By Allen Martin, VP and General Manager – Systems, Johnson Controls, Inc.
Considering the way the economic breezes have been blowing lately, I wasn’t sure what to expect in the windy city of Chicago last week as those of us in the air conditioning, heating and refrigeration industry came together for the AHR Expo. But what I heard from the building contractors, engineers, facility managers and owners at the show was a breath of fresh air.
Are they concerned about the current economy? You bet – who isn’t? But they’re also more enthusiastic than ever before about greening their buildings. In the midst of the toughest business climate in decades, people in our industry still have their eyes on the ball: making our homes and buildings more energy efficient, reducing their impact on the environment, making them safer and more sustainable.
I think that’s why our booth was consistently crowded with people interested in knowing more about how we can work together to get there. Everything we featured at the Expo was about energy efficiency and sustainability. You can click here to check out the whole enchilada, but here are the highlights:
Oh, and did I mention a lot of people were also interested in saving money? One contractor told me the design of the York Affinity furnace would permit his crews to make installations in a lot less time – sending more dollars to his bottom line. And I heard this great story about the durability of the Series 10 comfort system. Back in November, there was big hail storm in Oklahoma. Outside one commercial building, hail stones pounded two commercial HVAC units – one of them a Series 10 with its new micro-channel all-aluminum cooling fins. When the storm was over, you could see where the hail had slightly dented the fins on the Series 10, but they were otherwise intact and functioning. Not so with the other unit, where the old-style copper tubes were smashed and destroyed, requiring costly repairs. One last thought about this year’s AHR Expo: I was encouraged by the attitudes of so many attendees. No question about it – these are tough times for all of us. But most of the people I talked with are very, very optimistic about the future. The economy is certain to make a comeback – it’s just a matter of time. And when it does, there’s a widespread belief that it will be a strong recovery. In the meantime, stimulus packages promise to pump new dollars into the economy. Let’s just hope that a big part of that new spending is focused where we all know it can work the fastest to create jobs and put us on the path to energy independence: Efficiency Now!
