Mike Weil
Overcoming the 'Yuck' Factor
It’s not every day that I learn something new that is HVAC-related by reading the local newspaper. But recently, while kicking back on a Sunday morning enjoying a cup of hot coffee and a tasty toasted bagel and cream cheese, I read an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer that made me sit up and take notice. The article talked about using sewage as a source for geothermal energy....
Rethink Your Approach to HVAC
Isn’t it funny how there is always a new catch phrase to describe changes in a marketplace, in fads, in the “cool factor,” and so on? It wasn’t so long ago that oil embargos changed the way we built buildings and controlled indoor environments. ...
Who Are Tomorrow’s Contractors Today?
Successful contractors don’t stand still — they always look for new opportunities and trends that can help them grow their companies and set themselves apart in the marketplace. These opportunities often take the form of changes in the marketplace, the economy, and in government regulations. ...
Global Warming: Science Versus Politics
As a kid growing up in the American Midwest, one of my favorite pastimes was stargazing. To this day I have a fascination for constellations, telescopes, and the science behind them. It also fascinates me how politics has always complicated the quest to understand the cosmos in general and our planet in particular. Part of THAT fascination is with the many people involved in the struggle for knowledge....
Extending the Comfortech Brand
Whether the brand is a local contractor serving his or her individual marketplace, or a national seminar and tradeshow event that targets a specific part of the HVACR industry, branding is an important key to differentiating....
Out With The Old and In With The New
As the book closes on 2011, we all can once again sit back and sigh, perhaps with collective relief. You see, 2011 is the second or third year of the U.S. economic recovery, depending on who you read, and there looks to be no end soon to the stalemate we seem to be in....
We Have Met the Enemy, and He Is Us
There’s an interesting conversation I’ve been following on The Service Roundtable (www.serviceroundtable.com) that addresses how business owners deal with customer and employee issues. Many of the participants were taking somewhat of an adversarial tone, creating what appeared to be an “us or them” approach to problem solving....
Climate Change Revisited, Again
There's no doubt about it: over the past 30 years, a lot has been written about climate change. As a result, laws have been created, movements started, protests initiated — all with the idea of saving our planet from the detritus of commerce and prosperity. ...
Make the Most of the 'Recovery'
As the markets shift, those who stay on top of those shifts will find opportunities that can benefit their businesses and customers. ...
Funding Projects: Is There Public Money Available?
Contradiction or not, the fact is if you’re looking for grants and low-interest loans to fund projects, especially those in public sector institutional work, and subsequently grow your HVACR business, there is money out there....
We Need to Get Our Heads INTO the Clouds
We recently commissioned a study of readers of both Contracting Business.com and HPAC Engineering magazines to see how they use the Internet and Smart phone technology to operate and manage various aspects of their business. The survey went out to a total of 41,000 readers, and more than 1,300 responded....
Carrier Petitions EPA To Close R-22 Loophole
Contracting Business.com interviewed John Mandyke, vice president of Carrier Corp.'s Sustainability and Environmental Strategies, and Drusilla Hufford, director of the Stratospheric Protection Div., of the EPA on the latest wrinkle in the R-22 Phaseout story. ...
Comfort Is Not a Four-Letter Word
The HVAC industry is always cycling through what I'll call "Earth Altering Events," which impact the way contractors do business and change the landscape of the marketplaces you serve....
The "Social" Part of Social Media
T he technology we have available today to communicate, educate, commiserate, delegate, and even tailgate is simply magical. It’s cheap, it’s easy to use, it’s readily available and it’s known as Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, and all the many iterations of them. We’ve been singing the praises of Social Media for more than two years. ...
Climate Change: Politics 101
There's a big climate change in Washington D.C and it doesn't have anything to do with the ozone layer, or energy independence, or efficiency standards. It has to do with a new Congress, a split Congress, a Congress hell-bent on cutting costs and working down the national debt....
The Energy Conversation, Part 2
In the February 28th edition of The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), another special report on energy appeared. This one caught me off guard. It was focused on innovations in energy and presented a case to not look for one overriding solution, but to combine many small solutions into one that could very much be the answer we’re all looking for....
Yes, Virginia, There Is An "App" for That
Dear Editor: I’m an ardent SmartPhone user who has managed to find so many cool apps to do so many cool things. When I share them with my HVACR Industry friends, they often laugh and tell me that the apps are cute, but there will never be one that is useful in their industry....
AHR Expo Sets the Stage for 2011
Ladies and gentlemen — the doors on 2010 are offically closed. Not a banner year by any shake of the stick, but it did end on an up-note, and the recovery is slowly churning into reality. So now, it’s time to spin the roulette wheel on 2011 and take our chances. Ok, not really. Success is never dependent on luck. But since the International Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigerating Exposition (AHR Expo) is in Las Vegas this year, the stage is being set for your success. ...
The Global Energy Conversation and the HVAC Contractor
For several years, the pages of our newspapers and magazines have espoused the concept of the need to save energy, to be better caretakers of our environment, and in the process, become more focused on recycling and reusing our resources. In a word — to be green. ...
How Are You Doing?
Last November, I wrote an editorial entitled, "Get Ready for the Perfect Storm". In it, I talked about the three key factors that impacted our economy, and how those "negative" events actually created a perfect storm of opportunity in the HVACR industry. ...
A Week in the Life
It was a week of networking, partying, and learning. It was "a Week in the Life."...
Home Star: Should It Stay or Go?
Who would’ve ever thought that the title of a British punk band's 1970s anthem could describe a hot topic fomenting in the HVAC Industry? When the Clash wrote, Should I Stay or Should I Go, their intent was to highlight a rocky personal relationship. Apparently, in the HVAC world, the Home Star legislation is rocking the industry with regard to its wording, implementation, and impact on the HVAC contractor ...
It's Hot and Crazy Out There
What a crazy summer. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm exhausted. Yeah, right — like I know what it's like to be working 18-hour days crawling aound in hot attics and dealing with irate customers who don't understand why their broken air conditioners aren't at the top of your repair list....
So What's a Symposium, Anyway?
It's a heady word, this word "symposium" is. Three syllables and as a good friend of mine is fond of saying, "high and mighty sounding." Well that may be, but the word has its basis in the darkest depths of antiquity. For those who know me, you know this is going to lead to a beer reference, and you're absolutely right. ...
Home Star: Welcome to Reality 101
Contractors can all contribute to making the Homestar Act into a real, work¬ing law that benefits all its stakeholders ...
