The foundation of success for HVAC pros lies in establishing client relationships, recognizing that being the initial point of contact during times of need is paramount.

Carrier and Bryant have announced the recipients of the Distributors’ Education Foundation scholarship for the 2024-2025 school year.

As one of the larger contributors to a facility’s expenses, it is critical to incorporate preventative measures into regular maintenance and cleaning plans for boilers.

Here, I provide actionable tips you can handle yourself, or you can hold your SEO company accountable for these.

As contractors, we wonder constantly: From quote to quote, why did we win this job but lose that one?

These simple HVAC marketing tips will strengthen your position in your local community.

Our heating and air business has to keep generating revenue even when the weather is not cooperating.

With finite resources, operators everywhere should be spending smartly to enhance the “green” sustainability of their operation.

The National Air Duct Cleaners Association's 2023 Fall Technical Conference is scheduled for September 7-9 in Grapevine, Texas, near Dallas. Those in the field who have not attended before can apply for a scholarship.

Airflow takes the path of least resistance through buildings, often leaving much of the air stagnant and unaffected. A new IAQ strategy is needed.

While some contractors fabricate sheet metal in-house and others outsource that work, both groups can benefit from a few best practices.

Many in our industry believe the duct material used in an installation determines how well the HVAC system moves air. The issue isn’t the material type, it’s how we install the product.

Electronic leak detection is a very common sources of misdiagnosis. Here are tips to make your leak detection more successful.

Before you can fix a leak, you need to find it. That’s where leak detectors come in.

According to the manufacturers that make equipment for schools, there are often many options available to districts looking to make those much-needed upgrades.

Ensuring a vacuum pump system is evacuated and free of air, nitrogen, moisture, and other contaminants is a crucial step to keep the system running optimally.   

5 items HVAC geothermal contractors need to be doing for business success.

As HVAC providers, we have the ability to advise homeowners, builders, and property managers on ways to improve their indoor air quality.

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The biggest tip is that combustion analysis should be the first and last thing completed during any heating appliance repair.

Eberhard Wolff talks with Martin Lippert of Pivotal about the Eclipse Flux project. This projects is in its early stages — and has a very interesting goal: It aims to put software development tools into the cloud. It is a lot more than just an IDE (integrated development environment) in a browser. Instead the IDE […]

Sven Johann talks with Andrew Phillips about DevOps. First, they try to define it. Then, they discuss its roots in agile operations, its relationship to lean development and continuous delivery, its goals, and how to get started. They proceed to system thinking and what “You build it, you run it” means for a system when developers have pager duty.

They continue with the diversity of DevOps requirements among companies and industries; copying ideas versus finding your own way; culture, mindset, and recommended practices; and the mandatory tool chain. They wrap up by discussing architectural styles that support DevOps and DevOps costs versus benefits.

Charles Anderson talks with James Phillips about service discovery and Consul, an open-source service discovery tool. The discussion begins by defining what service discovery is, what data is stored in a service discovery tool, and some scenarios in which it’s used. Then they dive into some details about the components of a service discovery tool and how reliability is achieved as a distributed system. Finally, James discusses Consul, the functions it provides, and how to integrate it with existing applications, even if they use configuration files instead of a service discovery tool.

The Philips Performance Wireless TAPH805BK are wireless headphones with battery life that will knock your socks off, but the sound quality has a lot of room for improvement.... [PCSTATS]

Taxes on tipped wages have now become a campaign issue. But economic equality advocates say ending sub-minumum wages would help workers more.

When everything that brings LGBTQ people joy is under attack, dancing, laughing, and celebrating our persistent existence are direct acts of resistance.

I just read a great post by John Kleeman on the Questionmark Blog that I wanted to share with you concerning test anxiety. We have previously discussed test anxiety (here and here), but it is interesting to read Kleeman's take on the difference in test anxiety between online and paper and pencil assessments. Here is the post in its entirety:

I’ve been reading about test anxiety (concern or worry by participants sufficiently severe that it impacts test performance). I’d like to share some tips on how online assessment sponsors can reduce its likelihood.

When creating and delivering tests, you seek to accurately measure knowledge, skills or abilities. Often you want to check competence or mastery for workplace or compliance reasons. If some of your participants have severe test anxiety, this doesn’t just disrupt them, it makes your test less accurate in measuring real performance. You might end up failing someone who is competent, just because anxiety affects their test performance.

Many studies (for example here) report that online tests cause less test anxiety than paper ones. Here are some suggestions on reducing test anxiety:

1. Some people have anxiety about a test because they haven’t mastered the subject being tested. Provide a clear description of what each test covers before the time of the test, and provide study resources or instruction to allow people to master the subject.

2. Test anxiety can also feed on unknowns, for instance on unfamiliarity with the test or believing untrue myths. Share information about the test’s purpose and what you do to make it fair. Also share information about the content: how many questions, how the scoring works, how much time is available and so on. Explain what happens if someone fails – for instance is it possible to retake?

3. It’s hugely valuable to provide practice tests that participants can try out before the real test. This will tell them where they are strong and weak and allow them to gain confidence in a less stressful environment prior to the real test. See my article 10 reasons why practice tests help make perfect exams for other reasons why practice tests are useful.

4. Give participants an opportunity to practice using the same type of computer, mouse, keyboard and user interface as will be used for the real test. This familiarizes them with the test environment and reduces potential anxiety, particularly for those who are less computer literate. If you are using Questionmark to deliver the test, make practice sessions available with the same template settings and the same types of questions. (Sometimes this is done with a fun quiz on a different topic, just to get people accustomed to the user interface.)

5. If you provide guidance to test-takers, point to self-help resources for people who have test anxiety. ETS provide a good resource here for instance. Another resource from the University of California is here.

6. Some self-help resources suggest breathing exercises or other exercises people can follow to reduce tension for people who are anxious about tests. Provide an environment where this is practical and train your test administrators and proctors about the prevalence of test anxiety.

7. If you have a way of encouraging test takers to sleep, take exercise and eat healthily, all these things aid a rational approach to taking a test and reducing anxiety.

8. If it works in your programme, consider whether it’s worth having a series of tests rather than a single test, so there is not a single “make or break” moment for participants. A series of tests can have other benefits too. It makes cheating harder, and by spreading out learning and revision, it can make participants retain the learning better.

9. People with disabilities are more likely to suffer test anxiety. Ensure that your program of accommodations takes this into account. See this helpful article on reducing test anxiety for people with disabilities.

10. Above all, create good quality, fair tests. If you follow good practice in authoring your questions and assessments, then there is less to be anxious about, as the test will be a good measure of performance. See Questionmark’s white paper “Five Steps to Better Tests” for some helpful advice in creating tests.

Many Questionmark users provide very effective practice quizzes and tests which help reduce test anxiety, and I hope these tips are helpful, too.

I’d love to hear additional input or suggestions.

New Lesson Plans Entry: 'Relationships vocabulary bluffing game' has just been added to the Lesson Plans area of UsingEnglish.com.

Centrifugal water chillers comprise a significant portion of industrial and large commercial electrical load. These machines are efficient, typically producing a cooling effect two-to-three times greater than the required energy input. Centrifugal water systems were the focus of cholorfluorocarbon (CFC)... Read more

The post Tips For Successful Energy Efficiency Of Centrifugal Water Chillers appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.

MC Ride catalogs the paranoia and police brutality that drove him to the insanity the song exemplifies.

Voltage dips and transients are usually blamed on the supplier, but this is often unfair. There are many potential on-site causes; for example, starting of heavy loads may cause voltage dips and switching of inductive loads will generate transients. Let’s... Read more

The post Should We Blame Supplier For Voltage Dips and Transients? appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.

General recommendation is to properly design and implement the facility’s grounding system to avoid unwanted involvement of ground loops with the operation of the equipment. This kind of approach can also eliminate the need to consider equipment modifications and to... Read more

The post 8 tips to avoid ground loops when dealing with signal level circuits appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.

This technical article covers some specific considerations (modern power supply, electric distribution, transportation, lighting controls, and communication systems) for a few most common type of commercial facilities such as banks, colleges and universities, fire stations, health care facilities and office... Read more

The post Specific electrical design tips for a few most common types of commercial facilities appeared first on EEP - Electrical Engineering Portal.

How to get free insurance from the vendors that work for you as well as tips on how to avoid becoming an insurance company of last resort.

Frankie Fihn, CEO of “Get Water Jobs” gives our audience tips on gaining more flood jobs

Episode 1 of Unlocking Training Success with Lisa Lavender gives advice on improving the impact of training and development in your company.

Episode 2 of Unlocking Training Success with Lisa Lavender gives advice on training intervention, and taking your restoration company to new heights.

Learn how to boost your training ROI by focusing on impact-driven strategies that strengthen workforce performance and align with business goals in the fast-paced restoration industry.

Our series on Maternal & Early Childhood Issues continues today with a look the work being done by Morning Star Pregnancy Services in Harrisburg to help kids build a foundation for strong relationships and avoid problems down the road. https://fb.watch/bECfSEse06/ We’ve all had our fair share of relationships that have not gone well over the years, whether they were romantic or just friendly in nature. Wouldn’t it be nice to have gotten some advice before sailing on those waters and crashing into the rocks? The folks at Morning Star Pregnancy Services in Harrisburg are offering just such advice to teenagers and also actually to moms and dads through a program called Unfiltered Truth. Leslie Moyer is the Director of Educational Programs at Morning Star. She works with Ann Deegan from an established curriculum called “Real Essentials” to present different lessons to try to teach kids to build a foundation for strong relationships. Leslie Moyer : “So what are people expecting and what are your boundaries and do you have boundaries and how do you make sure the person knows?” The program is –not- lecture based. Moyer says that would never work. They have discussions so the kids will take ownership of the concepts they are presented and make them their own.  They are getting a lot of positive feedback. Moyer :  “I believe it was woman, she said I wish I’d had this when I was younger. I needed to know about those relationship red flags, the break up skills, which is two lessons that we do. I needed that two years ago when I was in a really bad relationship.” One of the lessons is on living together, which is something that many young people see as the go-to route for couples in love. Ann Deegan : “So many people are living together and so we talk about what are the benefits and what it really looks like and what are some of the myths surrounding living together and why it isn’t a good thing to do. Most of the classes have been with high school students. Moyer says they’re hoping to get more time with middle school kids to help them build their skills by the time they get to high school. There are also classes for adults. Deegan  : “The focus isn’t just on mothering skills, like taking care of a baby. The focus is on what do your relationships look like? And what do you want to pass on to your children? What is the legacy? What do you want to pass on to your children and have your children receive from you?” There is also the goal of having kids take a more deliberate and thoughtful approach to having sex. It may prevent many problems down the road, not the least of which being an unwanted pregnancy. Moyer shares a recurring sentiment that she hears from returning clients. Moyer  : “Over and over again I will hear ‘I would not change the fact that I had my child. But I wish I had waited. I wish I had waited just a little bit longer. I wish I was married. I can’t tell you how many times I hear that.”

The Foundation of the Food Processing Suppliers Association (FFPSA) is pleased to announce the recipients of ten $5,000 Career Development Scholarships for the 2015-2016 academic year.

Fruit Slabs start as a cannabis-infused fruit blend with no added sugar that is then dried into a bite-sized square. 

Like any technology, it’s helpful to understand how it works before delving into optimization. The main elements of a TTO printer are the printhead, the inked ribbon, and the roller, or a flat platen for intermittent applications.

Whatever your industry, you need to code your products to enable safe usage. Examples include best-before-expiry dates on food or wattage on wires.

Epson ColorWorks on-demand color label printer with 6-axis robot delivers print-and-apply label application system.

Waldner North America expert stresses the importance of choosing flexible machines that allow for efficient operations when changing between products and formats.

TNA completely redesigned and optimized the company’s manufacturing site in Parkersburg, West Virginia, achieving a remarkable 400% capacity increase.

5 Tips for DMO Managers with More Questions Than Answers jhammond@desti… Tue, 05/07/2024 - 18:30

Room 29, Parliament Buildings

Room 29, Parliament Buildings