Whenever I think about roof rescues, the words “simple,” “efficient” and “rapid” hardly ever come to mind. In general, there are too many variables on most roofs for an elevated rescue operation to ever be considered “easy.” You can imagine how my interest was piqued when I ran across a recent online news article of a roof rescue performed in less than a half hour by the Hamden, Conn. Fire Department (HFD). While cleaning the single- ply EPDM synthetic rubber membrane of a barrell roof with his partner, a 57-year-old employee of the CSC Hood and Duct Services, of Windsor, Conn., slipped on his lifeline and fell off the 135,000 square-foot roof of the TD Bank Sports Center at Quinnipiac University’s York Hill Campus. 

A former NADCA  president shares tips on preventing ductwork from getting dirty during construction. Over the last 25 years, Bill Benito has had the opportunity to work on and oversee many projects with an array of different HVAC construction contractors.  

Shopping for price works - if you are looking for a physical item like a car at three or four different dealerships.  If you are pricing a service that is mostly labor and expertise then it is much harder to shop “apples for apples” because there will always be “bad apples”.

From the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Journal Vol. 48, Nov. 2006:

Although it’s known theoretically that cleaning a coil can result in energy savings, little actual testing data and research exist to prove the point. As a result, building managers often ignore or reduce resources devoted to air-handler maintenance when faced with budget constraints. If proper maintenance is an important consideration in overall energy costs, conserving in that budget area can be self defeating.