The three leading trade associations in the indoor environmental industry have announced they will collaborate closely on educational initiatives to benefit the industry’s hydronics and radiant panel sectors.
The three associations are Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), which represents contracting businesses; the Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), which represents manufacturers; and, the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI), which represents wholesalers and distributors. These three organizations have a longstanding history of collaboration and partnering for the betterment of the air conditioning and heating industry.
The hydronics partnership was developed in a series of meetings at ACCA, which recently launched a Radiant & Hydronics Council (RHC) to provide specific support to member companies who work in the hydronics field.
“Hydronics is of growing importance to our industry, as contractors are now being expected to understand a wide variety of different technologies in order to serve their customers, from air to water to ground and back again,” said Paul T. Stalknecht, ACCA President & CEO. “The three legs of our industry – contractors, manufacturers, and distributors – all recognize this importance. We understand we need to work together to ensure that systems are properly designed, installed, and maintained.”
Through the collaboration, AHRI will continue to update basic hydronics training and curricula. This material will be used by HARDI to encourage its distributor members to provide hydronics training in their local areas. ACCA also will use this material to develop online education for contractors and their employees, and encourage members to take advantage of HARDI member training where available. The ACCA RHC will develop advanced online training modules for contractors that need to go “beyond the basics” in hydronics design and installation.
In addition, the ACCA RHC and HARDI will be represented on the AHRI committees responsible for developing or revising hydronics training materials. The ACCA RHC will join AHRI, HARDI, and many others in the North American Council on Hydronics, a USA-Canadian alliance group.
“We are delighted about this new collaboration, said Stephen Yurek, AHRI President & CEO. “Working together, our three organizations will provide a higher level of service and professionalism than we could on our own to the entire hydronics industry.”
Talbot Gee, HARDI Executive Vice President & COO, added, “Our members are very excited about the opportunities presented by collaboration between our three organizations. There are tremendous possibilities for future projects that will pay great dividends for those who specialize in hydronics, an area where industry-specific education is sorely needed.”