Industry Resources

News you can use

The second edition of “Never Lose A Customer: Ten Steps to Creating an Outstanding Customer Retention Program,” written by Service Roundtable CEO Matt Michel, was recently released. It includes major revisions from the 1999 version. Additional info and an order form can be found at www.ServiceRoundtable.com.

The Water Quality Association has several technical videos available on DVD: “Reverse Osmosis: Understanding the Fundamentals,” “Basic Water Softening,” “Cation Resin Technology,” and “Distillation: Understanding the Fundamentals.” In addition, educational proceedings from this year's Aquatech are available in CD-Rom. Go to www.wqa.org/store to order.

HVAC Excellence recently released a new Technician Certification Exam, the “Residential and Light Commercial Low Pressure Radiant Heat Certification.” It is designed for technicians who install, service or maintain hot water heating systems. Contact HVAC Excellence at 800/394-5268 or visit the Web site at www.hvacexcellence.org for further information.

The 42nd edition of “ASTM Standards in Building Codes” is now available from ASTM International. This edition contains more than 1,300 ASTM construction specifications, practices and test methods compiled from the Annual Book of ASTM Standards. To purchase, contact ASTM Customer Service at 610/832-9585, fax: 610/832-9555 or visit www.astm.org.

The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials now offers its Uniform Plumbing Code and related study guides in Spanish. A Spanish version of the Uniform Mechanical Code will be available soon. To order, visit www.iapmo.org or call 909/472-4100.

The “Small HVAC System Design Guide” is now available from the California Energy Commission. It outlines approaches to improving HVAC systems and overall building performance. According to the CEC, by applying the design principles in the guide, the energy consumption of buildings with small HVAC systems can be reduced by 25 to 35 percent. Order at www.energy.ca.gov/pier/buildings.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently published two fact sheets highlighting safety and health issues for two specific groups of workers - “Young Workers Fact Sheet” and “Hispanic Outreach.”

The National Environmental Balancing Bureau released the seventh edition of its “Procedural Standards for Testing Adjusting Balancing of Environmental Systems.” The 120-page manual provides information on the latest technology and techniques involved with the design, operation, servicing and balancing of today's environmental systems. This includes hydronic testing, adjusting and balancing procedures. For information and order form, go to www.nebb.org.