Industry News & Announcements

Home Builders and Remodelers Enter Industry Even During Downturn
Source: NAHB.org
According to the Statistics of U.S. Businesses (SUSB), the annual series compiled by the Census Bureau, 20,000 home builders and remodelers entered the industry each year of the recent economic downturn. During 2010, the latest year data are available, the number of home builders and remodelers entering the market increased by 8 percent while the number leaving decreased by nearly 21 percent. Although establishments leaving outpaced those entering in 2010, the data highlights the first year-over-year increase in new entrants since the start of 2006.

Speakers for 2013 Polyurethanes Technical Conference
Speakers at the 2013 Polyurethanes Technical Conference will offer their expert insights into the changing world of energy, the need to communicate about the latest scientific innovations and the state of the polyurethanes industry. Hosted by the Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), this year’s conference will take place Sept. 23-25 at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel in Phoenix.Emmy Award-winning journalist Frank Sesno will deliver the keynote address at this year’s Opening Session on Monday, Sept. 23. For details, click here.

ASHRAE Names New Distinguished Lecturers

ASHRAE has awarded projects at Purdue University and Oklahoma State University with its newly created research grant, which provides funding for research having the potential to significantly advance the state-of-the-art in HVAC&R. The ASHRAE Innovative Research Grant carries a base grant of $50,000 per year for two years, with an additional $25,000 available in the third year if matched by an industrial contributor. Recipients are Lorenzo Cremaschi, Ph.D., associate professor, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Oklahoma State University; and William Hutzel, P.E., professor, Mechanical Engineering Technology Department, Purdue University.For more information, click here.

CPI and BPI Offer Free Sprayfoam Training Continuing Education

The Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) and the Building Performance Institute, Inc., (BPI) added spray polyurethane foam (SPF) chemical health and safety training courses to BPI’s continuing education program. CPI’s training programs for High- and Low-pressure SPF Chemical Health and Safety are now eligible to contribute part of the requirements needed in earning a BPI credential. Each CPI course has been approved for 2-2.5 CEU by BPI.

Finalists for 2013 Polyurethane Innovation Award

The Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (CPI) of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) announced Romeo RIM, Inc., TSE Industries, Inc. and INVISTA as the finalists for the 2013 Polyurethane Innovation Award. Attendees at the 2013 Polyurethanes Technical Conference, which will take place Sept. 23-25 in Phoenix, will have the opportunity to vote for one of these finalists during the conference’s opening session on Monday, Sept. 23. The winner will be announced during the closing session on Wednesday, Sept. 25.

ASHRAE Grant-in-Aid Explores Building Occupants, Comfort and Energy Use

The question of how much energy occupants expend in offices and how that impacts their personal comfort is being explored through a grant from ASHRAE. Better tools for quantifying the comfort and behavior of building occupants as an integral part of the building design and operation processes will be developed by Jared Langevin, Drexel University, through his project, Human Behavior and Low Energy Architecture: Linking Environmental Adaptation, Personal Comfort and Energy Use in the Built Environment. Langevin is one of 21 students who will receive a grant through ASHRAE Graduate Student Grant-In-Aid Award Program, which is designed to encourage students to continue their education in preparation for service in the HVAC&R industry. The grants, totaling $210,000, are awarded to full-time graduate students of ASHRAE-related technologies. Click here for details.

Improving Markets List Includes 247 Metros in August

Source: NAHB.org

A total of 247 metropolitan areas across 49 states and the District of Columbia qualified for inclusion on the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) for August, released August 6. While this is eight metros shy of the number listed on the IMI in July, it is approximately three times the number of metros that qualified for the list in August 2012. A complete list of all 247 metros currently on the IMI, and separate breakouts of metros newly added to or dropped from the list in August, is available at www.nahb.org/imi.