Ryan Profitt (left) and Christopher Montana, of Environmental North Carolina Inc. (EHA-NC), Cary, NC, parlayed green HVACR certification into a cohesive marketing effort.

Some contractors are going deep into the green market, and it’s serving them well. It’s not just following a trend; it’s offering real value to customers. That’s why it works.

For instance, alternative energy retailing, green-oriented HVAC service contracting, and developing and marketing its own solar-assisted heat pump are just a few of the things that helped form Environmental Heating & Air of North Carolina Inc. (EHA-NC), Cary, NC., last year.

Vice president Ryan Profitt’s green HVACR certification tied those building block philosophies into a cohesive marketing effort. “We already had great ideas, knowledge, and products, but the certification really gave us the credibility and the marketing tools needed to market ourselves as green,” explained company president Christopher Montana.

Profitt earned his “Green HVACR Certification” by downloading an 85-page desktop manual, Green HVACR Technician Certification: A Desktop Reference & Training Guide for Implementing Green Practices in Building Thermal Control in Residential/Commercial/Industrial Refrigeration, from www.epatest.com. The manual was written by Robert P. Scaringe, P.E., Ph.D., and president of Mainstream Engineering. The manual was free, although Profitt paid $24.95 for the subsequent online testing and certification.

Montana, a commercial real estate investor, and Profitt, a 10-year commercial-residential HVACR service tech veteran, said they formed EHA-NC because few contractors were advocating and promoting green HVAC system installation, retrofit, and service work within a targeted 100-mile geographical radius of their headquarters.

HVACR contractors offering solar heating-power, wind power, LED lighting, grid-tie inverters, and other alternative energy technologies are still relatively uncommon. Through research, the duo also learned that many of the Raleigh, NC, suburb’s 132,000 residents are receptive to green technology because they’re employed at nearby Research Triangle Park.

“Many HVACR contractor services are already green,” said Profitt, “such as cleaning coils, changing filters, and making efficiency improvements, but contractors don’t realize the potential in promoting these services as green.” Profitt will also be mandating the green training-certification for EHC’s six service techs and installers. “The certification provided us with truck decals, arm patches, and other ideas on promoting green.”

The contractor promotes its green message in weekly 60-second radio advertisements, monthly magazines such as Cary Monthly, weekly newspapers such as the Coffee News, and direct mail. The contractor also takes advantage of other green opportunities such as the local utility, Progress Energy’s “Home Energy Improvement Program” (HEIP), which requires an educational class for participation. “HEIP and our Green HVACR Certification complement each other nicely,” said Profitt.

RETAIL Sales on High House Road Cary North Carolina

A truck for Environmental Heating & Air of North Carolina Inc. The company offers environmentally conscientious products and services to customers who can’t get them locally.

The contractor also has opened Alt Energy Country, a 1,400-square-foot retail store adjacent to its office and contracting headquarters. This highly visible cornerstone showcases the company’s green mission.

Displays of Carrier and York high-SEER HVAC equipment offer visual demonstrations of potential energy savings. Other equipment demonstrations include solar panels, photovoltaic cells, LED tube lighting retrofit kits for fluorescent fixtures, cyclonic-evacuated tube manifolds for domestic hot water heating, wind generators, voltage regulators, water boost heat systems, controller panels, transfer tanks, heat exchange manifolds, grid-tie inverters, etc.

A majority of the SKUs carried in the store are private labeled under the Alt Energy Country brand. One of the store’s main goals will be promoting the solar-assisted, split system heat pump Profitt and Montana designed to sell to their customer base, as well as to HVAC contractors around the nation. The patent-pending, self-contained, 2-ton model marketed and distributed under the Alt Energy Country brand is unique for the U.S. market; it uses cyclonic evacuated-tube technology to provide an approximate 10 percent energy boost.

The system currently heats and cools the EHA-NC offices for a monthly average of $99 (versus a conventional heat pump in a next-door office with identical square footages and similar heat loads, operating at $150/month). The solar-assisted heat pump costs approximately 40 percent more than a mini-split, but the payback in energy savings is less than two years, according to Montana.

“The solar-assisted heat pump puts out much hotter and cooler temperatures while using considerably less energy,” he said, “and the payback is very short because cyclonic-evacuated tube technology has become very affordable.”

While the solar-assisted heat pump is only available as a 2-ton model, Alt Energy Country also has a retrofit model for heating only and an upcoming heating-cooling retrofit model that will be compatible with most sizes of conventional residential heat pumps, the company said. “People shouldn’t have to change out perfectly fine equipment before its lifecycle ends,” Montana said; “therefore we’re strong believers in retrofit products.”

The success of Alt Energy Country and the firm’s existing and future product developments depends on the public’s continued progression toward energy and environmental consciousness. “The behavior of people here in America is becoming more value oriented and long-term minded,” said Montana. “I think offering people a product that is affordable upfront, that saves a significant amount of energy versus conventional equipment, and that can help make the world a cleaner place for their children will encourage them to buy into it.”

GREEN COMMERCIAL

The consumer-friendly front for EHA-NC’s Alt Energy Country, a 1,400-square-foot retail store adjacent to its office and contracting headquarters. Displays of high-SEER HVAC equipment offer visual demonstrations of potential energy savings.

Preventative Maint NOW for the SUMMER COMING HEAT

February is traditionally where the two roads converge when it comes to heating and air inNorth Carolina considering the climate. We expect the rest of February to the cold course because it certainly hasn't been a nice winter but we will be going into the cooling system very shortly. I think one thing that North Carolina never forgets is the fact that you need your air conditioning. The heat and humidity can just be absolutely intolerable unforgiving and just darn hard to get by without.

Right now we are starting our preventative maintenance for the air conditioning systems on residential and commercial properties. Don't forget that you create two climates within your homes or commercial enterprises heating being very important obviously times like this in February and January cold winter months but by the majority of the time we are running our air conditioners to bring the temperature down.

Let's try and make this a painless summer by being proactive with some good Maint ahead of time this keeps expenses down across the board with your regular utility bill expenses, also if you have any unforeseen problems with your machine (HVAC) due to lack of maintenance is often the issue. Feel free to give us a call at Environmental Heating and Air of NC (Enviro Nc) and we would be glad to tell you about different proactive preventative maintenance programs that we have going. Tremendous success for many of a small problem that could turn into a much larger one for minimal cost.

Raleigh Cary Durham WOW it was a cold Winter!!! Wait its as Hot as can be outside. Keep your cool call 535-8422 Enviro NC

Enviro-NC , Your Heating & A/C Company if you want the best Honesty is a must in our company!!!

The federal government offers new geothermal system tax credits for residences.

From: Remodeling magazine January 2009
Posted on: January 7, 2009
Nina Patel

Originally, the Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit enacted in 2005, only offered tax credits for solar electric systems, solar water heating, and fuel cells. The Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 expanded the tax credit to include geothermal heat pumps.

Though the act was passed recently, tax credits are retroactive to Jan. 1, 2008, and expire Jan, 31, 2016. Homeowners may claim a 30% credit on qualified expenditures for a system that services a dwelling located in the U.S. and used as a residence by the taxpayer. The maximum incentive is $2,000. The home served by the system does not have to be the taxpayers’ principal residence. Expenditures include labor costs for on-site preparation, assembly or original system installation, and for piping or wiring to connect a system to the home.

The geothermal heat pump unit must meet the requirements of the Energy Star program in effect at the time the installation is completed. The act also eliminates the solar-electric credit cap effective Jan. 1, 2009.

CALL US TO SEE IF THIS A PRODUCT FOR YOU TO CONSIDER 919-535-8422

EVIRO NC WE KNOW ABOUT CONSERVATION

A BETTER SOLUTION TO A GEOTHERMAL HEAT & AIRCONDTIONING SYSTEM

When a customer in the greater Raleigh Durham Metro area wants to install a geothermal heating and air unit. We are fond of this product because of its high energy efficiency rating. Being at 26 - 28, which is a very high rating for today’s energy soaking appliances.

Geothermal heat & air systems are expensive, and they address only one portion of your energy needs, which is heat and air. Enviro NC sees this with a different perspective than most. Enviro NC often times will wind up recommending with certainty the needs of the customer will be better served if they in fact purchase a solar PV panel array with a grid tie inverter addressing all of the energy needs of one's property. The cost is very similar to a geothermal, but a PV solar array grid tied with net metering will give you the opportunity to sell back excess power to the power company. The best analogy that we can use at Enviro NC is when you need stitches. Don't put a Band-Aid on it tax credits are incredibly attractive on alternative energy products and will continue.

Good sound forward thinking advice with a company that can execute and follow through. Being knowledgeable, bringing you to your endgame at discount prices. This is what makes Enviro NC and its partner company Green Project Energy standout head and shoulders above competitors. Call us and we can start to figure out if this is something that you need, located right in Cary, North Carolina. Five minutes from Raleigh, North Carolina. 20 minutes from Durham, North Carolina. We are easily accessible and invite you to make an appointment to talk about your needs.

A Company that Gives Answers

Heat Pump Systems

For climates with moderate heating and cooling needs, heat pumps offer an energy-efficient alternative to furnaces and air conditioners. Like your refrigerator, heat pumps use electricity to move heat from a cool space into a warm, making the cool space cooler and the warm space warmer. During the heating season, heat pumps move heat from the cool outdoors into your warm house; during the cooling season, heat pumps move heat from your cool house into the warm outdoors. Because they move heat rather than generate heat, heat pumps can provide up to 4 times the amount of energy they consume.

The most common type of heat pump is the air-source heat pump, which transfers heat between your house and the outside air. If you heat with electricity, a heat pump can trim the amount of electricity you use for heating by as much as 30%–40%. High-efficiency heat pumps also dehumidify better than standard central air conditioners, resulting in less energy usage and more cooling comfort in summer months. However, the efficiency of most air-source heat pumps as a heat source drops dramatically at low temperatures, generally making them unsuitable for cold climates, although there are systems that can overcome that problem.

For homes without ducts, air-source heat pumps are also available in a ductless version called a mini-split heat pump. In addition, a special type of air-source heat pump called a "reverse cycle chiller" generates hot and cold water rather than air, allowing it to be used with radiant floor heating systems in heating mode.

Higher efficiencies are achieved with geothermal (ground-source or water-source) heat pumps, which transfer heat between your house and the ground or a nearby water source. Although they cost more to install, geothermal heat pumps have low operating costs because they take advantage of relatively constant ground or water temperatures. However, the installation depends on the size of your lot, the subsoil and landscape. Ground-source or water-source heat pumps can be used in more extreme climatic conditions than air-source heat pumps, and customer satisfaction with the systems is very high.

A new type of heat pump for residential systems is the absorption heat pump, also called a gas-fired heat pump. Absorption heat pumps use heat as their energy source, and can be driven with a wide variety of heat sources.

For more information on these specific types of heat pumps, see these sections:

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U.S. households rely primarily on three sources of energy: natural gas, electricity, and fuel oil. In the past several decades, electricity’s share of household consumption has grown dramatically, and the shares of natural gas and fuel oil have declined. Retail sales of electricity to U.S. households exceed sales of electricity to the commercial and industrial sectors.

This report is based on data from EIA's Residential Energy Consumption Survey. The report presents a snapshot of national household electricity consumption in 2001. It is the first in a series of reports analyzing data on electricity end uses, including air-conditioning, space heating, water heating, lighting, and appliance operation (Figure US-1). Statistics on annual energy consumption by over two dozen individual appliances are included (Table US-1).


U.S. HOUSEHOLD ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION IN 2001

Electricity consumption by 107 million U.S. households in 2001 totaled 1,140 billion kWh. The most significant end uses were central air-conditioning and refrigerators, each of which accounted for about 14 percent of the U.S. total.

HVAC and Water

This industry, and cooling (HVAC) accounted for 356 billion kWh, 31 percent of the electricity consumed by U.S. households in 2001. Central air-conditioning alone accounted for almost half of the HVAC total (Figure US-2). Although there were improvements in the efficiency of the U.S. stock of air-conditioners over time, central air-conditioning continued to be responsible for the greatest share of household electricity use. The predominance of air-conditioning was due to a significant increase in the number of households with central air-conditioning in the two decades preceding 2001. The share of households with central air-conditioning rose from 27 percent of households in 1980 to 55 percent in 2001.

Electric space heating accounted for an additional 116 billion kWh (10 percent of the total), which is considerable given that, nationwide, space heating was predominantly fueled by natural gas. In almost 31 million households, electricity was the source of energy for the main heating system. In an additional 13 million households, it was used in secondary heating equipment, such as portable heaters and built-in electric units.

Electric furnace fans, which are components of natural gas, fuel oil, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) furnaces, as well as electric furnaces, were used in 76 million households and consumed 38 billion kWh of electricity (3 percent). Other HVAC-related appliances—ceiling fans, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, and evaporative coolers—all together accounted for less than 2 percent of U.S. electricity consumption in 2001.

Electric water elements accounted for over 100 billion kWh (9 percent) in 2001. Of the total of 107 million households, 41 million used electricity as their water fuel, compared with 58 million households that used natural gas.