In Brief

According to the Air-Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute, residential electric water heater shipments for January totaled 313,177, an 8% drop from the same month a year ago. Residential gas water heater shipments totaled 315,861, a 1% decrease compared with shipments for the same month last year. Commercial gas water heater shipments for the same period totaled 6,016, dropping 16%, while commercial electric water heater shipments for the period totaled 4,771, an 8% drop.

Clockwork Home Services announced that Benjamin Franklin Plumbing is ranked 36th among the nation's top 115 franchise opportunities for franchisee satisfaction, according to research conducted by Franchise Business Review. Out of more than 2,500 active franchise systems in the U.S. and Canada, just 115 companies received this award in 2009. For a complete list of this year's award winners, go to www.FBR50.com.

Frost & Sullivan selected A.O. Smith Corp. as the recipient of the 2009 North American Water Heaters Product Innovation of the Year Award. The award is presented each year to the company that has demonstrated excellence in new products and technologies. A.O. Smith received the award for its new product developments, including the Cyclone Xi and Vertex water heaters.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that a revised Form I-9 documenting the eligibility of immigrant workers will become effective April 3, 2009. The revised form reflects changes made to the documents acceptable for the Form I-9 in accordance with the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) recent interim final rule.

Hansgrohe ranks No. 1 among plumbing manufacturers and No. 17 overall in a new corporate rankings system, based on the results of five different International Forum design-award competitions since 2006. Introduced in late 2008, the design excellence rankings encompass a total of 1,499 companies around the world, including such design superstars as Samsung, Apple and Siemens.

Caroma provided 297 Sydney Smart toilets for newly renovated guest rooms at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Austin, Texas. High-efficiency toilets were installed in rooms on one floor. Prior to the toilet installation, the hotel staff received calls about toilet problems from hotel guests. Since the installation, there have been no more calls.