Did you know that May 4 is National Skilled Trades Day? It also happens to be National Star Wars Day — “May the Fourth Be With You,” and all that jazz.

Franklin Electric has made significant investments in research and development to improve the efficiency of its products and has placed a heavy focus on sustainability initiatives within Franklin Electric’s production and manufacturing facilities across select global facilities.

Think you know pump systems? Think again. From misidentifying the major culprits of ownership costs to taking the wrong approach in implementing variable speed drives, misconceptions around pumps create missed opportunities for greater efficiency and cost savings.

The passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act last year will help inject billions of dollars into both potable water and wastewater upgrades over the next several years. Coupled with that, President Joe Biden has issued an executive order and Federal Sustainability Plan that will put the U.S. federal government on a path to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, which includes directives for federal buildings and facilities to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045 through energy efficiency, electrification and use of carbon-free electricity along with sustainability principles.

For years, environmental considerations and sustainability have influenced innovation in manufacturing, and in 2021, those factors became the driving force behind new product development. 

It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that demand for Air Handling Units (AHUs) for new builds and retrofits will skyrocket over the next decade. Climate change will drive the need for more and more efficient new HVAC systems. 

Achieving this goal is the equivalent of taking 600,000 cars off the road for a year, or off-setting the average annual CO₂ emissions generated by 100,000 people. 

Ever notice how new words or phrases continually slide into our social vocabulary? Here are a few examples that pertain to energy and buildings: Sustainability, energy justice, climate justice, beneficial electrification and decarbonization.

The investment drives WINT’s continued market expansion and innovation to help owners, contractors, facility managers and insurers prevent water damage and improve their sustainability stance with reduced carbon and water footprints.