Pennsylvania State Senator Lisa M. Boscola introduced a bill in Harrisburg that would take steps to protect HVAC contractors from claims related to mold or mold damage.  SB 647 would make HVAC contractors, unless otherwise agreed in writing, not liable for personal injuries, property damage or other damages, losses or claims related to mold or mold damage.  The protections do not apply to personal injuries, property damage or other losses, or in cases where the mold or mold damage was caused by one or more defects in workmanship by a contractor relating to the installation of an HVAC system.

This bill is currently in committee and its passage would be an important step in the right direction for tort reform.

To read a copy of the legislation, click here or contact Senator Boscola the bill’s sponsor.

California Senate Bill 454: Leveling the Playing Field

California Senate bill 454 would put into place new regulations that will help level the playing field for California’s contractors who abide by the state’s permitting rules.  This bill would authorize the states energy commission to establish an administrative process to enforce already existing building energy efficiency standards.   SB 454 would also prohibit public utilities from issuing rebates or incentives for energy efficiency improvements unless the recipient certifies that the improvements/installation has complied with applicable permitting and licensing requirements.

This bill should soon be reaching the Assembly floor.  For more information on the bill visit the California legislature’s page,  or contact the bill sponsor, Senator Pavley .

The new DSIRE tool can be found at www.acca.org/consumer/dsire, and it allows contractors and consumers to locate HVACR energy efficiency incentives in their local area. Unlike the National DSIRE website, which is ongoing project of North Carolina State University and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, ACCA’s DSIRE tool allows users to search for incentives by zip code, sector, or technology.

“This new HVACR specific DSIRE tool is a great way for ACCA to help its members and their consumers find available energy efficiency incentives in their area without a lot of effort,” said Paul T. Stalknecht, ACCA president and CEO. “While energy efficiency upgrades save money over time, the initial cost can make some customers nervous, so having a list of incentives available will help contractors assist their customers make the right decision and save money now and in the future.”

Contractors and consumers can use the ACCA’s HVACR DSIRE tool by going to www.acca.org/consumer/dsire. For more information on this new feature, email Emily Rogers at emily.rogers@acca.org.

Unlike the standard DSIRE site you may be familiar with, ours has been modified to be HVAC specific and offer additional search categories.  Find the incentives in your area by searching by zip code, sector, or technology.

Just another way ACCA is working for you!

The posting requirement applies to all private-sector employers (including labor unions) subject to the National Labor Relations Act, which excludes agricultural, railroad, and airline employers. Even if there is no union in your workplace you still have to post the notice.  The NLRB has a long standing policy that it does not assert its jurisdiction over very small employers whose annual volume of business is not large enough to have a more than a slight effect on interstate commerce.

The NLRB’s general jurisdictional standards are summarized in the rule and some of them are industry specific.  The two most notable “size exemptions” are:

• The retail standard which applies to employers in retail businesses, including home construction.  As the NLRB expresses it, the NLRB will not “take” jurisdiction over any such employer that has a gross annual volume of business of less than $500,000.
• The non-retail standard which applies to most other employers.  It is based either on the amount of goods sold or services provided by the employer out of state (called “outflow”) or goods or services purchased by the employer from out of state (called “inflow”).  The NLRB will not “take” jurisdiction over any employer with an annual inflow or outflow of at less than $50,000.  Outflow can be either direct — to out-of-state purchasers — or indirect — to purchasers that meet other jurisdictional standards.  Inflow can also be direct – purchased directly from out-of-state – or indirect – purchased from sellers within the state that purchased them from out-of-state sellers.

The NLRB will provide copies of the notice on request at no cost to the employer beginning on or before November 1, 2011. These can be obtained by contacting the NLRB at its headquarters or its regional, sub-regional, or resident offices. Employers will also be able to download the notice from the NLRB’s website and print it out in color or black-and-white on a minimum size of one 11-by-17-inch paper or two 8-by-11-inch papers in landscape format taped together.  (Yep, the NLRB actually said that.)  Employers can also satisfy the rule by purchasing and posting a set of workplace posters from a commercial supplier.

In addition to the physical posting, the rule requires every covered employer to post the notice on an internet or intranet site if personnel rules and policies are customarily posted there. Employers are not required to distribute the posting by email, Twitter, or other electronic means.

The notice must be posted in English and in another language if at least 20 percent of employees are not proficient in English and speak the other language. The NLRB will provide translations of the notice, and of the required link to the NLRB’s website, in the appropriate languages.

The rule has no record-keeping or reporting requirements.  Failure to post the notice may be treated as an unfair labor practice under the NLRA. The NLRB investigates allegations of unfair labor practices made by employees, unions, employers, or other persons, but does not initiate enforcement action on its own.  The NLRB has said “it expects that, in most cases, employers who fail to post the notice are unaware of the rule and will comply when requested by a NLRB agent. In such cases, the unfair labor practice case will typically be closed without further action. The NLRB also may extend the 6-month statute of limitations for filing a charge involving other unfair labor practice allegations against the employer. If an employer knowingly and willfully fails to post the notice, the failure may be considered evidence of unlawful motive in an unfair labor practice case involving other  alleged violations of the NLRA.”  The NLRB does not have the authority to levy fines.

What is in the poster?

The poster includes statements such as the following.

Under the NLRA, you have the right to:

• Organize a union to negotiate with your employer concerning your wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.
• Form, join, or assist a union.
• Bargain collectively through representatives of employees’ own choosing for a contract with your employer setting your wages, benefits, hours, and other working conditions.
• Discuss your wages and benefits and other terms and conditions of employment or union organizing with your co-workers or a union.
• Take action with one or more co-workers to improve your working conditions by, among other means, raising work-related complaints directly with your employer or with a government agency, and seeking help from a union.
• Strike and picket, depending on the purpose or means of the strike or the picketing.
• Choose not to do any of these activities, including joining or remaining a member of a union.

Under the NLRA, it is illegal for your employer to:

• Prohibit you from talking about or soliciting for a union during non-work time, such as before or after work or during break times; or from distributing union literature during non-work time, in non-work areas, such as parking lots or break rooms.
• Question you about your union support or activities in a manner that discourages you from engaging in that activity.
• Fire, demote, or transfer you, or reduce your hours or change your shift, or otherwise take adverse action against you, or threaten to take any of these actions, because you join or support a union, or because you engage in concerted activity for mutual aid and protection, or because you choose not to engage in any such activity.
• Threaten to close your workplace if workers choose a union to represent them.
• Promise or grant promotions, pay raises, or other benefits to discourage or encourage union support.
• Prohibit you from wearing union hats, buttons, t-shirts, and pins in the workplace except under special circumstances.
• Spy on or videotape peaceful union activities and gatherings or pretend to do so.

For August 2011, the CCI is 53. The results also show that contractors are not feeling as confident as they were 12 months earlier when the CCI was 61.

The CCI is calculated based on a survey of the association’s contractor members, who are asked how positive they feel about new business prospects, existing business activity, and expected staffing decisions in the short-term future. Weighted and averaged into one number, a CCI of 50 or above reflects anticipated growth.

The CCI is released prior to the start of each month; the next index number will be released during the last week of September.

When I first started designing and testing water source heat pump equipment the product wasn’t terribly old (perhaps 10-15 years) by industry standards, but it was still a mystery to many. It didn’t matter whether a cooling tower and boiler were used to provide the heat rejection or addition or we were using some form a ground coupled heat exchange (pond, vertical open well, vertical closed loop, or horizontal closed loop), engineers and many building owners found these systems to be almost incomprehensible. They simply couldn’t wrap their mind around how you could heat and cool different spaces simultaneously. It was just mind boggling.

I remember many a conversation with professional engineers debating the pros and cons of water source systems versus variable air volume, 2 pipe, 4 pipe, etc. There was always some perceived drawback to these systems. Most of these discussions centered around traditional water source systems that used cooling towers and boilers. Heaven forbid we get into discussions about geothermal systems! What use the earth to add and subtract heat from the system? Unheard of! Ludicrous! Simply won’t work! You name, we heard it and then some.

Fast forward a couple of decades and here we are today with tax credits being offered to install geothermal systems. Why? Well because they offer operating performance that is more sustainable and better than many of the other systems engineers have traditionally designed. Building Owners, operating a variety of building types have achieved substantial operating savings with geothermal systems. Yet there is more to be learned and achieved.

Over the course of time a variety of mechanisms have been used to transfer energy to and from the earth for geothermal systems. As with most technologies we settle on a few “tried and true” approaches and over time some alternative approaches are left behind, even if they are potentially beneficial. For geothermal systems the traditional approach has been to use water (with antifreeze of some type) circulated through tubing buried with the earth to transfer energy. But, there have been a daring few who have worked directly with refrigerant and copper as the heat transfer fluid and material to transfer this energy.

As with any system approach there have been successes and failures, and there are those who have successfully figured out how to properly implement what are called direct expansion geothermal systems. These systems offer additional benefits not offered by “traditional” water based geothermal systems in that at a minimum one energy transfer stage is eliminated. As compared to a traditional geothermal system where we are transferring energy from refrigerant to water and then water to earth we have eliminated this process and moved directly to refrigerant to earth energy transfer. This improves operating efficiency by eliminating the energy used by the pump circulating water to the well field.

So, here I am today, almost 30 years since I designed my first geothermal system working with systems that are directly coupled to the earth using refrigerant and copper, helping our customers save more energy and having to, once again, explain the benefits of a “new” technology to them.

Some things stay the same and never change.

If you want to learn more about new geothermal technologies, Ellis will be presenting a learning lab entitled: “Shrinking the Geothermal Footprint” on October 19 during the brand new Geothermal Contracting Roundtable at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel in Nashville, Tenn.

Murphy has over 30 years of sales and marketing experience and previously worked for the National Association of Home Care & Hospice and CareWatch.

“Tom has a wealth of experience working in association sales that will help ACCA move to the next level of success,” said Kevin Holland, senior vice president, business operations & membership. “We are extremely pleased to have him join our staff and look forward to seeing our programs grow with his help.”

In his new position, Murphy will oversee the corporate partner program, exhibit sales, advertising, and sponsorships.

Tom can be reached at 703-824-8875 or tom.murphy@acca.org.

The featured attraction was a 250 pound cake depicting heating, ventilation, air condition, refrigeration, and hot water equipment from Carlo’s Bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey, from the TLC television show “Cake Boss.” The cake was constructed to look like a residential home and a commercial building with one wall exposed. Throughout and on top of the buildings you could see the products manufactured, distributed and installed by the host organizations. And all of it was edible.

Residential and Commercial buildings cake featuring the products of the HVACR and hot water industries.

The bakers fabricated  little fondant hot water heaters, radiators, air handlers, a refrigerated cooler, condensing units, rooftop units, a pool heater, and chiller. There was even a contractor and a box truck.

The cake displayed edible condensing units and mini-split systems.

The purpose of the reception was to highlight our industry’s contribution to the overall economy. Not many on Capitol Hill realize that the HVACR and hot water industries employ more than 1 million workers from the manufacturers to the distributors to the contractors.  In all, more than 350 members and staff came by to see the cake and learn about the work our organization’s members perform to help homeowners and building owners lower their energy bills with highly efficient equipment and reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, all  creating healthy indoor environments.

Industry association leaders prepare to cut the cake. From left: Paul Stalknecht, ACCA president & CEO; Talbot Gee, HARDI Executive Vice President; Steve Heidler, PHCC board member; Steve Yurek, AHRI president & CEO; and Peter Schwartz, NATE president & CEO.

The legislative package not only raised the debt limit enough to keep the government operating through next year, it set out an ambitious and complicated deficit reduction plan that includes spending cuts in the upcoming fiscal year, a special “super committee” that will recommend further cuts in spending, enforcement triggers, and a vote on a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The vote was as bipartisan as it gets as party lines fell by the wayside. The House vote yesterday was 269-161, with 174 Republicans (out of 240) and 95 Democrats voting YES. After all the debate and arm twisting by House leaders, 66 Republicans and 95 Democrats voted NO.

In today’s Senate vote where the bill passed 74-26, 45 Democrats and 29 Republicans voted YES. 

The spending cuts come in two rounds. The first round takes effect in FY 2012, which begins on October 1, 2011, and will reduce federal spending by more than $935 billion over 10 years. The second round of cuts will come from a joint committee created by the legislation and made up of three Republicans and Democrats each from the House and Senate. Their task will be to come up with recommendations to cut an additional $1.2 trillion over the next decade. The committee must make its recommendations to Congress by December 3 with a vote by both chambers by December 23 of this year.

If Congress is to address any form of tax reform this year, it will have to wait until after Congress votes on the joint committee’s recommendations. That means it’s likely we won’t see an extension of expiring tax provisions like the 25C residential energy tax credit, the AMT “patch,” or the expanded bonus depreciation and expensing allowances for small business investment. More than sixty tax breaks that benefit individuals and small businesses will probably be extended in the first few weeks of 2012 and applied retroactively to the beginning of the year, creating uncertainty for the future.

Here is a summary of the agreement’s major components:

Debt Ceiling Increase

The current $14.3 trillion ceiling on federal borrowing would be increased by an amount between $2.1 trillion and $2.4 trillion — a sum presumed sufficient to allow the Treasury Department to operate beyond the 2012 election and into 2013.

The increase would come in two steps. The debt limit would be increased by $900 billion immediately. Of that first $900 billion, $500 billion would be subject to a congressional resolution of disapproval. To block the increase, such a resolution would presumably have to be enacted over the president’s veto, a step that requires two-thirds majority votes in both chambers.

A second increase of $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion would be available later. The size of the second increase would be determined by actions Congress takes to curtail growth in the debt.

If, by early next year, a joint congressional committee created by the legislatiion has recommended and Congress has enacted $1.5 trillion in in additional savings for fiscal 2012-2021, the second increase in the debt limit would be $1.5 trillion. Alternatively, the debt limit would be increased by $1.5 trillion if a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget is sent to the states for ratification.

If the joint committee recommends and Congress enacts savings of less than $1.5 trillion, or if no additional savings are enacted, the second debt limit increase would be $1.2 trillion. The second debt limit increase would also be subject to a congressional resolution of disapproval, which could be vetoed.

Spending Cuts — First Round

An immediate reduction in the deficit would be achieved by placing statutory caps on discretionary appropriations for fiscal years 2012 through 2021. The savings would amount to $935 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, when compared with spending levels estimated in January, or $756 billion when compared with CBO’s March estimate that took into account savings enacted as part of fiscal 2011 appropriations (PL 112-10).

The discretionary spending cap for fiscal 2012 would be $1.043 trillion, which is about $24 billion more than the amount set by the House-adopted budget resolution (H Con Res 34). The cap for fiscal 2013 would be $1.047 trillion. For both years, a “firewall” would be erected between security (national defense, homeland security, and related activities) and non-security accounts — meaning domestic programs could not be raided to provide more security spending.

The caps for fiscal 2014 through fiscal 2021 would not segregate security and non-security spending.

Enforcement Mechanism for Spending Caps

If lawmakers did not adhere to the discretionary appropriations caps, a process for imposing across-the-board, automatic spending cuts from discretionary accounts would take effect after Congress adjourns for the year.

The automatic mechanism would be similar to the system of spending “sequesters” enacted as part of the 1985 Gramm-Rudman anti-deficit law (PL 99-177). Some spending, including military pay, would be exempt from the automatic cuts.

Spending Cuts — Second Round

The new joint committee could recommend specific ways to reduce the deficit by an additional $1.5 trillion by 2021. The panel would be required to consider recommendations from regular legislative committees, and to report its recommendations to both chambers, subject to up-or-down votes without amendment.

The committee would be required to report by Nov. 23, and the House and Senate would be required to act by Dec. 23.

All of the federal budget would presumably be on the table, including entitlement cuts and revenue increases.

Enforcement Triggers for Panel Recommendations

Should the enacted recommendations from the joint committee not produce at least $1.2 trillion in savings, a process for automatic spending cuts would be triggered to achieve the desired savings and spread spending cuts equally across nine fiscal years.

Any sequester would be equal to the portion of the $1.2 trillion savings target that was not achieved. The first automatic cuts would take effect Jan. 2, 2013, and would fall equally on defense and non-defense accounts, including both discretionary spending and some entitlement spending.

Programs targeting low-income individuals and families would largely be exempt from the sequester, as they were under Gramm-Rudman. Medicare cuts would be restricted to no more than 2 percent of the program’s outlays, and would only affect payments to providers, not beneficiaries.

Entitlement Cuts

The special joint committee would be likely to look closely at entitlement spending to achieve its deficit reduction goals. The spending cuts would be subject to tough negotiations over the next four or five months.

If a sequester was triggered, some restricted automatic cuts in Medicare spending might occur. It is unclear what other entitlement spending might be subject to a sequester.

Taxes

The proposal does not include immediate increases in revenue, although the joint deficit-reduction committee might consider revenue increases.

Earlier in the negotiations, Boehner proposed an increase of $800 billion in revenue. Such an increase might come either from elimination of tax breaks for individuals or corporations, or a comprehensive overhaul of the tax code might be structured to yield a net revenue increase.

Balanced-Budget Amendment

The plan requires both the House and the Senate to vote on a proposed balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution by the end of the year. If two-thirds of both chambers voted to adopt this amendment — and send it to the states for ratification — the second debt limit increase would be $1.5 trillion.

When Congress failed to pass a bill last week extending the authorization for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), airlines were no longer required to collect a host of taxes added to a passenger’s ticket price. These are the taxes and fees you see on your ticket receipt: a 7.5 percent airline ticket tax; a 7.5 percent tax on the sale of frequent-flyer miles; a $3.70 per segment fee; a $16.30 international arrival/departure tax; and an $8.20 departure tax for flights between Alaska and Hawaii and the U.S. mainland.

But instead of lowering fares by not collecting the ticket tax, all but two airlines (Alaska Airlines and Spirt Airlines) kept their fares the same and pocketed the tax. According to Consumers Union, the government is losing and the airlines are pocketing $200 million a week.

The first thing to point out is that passenger safety has not been jeopardized. And while this hasn’t resulted in the shuttering of airports and control towers, thousands of FAA employees that work as engineers, scientists, research analysts, administrative assistants, computer specialists, program managers and analysts, environmental protection specialists, and community planners have been furloughed.

Federal agencies like the FAA are “authorized” by Congress through legislation. Authorization bills typically last five to 10 years, but when disputes arise, Congress will use short term extensions to keep things going until a deal can be reached. The federal highway program is on it’s seventh short term extension since September of 2009.

A dispute between the House Republicans and Senate Democrats over subsidies to small airports is the primary cause for the failure to extend the FAA authorization. In the meantime, some in Congress and the administration are calling on the airlines to put the tax money collected in escrow until a bill is passed.