PRESS RELEASE

    BEST 6.0: The Building Efficiency System Tool™ Now Available for Download

    BEST 6.0: The Building Efficiency System Tool™ Now Available for Download

    The Hydronic Industry Alliance-Commercial (HIA-C), a committee of the Radiant Professionals Alliance (RPA), has released version 6.0 of its Building Efficiency System Tool™ (BEST), an interactive commercial building HVAC system efficiency comparison application.

    The revised software, available online at no charge, adds the ability to compare projected costs and energy usage for all HVAC systems and hot water consumption in any building based on what is known before money is spent on selection of the HVAC and water heating systems, and almost all inputs may be adjusted once the design process begins.

    BEST 6.0 is available for download HERE.

    BEST 6.0 also includes the following advancements:

    Ability to model multiple heating and cooling sources. This enables modeling of all electric systems using cascaded heat pumps and backup sources.  

    Cascaded systems can include:

    Air-to-water (ATW) heat pumps with water-to-water (WTW) boosters and boiler backup sources.

    Water-to-air (WTA) heat pumps with ATW heat pumps and boiler backup sources.

    WTW and WTA heat pumps with hybrid geothermal sources.

    Air-to-air (ATA) heat pumps with furnace, boiler or resistance backup sources.

    Multiple types of heating or cooling sources configurable for load splitting. 

    Air source heat pumps with ability to model user definable ambient temperatures for cut in of backup sources or cutoff of heat pump.

    “BEST is an early modeling tool to sort out options for HVAC systems when very little information is known about the building,” said Greg Cunniff, P.E., director of Applied Solutions for Williams Comfort Products. “With the trend to all-electric solutions — including cascading heat pump systems — BEST is able to quickly and easily compare these innovative ideas. Legacy modeling software currently has a difficult time comparing these new ideas.”

    Upon its introduction in 2016, BEST solved a long-standing industry issue of being able to accurately compare different styles of HVAC systems, which are all tested to different standards, with various efficiency ratings (EER, IEER, SEER, COP, HSPF), as they are applied in an actual building.

    To learn more about the Hydronic Industry Alliance-Commercial and the Radiant Professionals Alliance, or to join this important efficiency advocacy effort, visit www.HIA-C.org and www.radiantprofessionalsalliance.org.


    Report on Comments Toward Development of 2027 UPC, UMC Now Available for Online Download

    01 August 2025

    IAPMO®, developer of the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC®) and Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC®), has posted online the 2025 Report on Comments (ROC) for the 2027 editions of these American National Standard-designated model codes. The ROC includes the committee actions as discussed during the May 6-8 technical committee meetings, the electronic ballot results as balloted between May 19-June 16, and the Technical Correlating Committee actions on all comments received for the 2027 editions.

    IAPMO® Supports APEC Workshop in South Korea on Safe Drinking Water

    31 July 2025

    IAPMO®, a global team of experts engaging industry and government for a safer built environment, was proud to support the the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Workshop: Strengthening Standards and Technical Regulations for Safer Drinking Water – Developing an International Roadmap. The two-day workshop helped kick off the Third Senior Officials’ Meeting and Related Meetings (SOM3), which began July 26 and are slated to run through Aug. 15.

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