Air Expo?

Did you catch the video-head expo on G-4 a while back? What about Mac's new unveiling of their single piece technology? Regardless, I am sure you are familiar with the use of a huge expo in industries to unveil all of the new products for the year. The Air Conditioning & Heating Industry has their expo in Chicago in January of 2009. Source: http://www.ahrexpo.com/ This year (last year too) the expo is focusing on green and sustainable techniques that can be implemented in Air Conditioning design. According to their press release,

As the largest and most comprehensive HVACR exposition, the AHR EXPO attracts tens of thousands of attendees from all facets of the industry, including contractors, engineers, dealers, distributors, wholesalers, OEMs, architects and builders, industrial plant operators, facility owners and managers, agents and reps.

Why is this good for homeowners or others looking to replace or add a system to their home? As the HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning - the R gets added for Refrigeration) industry gets better at making products environmentally friendly you will pay less on your air conditioning bill. Specifically unique to the American industry, the companies are looking to keep the costs low for the actual buyer (like in Europe they can use more expensive units because the higher energy costs over there allow for a savings - which wouldn't translate in the US). This expo is also helpful to HVAC contractors/buyers...etc. because it brings together people in the industry from all over the world. That means that as different countries work to better their own energy needs/production, this information and technology can be shared. Air Conditioning and Heating is also regulated (heavily in California) by governmental agencies that are looking to save the environment or have energy customers pay a certain price. As such, the HVAC community needs to be kept abreast of these bills/laws and make changes to the products accordingly. Interesting. The papers/exhibitions that come out of it are helpful, but for Sinclair the trip to Chicago is not. We will be sitting this one out online.