The HVAC Shop - Awards

The Quality Home Comfort Awards provide an opportunity for contractors to display excellence and their best designs to the rest of the industry. But far more important, the winning contractors have been able to convey to homeowners the benefits of first-class, integrated, total comfort systems.

This year, a record number of entries all brought a sense of creativity to the QHCA process. It was obvious that QHCA proposals take a little extra effort if they are to be properly detailed. Photographs, blueprints, load calculations, and even sometimes a flair for the written word brought the proposals to life for our panel of judges. Unfortunately, only a few can win in the final judging process.

The QCHA winning contractors, in this and past issues of Contracting Business, are experts in satisfying their customers - and sometimes this means more than just satisfying the homeowner, since a builder or engineer may influence system design. Consistently, the winners have signaled new solutions to the challenges of ever tighter construction and remodeling trends. Each of this year's winners exemplify qualities of innovation and professionalism.

What's the best system? It always depends on what's best for the homeowner. And that's not always easy to figure out. One person in the home wants the thermostat set at 72F, another wants it set at 65F. Without flexible temperature controls, humidity control, and proper air balancing, many system designs struggle to provide the level of comfort required to meet the demanding lifestyles of today's homeowners. The bottom line is that everyone is different and one person's definition of comfort may not match another's.

Today, professional contractors need a variety of solutions to ensure customer satisfaction. Many entrants often employed more than one technology to satisfy unique design conditions. No wonder integrated systems, again, fill the pages as QHCA winning designs.

HOW WERE THE WINNERS CHOSEN?

This year's entries ranged from oil heat to geothermal, from forced air to radiant, from boilers to hybrid multi-load hydronic systems. The submitted entries were reviewed and scored by a panel that included contractors, Contracting Business' editors and experts from the HVAC contracting industry. The judges carefully reviewed each project, using a checklist that encompassed: from good design practice to measuring system performance. Five first place winners, five runners-up, and 10 honorable mentions were chosen to represent this year's elite contractors.

Besides receiving national recognition through this publication, the winners and runners-up will be recognized at HVAC Comfortech 2001, the national residential comfort seminar and product showcase, in Nashville, September 6 . . . In addition, the five first place winners will receive free registration to the entire HVAC Comfortech 2001 program.

THE QHCA MISSION

The QHCA contest was created to recognize high-quality design and installation of comfort systems in both newly built and renovated homes. The most important mission of this effort is to stress to HVAC contractors, builders, and the public the importance and value of the HVAC system as a key component of a well-built home. Besides being read by more than 52,000 HVACR contractors, distributors, and manufacturers, this special section highlighting the winning homes is also delivered to 5,000 leading North American builders.

WINNING ISN'T THE ONLY THING (BUT IT'S NICE)

Contracting Business salutes all the entrants who provided exceptional design solutions to their customers. Ultimately, the real winners are those homeowners who receive the best combination of service and quality.