Hot News
OCTOBER 2019
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Keynote Address Announcement
Presentation is everything. The way a product is showcased, the salesroom layout, and the customer experience can all be deciding factors in closing a deal. To help retailers elevate their store’s presence and increase sales, Wayne Visbeen, the pivotal architect and interior designer behind an iconic list of ground-breaking and effective retail environments, will deliver the HPBExpo 2020 keynote address. You know his work, even if you don’t realize it yet.
As comfortable on a construction site as he is designing a store layout, Visbeen holds a deep understanding of custom residential design and the current trends shaping the indoor-outdoor living industry. Generously sponsored by Napoleon Products, the HPBExpo 2020 Keynote Presentation aims to provide unique retail insights and highlight the key concepts you will be able to use for better sales conversion and better brand experiences.
National Fireplace Month
It’s October, which means #NationalFireplaceMonth is here! For this year’s theme, HPBA is emphasizing the beauty and elegance of hearth products in a whole new way. Home is Where the Hearth is highlights the importance of having a fireplace centered in any part of the home, creating long-lasting memories with loved ones. For more details, read our press release . We also provided content such as social graphics and messaging, for our members to use throughout the month via social media. Make sure to follow HPBA Hearth on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram , and be on the lookout for a very special Facebook Live.
HPBA Members to Storm Capitol Hill on October 24, 2019
On Thursday, October 24th members of HPBA’s Board of Directors, North American Government Affairs Committee, and Affiliate Staff and Leaders will meet with legislators and their staff on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. HPBA members will be promoting legislation that would create a federal changeout program fund, legislation that would extend the biomass stove tax credit, and introducing our industry to legislators and staff who may not know our industry very well. Be on the lookout for stories and pictures from our Day on the Hill!
Hearth Venting Shipment Update
HPBA has begun collecting data for the 3 rd Quarter Hearth Venting Shipments Program. If your company manufactures and ships Class A, chimney liners, direct vent, pellet pipe, or stove pipe, your company may qualify for participation. Participants receive quarterly reports indicating quarterly changes of product shipments. Not only does this report help participants, but it also assists HPBA when talking with regulators and other interested parties about the size and scope of the industry. If you are interested in participating or have any questions about the program, please reach out to Cameron Downs , Manager-Market Research.  
HPBExpo Site Visits
The Expo Committee met last week in Louisville. Committee members met with representatives of the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau and Kentucky Exposition Center and got tours of the center, hotels, and city to determine if the city could be a contender for a future Expo. 

The Expo Department will be making a site visit to New Orleans on October 16 th . While there, they will be meeting with representatives of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to have a planning meeting with the decorator and city representatives to get ready for the 2020 EXPO.
HPBExpo 2020
Exhibition: March 12-14
Education: March 11-13
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
Registration and Housing Are Now Open
Register now and join thousands of hearth, patio, and barbecue professionals and experience new products in the spotlight of the industry's premiere event. Hotel rooms are available at a discounted rate on a first-come, first-served basis, so book now to reserve one of your top choice hotels in New Orleans.

Still on the fence about whether to attend at next year’s HPBExpo? Hear from this year’s attendees on why you need to be there. 
Expo Activities
HPBExpo has unique and fun activities that you can only participate in while in New Orleans. They will include: Nomgi Sip and Sew, Mask Making Madness, and a Hands-on Cocktail Demo. These activities will be held on Wednesday, March 11 th at the Convention Center. You can sign up for these activities through the online Badge Registration process (see Meeting & Event Option section).

Click below for details and see what else is happening at HPBExpo 2020.
Get Noticed at HPBExpo 2020
Raise your visibility at Expo with any of the great sponsorship and advertising opportunities available to exhibitors and non-exhibitors. Contact Stacy Bowdring .
Connect with HPBExpo
Tailgate & Big Green Egg Cook-off Competition
Thursday, March 12 5:00pm-7:30pm • Outdoor Burn Area Booth
Come join the Outdoor Burn Area exhibitors for the 9th annual HPBExpo Tailgate & Big Green Egg Cook-off event. When in New Orleans we have to include a Mardi Gras parade and a visit with the New Orleans Saints Cheerleaders. Sample savory offerings from participating exhibitors and watch member retailer teams vie for top honors in this EGGstravaganza emceed again by Dr. BBQ. Read more here.

 Interested in Participating?  Show off your barbecue skills and form a team as slots are still available. Sign up to compete by contacting Kelly VanDermark .  
Better Business Practices, Technical Understanding, and Certifications: The Program is Crucial to Career Development
The HPBExpo Education Program will equip you with the knowledge (and the continuing education credits) you need to stay ahead of your competition. This year there are three exclusive education sessions only available at EXPO. They are: Showroom Design, Win More with a Marketing Strategy, and Sales Leadership. Be sure to check out the full program schedule .

New in 2020, online exams will be available on-site and on-demand. Attendees can take exams throughout the duration of HPBExpo 2020 by registering for an allotted time of their choosing. With ten computers available, space will be limited and registering early will be critical in getting the date and time that works best for you. The exams will also be graded upon submission, providing almost instantaneous results. For complete details, contact the NFI Office at 703-524-8030. 
Government Affairs
Legislation Establishing a Federal Changeout Program Fund

Long-awaited legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) that would establish a national changeout program fund. The legislation, “The Wood Heaters Emissions Reduction Act” (“WHERA”), S. 2274, would authorize $75 million each year for changeout programs across the U.S. and would fund replacements of non-certified woodstoves, hydronic heaters, and forced-air furnaces.

The legislation requires that qualifying wood heaters be at least 70 percent efficient per the higher heating value of the fuel, meet the Step 2 requirements of the NSPS, and that the replaced wood heater be destroyed or rendered inoperable after removal. HPBA has worked for over a year on finalizing this legislative language and looks forward to eventual introduction in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Please contact Rachel Feinstein if you have any questions. Take action now and send a pre-written email to your Senators urging them to support this legislation. 
New Tax Credit Would Extend and Strengthen the Biomass Stove Tax Credit
The Section 25(C) tax credit for biomass stoves, a $300 credit for purchasing a stove that is at least 75 percent efficient, expired on December 31, 2017. Legislation was introduced earlier this year that would simply extend the date to December 31, 2019. New legislation has been introduced by Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME) in the Senate (S. 2588) and Representatives Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) and Mike Kelly (R-PA) in the House (H.R. 4506) that goes further.

The bill would slightly increase the credit amount to $400 and extend the Sec. 25(C) tax credit through December 31, 2026. It would require, however, that all products purchased before December 31, 2020 be at least 73 percent efficient and all products purchased after January 1, 2021 would have to be at least 75 percent efficient. Since the bill requires that the eligible products be on EPA’s certified wood heater and central heater lists, the language essentially requires the efficiency be measured using the higher heating value (HHV) of the fuel.

Please contact Rachel Feinstein if you have any questions. Take action now and send a pre-written email to your elected officials urging them to support this legislation. 
New IRS and Department of Treasury Guidance on Depreciable Business Assests
On September 13, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service released final regulations and additional proposed regulations under section 168(k) of the Internal Revenue Code on the new 100% additional first year depreciation deduction that was authorized as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). This provision allows businesses to write off most depreciable business assets in the year they are placed in service by the business. Machinery, equipment, computers, appliances and furniture generally qualify.
 
The 100% additional first year depreciation deduction generally applies to depreciable business assets with a recovery period of 20 years or less and certain other property.

For more information about this and other TCJA provisions, click below.
Department of Energy Announces Grant Awardees for Biomass Research
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the recipients of grant money to be used for biomass research. With Congressional approval to fund up to $5 million in grants, DOE selected three projects to fund, totaling over $3 million. HPBA member and manufacturer SBI received a little over $1 million to develop a clean-burning, automated woodstove. The research and development will be conducted in one of Empire Comfort System’s facilities. Manufacturer MF Fire received funding for two projects. One project would focus on developing a stove with “swirling combustion” to more effectively burn the byproducts of combustion.

The second project aims to create a new, commercially viable emissions monitoring system MF Fire is calling “Fire MAPS” (Monitoring, Alerts, and Performance System). The Fire MAPS would enable consumers to monitor the performance of their stoves in real time – similar to monitoring in a test lab – so that they may use their stove more efficiently and enable it to burn more cleanly.

Since DOE decided that only these three projects would be funded, the remaining $2 million will not be awarded. It is possible that DOE did not receive many applications from more manufacturers, since the EPA NSPS Step 2 deadline is quickly approaching and exhausting some R&D budgets and resources. HPBA hopes that this DOE fund will be funded again for 2020 and will advocate for it with congressional offices. 
Seattle Delays Consideration of Natural Gas Ban in New Homes
Due to significant local opposition, including local Northwest HPBA members, the city of Seattle delayed the next round of consideration on the proposal to ban natural gas in new buildings. A related proposal to tax heating oil used in buildings has passed and will begin in July 2020. Local hearth members, led by Daniel Hammer of Sutter Hearth and Home, and Edward Hosack, NWHPBA Government Affairs Committee Chairman, were joined by Carolyn Logue, our local industry advocate, and many other local industry members to oppose the ban. The councilmember who introduced the proposal has indicated it may still see a vote in December.
Washington State Building Code Holds Hearings on Gas Fireplace Minimum Efficencies
In June, a proposal was put before the Washington State Building Code Council (WSBCC) to ban continuous pilots on vented gas fireplaces and set minimum efficiencies for vented gas appliances. The proposal drew heavily from the Department of Energy (DOE) rulemaking, which HPBA successfully challenged in federal court. Like the DOE regulation, the proposal suggests a minimum efficiency of 65 percent using P.4.1 on all appliances with an input above 9,000 Btu/hr – i.e., virtually all gas appliances.

Industry’s concerns with the proposal include the fact that while other jurisdictions are expressly excluding decorative appliances from minimum efficiencies, the WSBCC would be imposing an impermissibly high minimum heating efficiency on decorative appliances. No other jurisdiction has undertaken regulatory consideration of hearth products – traditionally conducted through appliance standards – in the building code. Putting interpretation and enforcement in the hands of building inspectors is riskier than working through a regulatory framework. In a series of September hearings of the WSBCC, nearly 50 industry members opposed the proposal. While there will be no final vote until at least November, it is our hope that eventual requirements, if any, will closely align with the new minimum efficiency requirements adopted or being considered in other jurisdictions.
Expo Education Spotlight
Each month, we will highlight one of our education sessions scheduled for HPBExpo 2020 to give you a taste of what you can learn if you attend.
"Record Keeping"


Are your records complete in the event of a lawsuit? Eugene LaFlamme will discuss risk management and liability issues that often affect the industry and will use real life case examples and discuss how HPBA professionals involved in those cases could have managed their exposure better by taking certain pro-active steps prior to the claim arising. The importance of proper record keeping, training and education to successfully defend against liability claims will be discussed by an attorney that specializes in the defense of companies involved in the hearth industry. Be prepared!
 
Eugene is a partner at the McCoy Leavitt Laskey LLC law firm – a national firm that specializes in the defense of fire/explosion and product liability matters and an HPBA Affinity partner . He has developed a national reputation as a strong advocate for the hearth industry. He has spoken on liability and risk management issues at prior HPBA Expos and at various Affiliate conferences throughout the country. He is also the current Vice President of the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Education Foundation.  
 
To attend Eugene's class on Friday March 13th in New Orleans, be sure to get your Education Passport .
Reminder!
HPBA has a new banking relationship with Bank of America, and our SunTrust accounts are now closed. For wiring information, please contact Accounting .

NEW PAYMENT ADDRESS:
Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association
P.O. Box 412397
Boston, MA 02241-2397