Archives for May 2013

Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA)

Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA)

By: Betty Stephens of Quest Media

About ACCA
ACCA is a non-profit association serving more than 60,000 professionals and 4,000 businesses in the HVAC/R community. They work to promote professional contracting, energy efficiency, and healthy, comfortable indoor living for all Americans. ACCA is the only nationwide organization of, by and for the small businesses that design, install and maintain indoor environmental and building performance systems.
ACCA is the leading source for required EPA Section 608 refrigerant handling certification, offering tests for proctors, training for technicians, and convenience for contractors. And ACCA is a strong supporter of NATE certification for technicians, the only professional certification embraced by the entire HVACR industry.
They are the leading non-profit organization serving the indoor environment and energy services contracting community. ACCA develops the ANSI standards that ensure proper, quality design and installation of indoor comfort systems. The certificate in Residential Design for Quality Installation is developed, maintained, and presented directly by ACCA.
The organization is dedicated to excellence in the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) industry. As the largest HVAC/R contractor organization, ACCA is committed to helping its members succeed. Some of the fundamental ways in which their efforts are seen, are in the technical resources and industry standards that will guarantee quality HVAC/R design, installation and maintenance.
They write the standards for the design, maintenance, installation, testing, and performance of indoor environment systems. They bring contractors together with other contractors through unique learning opportunities. They provide exclusive technical, legal, and marketing resources. Their Technical Manuals are the bedrock of air conditioning in America. ACCA procedures are required by many building codes and regional laws, and incorporated in many software programs.
Their Quality Accreditation programs are the only indoor environment industry accreditation programs built around real ANSI standards, offering peace of mind that participating contractors are following the right steps to ensure a quality installation.

HVAC/R System Design
The ACCA System Design Process is the industry standard for the proper design and installation of central HVAC systems. Their process is based on years of experience and the accurate application of specific methods, from system concept to testing the final installation.
ANSI Standards

The ACCA Educational Institute (ACCA-EI) is one of over a hundred organizations that develops standards and supports the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ANSI approval of ACCA manuals, procedures and processes verifies that the principles of openness and due process have been followed in developing these materials, and that a consensus of those directly affected by the standards has been achieved.
ACCA’s ANSI standards activity is overseen by their Standards Task Team, which forms subcommittees as needed to oversee specific standards development.
Government Affairs

Decisions made in Washington and in statehouses around the country affect r contracting businesses every single day. For over forty years, ACCA has fought for contractor interests, and they have never been more focused and aggressive at protecting businesses than they are today. ACCA actively tracks legislation in Washington, DC and statehouses around the country that could impact contractors.
ACCA Conference
(March 17 – 20, 2014 in Nashville, TN) The ACCA Conference is the leading educational experience and industry marketplace for contracting business owners, held in conjunction with IE3: Indoor Environment & Energy Expo.

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity

Written By: Betty Stephens of Quest Media

Habitat for Humanity International
Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, Christian housing ministry that believes that every man, woman and child should have a decent, safe and affordable place to live. They build and repair houses all over the world using volunteer labor and donations. The partner families purchase these houses through no-profit, no-interest mortgage loans or innovative financing methods. They operate Worldwide. The operational headquarters are located in Americus, Georgia and the administrative headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
How Habitat Works
They work through volunteer labor and donations. Homeowners invest hundreds of hours of their own labor into building their Habitat house and the houses of others.
• Habitat houses are sold to partner families at no profit and financed with
affordable loans.
• The homeowners’ monthly mortgage payments are used to build still more
Habitat houses.

They build decent, affordable houses. Decent, affordable housing dramatically changes a family’s life:
• The cycle of poverty is broken.
• Health, physical safety and security improve.
• Educational and job prospects increase.
• A sense of stability and dignity grows.
• Money is freed up for other essential needs.
Families Receiving Habitat Houses
Families in need of decent shelter may apply to local Habitat affiliates. The affiliate’s family selection committee chooses homeowners based on their level of need, their willingness to become partners in the program and their ability to repay the loan. Every affiliate follows a nondiscriminatory policy of family selection. Neither race nor religion is a factor in choosing the families who receive Habitat houses.

Habitat Affiliates
The affiliates are community-level Habitat for Humanity offices that act in partnership with and on behalf of Habitat for Humanity International. Each affiliate coordinates all aspects of Habitat home building in its local area.
Donations are Distributed and Used
Habitat for Humanity relies on gifts from individuals, corporations and other groups to fund their house-building mission worldwide. All donations of any amount are deeply appreciated and help to build more decent, affordable houses with more families across the globe. Designated donations are allocated in support of the U.S. affiliate, national organization or program of the donor’s choosing. Undesignated gifts are invested through the Global Impact Fund where they can have the greatest impact.

The Global Impact Fund helps:
• Design and replicate innovative programs to serve more low-income families.
• Build the capacity of our network of U.S. affiliates and national organizations.
• Cover other costs necessary to ensuring that Habitat fulfills its mission with excellence.
• Habitat’s most recent audited financial statement is available online.
Management of Habitat for Humanity International
An ecumenical, international board of directors who are deeply concerned about the problems of poverty housing around the world manages the organization. The Habitat headquarters are operated by an administrative staff, professional and support employees, and volunteers.
Become a Volunteer
Contact your local Habitat for Humanity for their volunteer opportunities and explore their Get Involved section. Explore the Get Involved section. There are many different volunteer programs. Click this link to volunteer.

Appliance Brand Names

Who Owns That HVAC Brand?

Appliance Brand Names Ever wonder who owns whom in the HVAC industry? If you have a very old furnace or air conditioner you can look it up and see who now owns this name and possibly makes HVAC parts for the old unit. HVAC Manufacturers are constantly changing as one large HVAC entity buys up the smaller HVAC entities or someone decides to change their name. The manufacturing arrangements change constantly.
Today there are a limited number of major manufacturers of HVAC equipment left in the marketplace. Over time the large manufactures bought up the smaller ones and merged those product designs into their own product lines. They now produce products under the various brand names they own. Many times there are just a few cosmetic differences in the appearance, while the mechanical workings are very close and even in some cases the same.

Top 10 HVAC Manufacturers
The US HVAC equipment manufacturing industry includes about 1,500 companies with combined annual revenue of about $37 billion. Major companies include Goodman Global, Lennox, Nortek, Trane, and the climate control divisions of Johnson Controls and United Technologies. The industry is concentrated: the top 50 companies account for about 70 percent of revenue.
The top ten air conditioning companies in America are: (Listed in order of rank)
1. Amana
2. Carrier
3. Lennox
4. Trane
5. American Standard
6. Haier
7. LG
8. GE
9. Kenmore
10. Sharp
The following chart reviews many of the manufacturers. It does not cover every manufacturer, but it gives you a good idea about who actually makes all those HVAC equipment.

Here is a chart of ownership:
Brand Owner
Amana Formerly a division of Raytheon, now part of Goodman Manufacturing. It’s owned by the Whirlpool Corporation. Amana produces wide range of products. It first began the production of air conditioners in 1954. It is one of the leaders of air conditioner market. This company is in the first position in the Top 10 Lists of air conditioner manufacturers.
Carrier Carrier began in marketing air conditioners in 1950. Carrier Corporation is now among the biggest manufacturers of (HAVC) system and the biggest manufacturer of air conditioner in the world. This company is in the second position in the Top 10 Lists of air conditioner manufacturers.
Lennox Lennox: Lennox International Inc. is American manufacturing company. The company was founded 1895. Through the subsidiaries, it provides the climate control products for ventilation, heating, refrigeration and air conditioning. This company is in the third position in the Top 10 Lists of air conditioner manufacturers.
Trane Trane Company purchased GE’s climate control division in 1982. Trane was purchased by American-Standard in 1984. In 2007 American Standard spun off non HVAC lines and will be changing the corporate name to Trane. Now owned by Ingersol-Rand.
American Standard Became Tappan Air Conditioning division in 1972. American-Standard purchased the Trane Company in 1984. American-Standard name revived in 1988. In 2007, American-Standard spun off WABCO, sold the plumbing division and changed the corporate name to Trane in November.

Brand Name Owner
Haier Haier Group Corporation is one of the world’s top-selling makers of home appliances. The Qingdao, China-based company has grown rapidly. At home, Haier has captured the lead in that segment, accounting for more than one-third of all refrigerators sold each year, and is also the leader in a number of other appliance categories, such as air conditioners.. Since the late 1990s Haier has pursued an aggressive globalization effort, building a sales network in more than 160 countries, with a presence in more than 38,000 retail outlets worldwide.
LG LG Electronics USA is a division of LG Group founded in 1947. LG Group has thirty six business units manufacturing goods and providing services in the chemical electronics, telecom, lighting systems, consumer appliances, solar energy, and air conditioning. In July 2010 LG Group was ranked 67th in the Fortune 500® list of largest companies.
GE GE’s HVAC division was purchased by the Trane Company in 1982.
Kenmore Kenmore appliances, including air conditioners, are made for Sears stores by several manufacturers such as Gibson, Fedders and Whirlpool, and then branded with the Kenmore name. Sears
Sharp Sharp is the worldwide multi-national giant, popular in the electronic devices and manufacturers industry. Their brand name became one of the Asian giants, and is also known around the world. They are made in China.