I don’t know about you, but after more than 40 years of working in the HVAC industry I find myself a bit overwhelmed trying to keep up with standards, codes and other well-intentioned regulations, issued by “authorities having jurisdiction,” or sometimes by “authorities” not having jurisdiction, but looking to cash in by grabbing the steering wheel on some of the latest trends in HVAC technology.
In some situations, the ways things get done are dictated by a branch of government (usually the federal or state). In other cases, a practice — determined to be the correct approach by some non-governmental organization — is heavily lobbied to lawmakers or those who set guidelines for incentive programs, neither of whom have the time to properly vet the information presented to them. However, in their role of well-intentioned guardians of their constituents, and with sufficient budgets directed their way, they usually allow the persistently-lobbied approach to become the compliance path for tax credits, rebates or certifications.