The Alliance to Save Energy hailed the expected confirmation of Stephen Chu as energy secretary and praised his testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
U.S. factory shipments of heating and cooling equipment dropped in November with some categories falling more than 60 percent as compared to the same month a year ago.
GlobalSpec (www.globalspec.com), a leading specialized search engine, information resource and e-publishing company for the engineering, industrial and technical communities, has entered into a partnership with appliance DESIGN, a magazine devoted to providing solutions for design and engineering teams in the global residential and commercial appliance industry.
The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) today called on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to modify its proposed rule governing the sale of equipment pre-charged with HCFC-based refrigerants (R-22, R-142b, and their blends).
The consumer electronics industry is projected to generate $171 billion in U.S. shipment revenues in 2009, according to the semi-annual industry forecast released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®.
Hundreds of gadgets and services, all promising to make consumer's lives at home easier and more comfortable is set to hit the market, but according to a new study, the one thing consumers want most in a connected home is convergence.
Underwriters Laboratories (UL), Northbrook, Ill., a leader in product testing and safety certification, has aligned the organization into five operating units reporting directly to UL CEO Keith Williams.
The U.S. Department of Energy announced the availability of Energy Star residential water heaters. The Energy Star program now addresses every major residential appliance found in most American homes. Introduction of this product provides significant potential savings to consumers. Water heating represents up to 15.5 percent of national residential energy consumption, the second largest end use of energy in homes, following heating and cooling. Using one of five specified water heating technologies, Energy Star qualified water heaters can reduce water heating bills from 7.5 percent to as much as 55 percent.
The management boards of TÜVRheinland® and TÜV SÜD have withdrawn their application for a merger from Germany’s regulatory authority Bundeskartellamt. The two companies first began merger talks in February of last year.
Caterpillar, Peoria, Ill., has notified 814 production employees at its Mossville, Illinois engine assembly facility that the company would indefinitely lay off those employees.
LG Electronics, Seoul, Korea, has reorganized and realigned its four traditional business units. The strategic changes to the company’s structure is effective Jan. 1, 2009.
Bosch, Stutgart, Germany, plans to acquire the power tool accessories business of the Freud Group, headquartered in Milan, Italy. With this acquisition, Bosch is adding to its existing range of power tool accessories, especially high-performance circular-saw blades and router bits. The acquisition is subject to approval by the authorities. The companies have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
Panasonic and SANYO Electric have entered into a Capital and Business Alliance Agreement. Panasonic will aim to acquire the majority of the voting rights of SANYO assuming full dilution (which takes into account conversion of Class A preferred stock and Class B preferred stock into common stock) by means of a public tender offer bid. Panasonic and SANYO will form a close alliance in business with the prospect of organizational restructurings of both companies.
As the federal government prepares for the presidential transition in January, it will face challenges in dealing with increasingly complex issues and new directives from the Obama administration and the new Congress, especially concerning energy issues. A new report from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) provides a potential roadmap for addressing the nation’s dependence on foreign energy sources and its greenhouse gas emissions while growing the economy.
When it comes to portable/mobile devices, the bulk of early WiMAX device shipments will be in the form of external laptop clients and embedded mobile PCs, reports In-Stat.
Deer Consumer Products, a US public company headquartered in China, announced a sales contract with Applica, a major U.S. home appliance company. Under the new contract, Deer will produce a new line of premier juice extractors, the JE2100, for the U.S. domestic market. Deer management believes it will receive additional product supply contracts in 2009.
Elextrolus AB plans to layoff more than 3,000 staff worldwide, or about 5 percent fo the companies total workforce of 57,000. The layoffs will come in the fourth quarter 2008 and in 2009. The slow economy was blamed for the action.
Shipments of air conditioners, furnaces, and other HVAC/R products took a dip in October, according to new data released from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).
During the first week of November 2008, sales in Japan of Blu-ray Disc Recorders have surpassed a 50 percent market share for DVD Recorders in unit terms, according to GfK Retail and Technology, a market research company.
Sony Electronics employees at its Pittsburgh Technology Center were advised Dec. 9 that the company will be discontinuing all of its operations at the Westmoreland County facility over the next 16 months, beginning with television manufacturing by the end of February 2009.
More consumers expect their consumer electronics (CE) devices to be environmentally friendly, according to new data from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®.
AHAM President Joseph M. McGuire has been elected to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Board of Directors beginning a three-year term on January 1, 2009.
Improving implementation and enforcement of laws on electrical and electronic equipment and cutting unnecessary administrative burden are the main objectives of the revised directives proposed by the Commission.
A Japanese government ordinance will add clothes dryers and liquid crystal and plasma flat TVs to the list of appliances that manufacturers are legally obliged to recycle, according to the Japan Times.
Although information technology is well integrated into the lives of many Americans, gadgets and communication services require, for some, a call for help. Some 48% of technology users usually need help from others to set up new devices or to show them how they function. Many tech users encounter problems with their cell phones, internet connections, and other gadgets. This, in turn, often leads to impatience and frustration as they try to get them fixed.
Improving implementation and enforcement of laws on electrical and electronic equipment and cutting unnecessary administrative burden are the main objectives of the revised directives proposed by the European Union.
Video game consoles nationwide use about as much electricity in a year as every home in San Diego combined, and can significantly add to consumers’ electric bills, according to a new report released by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Much of this energy use is consumed by machines that are left on, but not in use.
Nemoptic, an e-paper display company based in France, and Japan-based Seiko Instruments, have entered into an agreement under which Nemoptic will license its bistable BiNem technology to Seiko.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has released Combined Heat and Power: Effective Energy Solutions for a Sustainable Future, a new report highlighting Combined Heat and Power (CHP) as a realistic solution to enhance national energy efficiency, ensure environmental quality, promote economic growth, and foster a robust energy infrastructure. The report provides an in-depth discussion of current opportunities and challenges to more widespread national CHP deployment, and sets the stage for future policy dialogue aimed at promoting this clean energy solution.
