of six Greenheck ultra-quiet SP-A fan models (...

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...

Marley Engineered Products’ help in keeping gymnasiums, factories, outdoor malls and industrial buildings. The range also helps create better airflow during the stuffy winter months. Marley Engineered Products’ provides a line of ceiling fans. With a durable, contoured blade design, the fans are built for optimal temperature control, providing economic solutions for air distribution. Boasting the large and powerful motors in the industry, the fans provide maximum velocity coverage up...

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...

Reliable Controls® announces the release of the MACH-ProAir™ (MPA) version 8 controller. Engineered to exceed the specifications for a wide variety of Variable Air Volume (VAV) applications, the Reliable Controls MACH-ProAir is a fully programmable BACnet® Building Controller (B-BC) with numerous downloadable standard codes and flexible I/O options, all priced to meet a modest budget. The new revision F hardware for the MACH-ProAir and version 8 firmware, adds significantly more...

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...

Panasonic has introduced Voice Control with the Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa interfaces, to its air conditioning portfolio. Panasonic’s solutions that are compatible with the Comfort Cloud app, including all its domestic air-conditioners and PACi systems, can now be voice-activated to provide simple and convenient control. Voice activation control This new functionality offers a wide variety of benefits for both the commercial and residential markets. For example, homeowners who are...

Reliable Controls® announced a new partnership with IR-TEC®. The IR-TEC product line consists of Passive Infrared (PIR), High Frequency Doppler (HFD) and Ambient Light Sensors (ALS) among others. These sensors are combined to make up a variety of ceiling and wall mount occupancy sensors, light sensors, and wall switching/sensing stations. IR-TEC offers products that are complementary to Reliable Control’s lighting controls line and will assist dealers to complete their lighting con...

Although women fill nearly half of all jobs in the U.S., they hold less than 25 percent of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) jobs, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Nonprofit organization, Project Scientist is helping to close this gender gap by exposing a diverse population of young girls to STEM education. Project Scientist in partnership with Trane, globally renowned provider of indoor comfort solutions and services and a brand of Ingersoll Rand, hosted a group of...

Registration is open for the 2020 ASHRAE Winter Conference, to be held February 1-5 at the Hilton Orlando. Registration for the conference provides entry to the co-sponsored AHR Expo, held February 3-5 at the Orange County Convention Center. The ASHRAE Winter Conference features eight conference tracks, tours, social events and a keynote speech from retired NFL referee Ed Hochuli. The conference presents the latest topics in the HVAC&R industry through a technical program featuring more than...

ECR International has announced the release of a new video technical support tool to assist contractors in the field. This powerful new tool, called Rescue Lens, will enable ECR Technical Support advisors to see in real time exactly what the technician is seeing on the job site. ECR Rescue Lens The only requirement for the dealer is to have a smartphone with internet access either over cellular data or Wi-Fi Occasionally, a technical issue comes along that isn’t identified immediately....

Coastal Pacific Xpress (CPx) has been partnering with its customers and continually looking for ways to improve its offerings for more than 30 years. Specializing in meeting stringent just-in-time requirements, CPx provides flexible and tailored solutions that encompass truckload and less-than-truckload services, as well as the warehouse and distribution capacities needed for companies throughout North America. Assisting the Canadian-based company to provide even greater service value to custom...

The Big Ass Fans family continues to grow. The HVAC solutions company is excited to announce Watts Engineering Sales, Inc. as the distributor of Big Ass Fans products for the design and new construction market in Alabama. HVAC solutions expert WES Inc., a 100 percent employee-owned business, has provided expertise in the HVAC industry for more than six decades. From its creation in 1959 up till now, Watts has grown to exceed customer expectations by providing the highest quality products and c...

Airedale International, the British-based air conditioning solutions provider, has announced the launch of a new range of R32-optimized air conditioning products. Azure range The Azure range, which has been under development for almost two years at Airedale International’s state-of-the-art research and development facility, is the latest technological innovation from the UK manufacturer which was founded in 1974. The range has been optimized to operate at the same high level of output a...

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...