(Here's a brief update that won't be in print until next month.)

You probably didn’t go to AHR this year. The general sentiment around the show floor was that the attendance was a little off the first day, but that the quality of interest was as high or higher than usual. I’m sure a lot of people might’ve wanted to go and see what’s new but are scaling back their work travel this year.

Which is what makes our new ES-TV website section so helpful for you, the inquisitive and overworked engineer. In the future, you may see all manner of video here, but for starters we’ve launched with a healthy serving of AHR booth visits. You can get the scoop on what was being emphasized by the following manufacturers: Aerco, Desert Aire, Hurst Boiler, Johnson Controls, Lochinvar (2), Metraflex, MovinCool, Raypak, Taco, and Uponor.

The videos are a couple or a few minutes in length, and we’re not talking about footage we shot on our cell phones. They all are professionally shot and edited, so you can focus on the content without being distracted by amateur production quality. As you can see, even this limited opening batch covers a lot of equipment ground, from BAS to pumps to software to boilers to piping to spot cooling.

Cost? Nothing, as you’d expect. Registration? Nope, access is wide open. Since we’ve carved out a prime piece of homepage real estate to highlight the section, you can’t miss it. Watch whichever video is on the frontpage at the moment, or click to go to the ES-TV page, where all of them are listed and waiting. In terms of the AHR Expo, it’s definitely the next best thing to being there. Might even be a little better, if you aren’t a fan of temperatures that make merely “freezing” sound balmy.

Did I mention I made my ES video debut in one of these? Just doing a little Q&A to draw out some info, and yet I still had that “I don’t really sound like that, do I?” reaction, you know? Drop by and see for yourself, but remember, I’m a print guy!