Annual Report 2020
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Annual Report 2020 1 TO SAY THAT 2020 WAS A DIFFICULT YEAR WOULD BE A SIGNIFICANT UNDERSTATEMENT, FOR IT SURELY WAS. But with those challenges came opportunities, and AHRI and our As we sought to protect our workers and the manufacturing and member companies rose to the challenges and took advantage of the distribution chain, we also collaborated with ASHRAE and others to opportunities to make 2020 a highly successful year for our association. provide vital information to the public about the positive role of our industry in preventing infection, launching a media and ad campaign When we chose Strength in Numbers as our global trade show on how to create safer schools and commercial buildings. advertising tagline, we could not have imagined how important that would be. But as states began significant travel and workforce While working 100 percent remotely, with a revised budget to reflect Together, restrictions, we mobilized the strength of our numbers to ensure that a pandemic reality (see pages 18–19), we still managed to make our workers—from the factory floor to the distribution chain to the significant progress on our priority issues, including securing enactment we will installation and maintenance so vital to our industry—were declared of our top legislative priority: HFC phasedown legislation, which was “essential” in nearly every state. This allowed us to continue to provide signed into law December 27. We achieved an impressive 93.5 percent persevere. for the health, safety, comfort, and productivity of the American people certification test completion rate, launched an office in Dubai to serve in this unprecedented time. the Middle East and North Africa, and drove record certification program growth in China, thanks to AHRI’s team on the ground there. At the same time, our policy and international affairs staff took And our indoor air quality campaign is helping to ensure a safe return advantage of the relationships they had developed over the years with to schools, workplaces, and commercial buildings. the Departments of State and Commerce and began new relationships with the Department of Homeland Security to communicate with the What became most evident months later in the face of a global government of Mexico in trying to keep manufacturing and supply pandemic, is that AHRI’s strength resides fully in our 330 member chains open in that vital country. companies and 109 employees working to ensure the health, safety, comfort, and productivity of others during this difficult time. There These endeavors made it possible to provide much-needed components is indeed strength in numbers, and together, we will persevere. and equipment to support frontline hospitals and care centers, and secure the cold chain for both food and medicines. John Galyen Stephen Yurek 2020 Chairman President and CEO 2 3 2 We Adapt 1,122 SOLID TESTING COMPLETION RATE certification ACHIEVED VIRTUALLY AHRI quickly adopted virtual service options to meet the needs program of our certification program participants. Virtual tagging of equip- ment, virtual witness testing for programs that require a laboratory In This Together licensees agent to be present, and virtual observed testing were allowed. While there were delays in certain programs, 93.5 percent of all samples were completed by the end of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic challenges us to AHRI’S COVID-19 collaborate in ways that were previously unimaginable. RESPONSE The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute From the onset of the global (AHRI) salutes our 300+ HVACR and water heater member pandemic, AHRI worked diligently to advocate for HVACR manufac- manufacturers, U.S. and international government agencies, turing, distribution, and installa- and civil organizations working to keep the industry tion/maintenance operations to be moving forward during this difficult time. designated as essential in both the U.S. and Mexico. Several resourc- es were made available on the public and Members Only section of the company website, ahrinet. org, and the COVID-19 Restrictions AHRI’S EXECUTIVE DASHBOARD: and HVACR and Water Heating A Breakthrough in HVACR and Water Heating Business Intelligence Essential Status Working Group on Launched in January, the AHRI Executive Dashboard is a business intelligence AHRI Connect. This group provides tool that provides AHRI certification participants with access to their company’s members with access to experts certification program performance data in in real-time, with the predictive ana- and up-to-the minute information lytics needed to drive results. The dashboard allows users to compare their com- on local, state, and federal matters pany’s performance testing in relation to industry trends; use analytics to support related to COVID-19 that impact compliance and engineering decisions; increase the accuracy of product ratings HVACR and water heating manu- through test result analysis and quality visualization; and save time and effort on facturers and technicians. aggregating certification performance data. 4 5 We Advocate for the Industry DRIVING AWARENESS ABOUT INDOOR AIR QUALITY AHRI recognizes the significant role of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and water heating infrastructure in making all public buildings as safe and healthy as they can be. In October, the orga- nization launched in an indoor air quality (IAQ) campaign—Five Steps for Safer Schools—to provide building managers, educators, and families with ac- SUCCESSFUL CERTIFICATION AUDITS Left: AHRI Chairman John Galyen testifies in support of the HVACR jobs bill. Right: AHRI hosts a promotional event to support cess to information and resources that help improve In 2020, AHRI’s certification program once again passage of the AIM Act on Capitol Hill. IAQ and minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission maintained its accreditation by the Standards indoors. The campaign was later expanded to in- Council of Canada (SCC), after a successful audit AIM ACT SIGNED INTO LAW clude commercial buildings. of AHRI’s certification programs, evaluating their On December 27, the AHRI-supported American conformity with ISO/IEC Standard 17065:2012 and Innovation and Manufacturing Act (AIM Act) was associated referenced documents. On March 26, signed into law as part of an omnibus/COVID-19 France-based auditor COFRAC extended AHRI’s cer- relief package. Considered the most significant action tification program accreditation to ISO/IEC Standard on climate issues in over a decade, the legislation 17065 for another year, allowing AHRI certified gives the Environmental Protection Agency express products to be recognized as compliant in Europe. authority to phase down production and consump- tion of hydrofluorocarbons. This is a major win for our industry and the culmination of a long, involved effort by members, staff, and coalition partners to ENHANCED CERTIFICATION DIRECTORY achieve AHRI’s highest legislative priority. PUBLIC SEARCH EXPERIENCE WORKING ON WATER HEATERS The AHRI Certification Directory team completed AHRI continues to pursue the passage of water heat- work on an enhanced user interface, allowing more er definition legislation in Congress. The Department search results to be shown in one view and reducing of Energy (DOE) has issued several regulations that the need to scroll. The team also made the search restrict the sale of large water heaters in commercial fields more intuitive and streamlined the information markets. While the problem has been addressed with and actions in the header. a series of temporary enforcement policies, the only way to provide consistent regulatory clarity for man- ufacturers is to change the statutory language and set clear definitions for residential and commercial water heaters. 6 7 Keeping Members Informed 8 Newsletters Policy and Government Relations Update—A weekly review of federal, state, and international legislative and regulatory happenings affecting the HVACR and water heating industry. Sector Newsletters—A monthly report on the progress MEMBER NEWS STREAM 5 and activities within each of AHRI’s four sectors— ADDED TO AHRI CONNECT Applied, Heating, Refrigeration, and Unitary. AHRI added a Member News Stream feature to Social AHRI Connect, our central member communica- AHRI Cybersecurity News—Covers policy and tions platform. The news stream, used to share technical developments in the evolving landscape of Media important updates with our members and to an- cybersecurity and the internet of things. nounce new working groups, is available only to Platforms AHRI member company Official Representatives, Alternate Representatives, and Sector Representatives. AHRI Update—Features the latest news in HVACR and across AHRI’s global offices and departments. Safe Refrigerant Transition News—An import- FOLLOW AHRI ant resource for all stakeholders involved in the safe transition to low-global warming potential refrigerants. @AHRIConnect @AHRIConnect @AHRIConnect AHRI The Air-Conditioning, Heating, Communications and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) 8 9 We Support Industry Excellence . and Remain Committed to 2020 IS A RECORD-BREAKING YEAR FOR AHRI STANDARDS the Safe Refrigerant Transition AHRI integrated the Standards team into Sector Services, re-structuring the department to support our global growth initiative. The standards and guideline published this year are listed below: 1. AHRI 430 (I-P)—2020: 10. AHRI 1250 (I-P)—2020: AHRTI LEADS REFRIGERANT RESEARCH Performance Rating of Central Station Performance Rating of Walk-in Coolers AHRTI Project