LoopLink Shines At Comfortech 2011

LoopLink is the 2011 showcase award winner for “outstanding product innovation” in software for Comfortech 2011. LoopLink’s superior capability and ease of use for residential/light commercial geothermal system design were recognized above a wide array of different software products at this general HVAC conference. With other software packages ranging from fleet trackers for contractors to manufacturer loop design software and some really amazing web based system control tools for the judges to choose from, we are proud of our achievement amidst so many strong examples of HVAC software.

Ryan Carda, Jared Horn and Doug Carruthers

The conference took place in the beautiful city of Indianapolis right near the canal, NCAA headquarters/Hall of Champions and the Indiana State Museum… oh and Lucas Oil Stadium.  As a fringe benefit for the exhibitors this year, we were allowed on the field to try our hands (and feet) at kicking field goals and throwing passes.  We even got to have our pictures taken with the Lombardi Trophy (not too shabby of a night.)

Of course the conference wasn’t all fun and games.  As our first time attending this show we weren’t quite sure what to expect from a more general HVAC conference.  We are used to conferences like IGSHPA where geothermal is the focus not just one of many HVAC options but this year’s show was particularly welcoming for the geo crowd thanks in part to ClimateMaster who put together a complete ‘Geo Day’ that filled up in no time flat.

Geo-Connections’ Ryan Carda and Green Energy Solutions owner/operator Eric Jones, put together a very well received presentation entitled “10 Tips For Selling Geothermal Systems”.  We plan on putting this together in the next couple of weeks as a white paper for our users.  We will send out an email when it is ready to go.
Keep an eye out for an upcoming video interview with Ryan Carda about LoopLink on the conference floor.  It was his first time on camera (aside from the Geothermal Designer Boot Camp we put on through HeatSpring) so it felt something like this…

GeoConnections Goes to Comfortech 2011 (9/21 - 9/23)

On September 21 - 23 GeoConnections will be heading out to the HVAC Comfortech conference and trade show in Indianapolis, IN.

This is our first time attending Comfortech and the greater HVACR Week so we are pretty excited to be a part of this comprehensive industry expo. Come by and check us out at Booth #511 we will be demoing LoopLink and are available to answer questions for existing users and those still on the fence as to whether LoopLink is the right tool for them.

Ryan Carda will also be co-presenting "10 Hot Tips For Selling Geothermal" with Eric Jones from Green Energy Solutions. You get two opportunities to participate in this discussion of successful methods for selling geothermal systems (SPOILER ALERT: it is not all rebates and incentive programs.) First chance to check it out is Wednesday (9/21) starting at 4:15pm and then again Friday (9/23) starting at 8:30am.

Hope to see you there!

Whitepaper: Let Geo LEED the Way

In his latest writing project Ryan Carda sheds some light on the role geothermal heating and cooling systems play in the achievement of LEED certification. The paper breaks down how LEED points are accumulated, the specific categories GSHP systems affect and how to maximize your points with GSHP.

Download: Let Geo LEED the Way (PDF 460KB)

The Whitepage of Indecision

Recently we had a user run into an issue where they were unable to print their project summary from LoopLink. They could log-in and get to the project summary page but when they hit print... all they got in return was a blank white page staring back at them like the abominable snowman in a blizzard.
So what was going on? We are not entirely sure why this happened but it appears that the issue was caused by a glitch in either the Acrobat Reader Plug-In or Internet Explorer 9 on the user's computer.  Sometimes these things happen.  If it happens to you, there are a couple of different things to try to fix the problem.

Check for Updates.

• Internet Explorer doesn't have a quick "update me" button to point you to in the browser so we are going to suggest a quick Google-ing (or Bing-ing for our Microsoft loyalists) of IE Updates.
• To update your Acrobat Reader Plugin go to http://get.adobe.com/reader/ and follow the instructions.

Try a new browser

• Firefox or Google Chrome.
• It seems like they should all just work but not all browsers are created equally.  We do always say that for best results LoopLink should be viewed using Firefox (Chrome works just as well. It just doesn't seem to be as popular.)

IE9 is showing some promise as far as predictability of page formatting so if it is working for you, great! If not, give these ideas a try and always remember: rebooting sometimes fixes the darndest things. Let us know if this doesn't work and we will help you through to the other side.

Technical Difficulties

We are experiencing technical difficulties with our primary webserver for Geo-Connections Inc. In the recent months we have seen an huge increase in site traffic and it appears we have hit a point in our life that we need to upgrade our back end.

LoopLink has had only one reported interruption but even one is too many for our liking. We are currently working on moving our website to new digs and should have the process completed by early next week.

To Access LoopLink without connecting to the Geo-Connections site please go to: looplink.geoconnectionsinc.com.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this transition. We will have things operating like normal again soon. We will keep you posted.

Bose Endorses LoopLink

Our For Educators program is slowly gaining traction. Instructors are beginning to see the value of being able to offer hands-on design experience in the classroom with software that is easy to learn and even easier to use. LoopLink is portable and capable enough to make that possible. Teachers all across the country are calling to find out how to use LoopLink during their classes.
Just the other day, Dr. Jim Bose, Executive Director of the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA), called us because he was interested in using LoopLink as a teaching tool during his trainings. We set him up with an account and he was off and running in no time.
About 30 minutes after he started using his account, he called us back just to let us know about his experience. Here is what he had to say:

“You guys did a great job on the program. It looks great and is very easy to use. LoopLink is a necessary companion for any contractor or designer using the new manual.”

For those who don’t already know, the new manual that Dr. Bose was referring to is the GSHP Residential & Light Commercial Design & Installation Guide that we wrote for IGSHPA.
He even went so far as to explain that even though he had a copy of our Getting Started guide, the program was so easy to use, he really didn’t need it. In less than 30 minutes, he had finished a complete system design, energy model and economic analysis and even had time to call and give us some feedback.
Thanks to you Dr. Bose. We appreciate the endorsement!

Three Most Common Mistakes Made by Geothermal Designers | HeatSpring Magazine

Ryan has written up a brief series on the three most common mistakes made by geothermal designers for HeatSpring.

1. Underestimating the Importance of Accurate Peak Heating and Cooling Load Calculations
2. Not Giving Proper Consideration to Alternatives
3. Over Complicating Things

Another great place to check out some tips is our own Dos and Donts section for designers.