Bosch gives European technology an American accent

“The contractor is the person we focus on as the most strategic channel partner because it’s through them that our products get sold, whether properly installed or not,” Cash said. “So we put forth an intensive effort to train the contractor first. And it’s not just product training, but application training as well. We listen to how contractors conduct their business and look for ways to make it easier for them in terms of how they get leads, what would make it easier for them in terms of accessories so we can cut down on wasted travel and provide them with one-stop shops.”

For Bosch, what are hot are the higher efficiency levels, lower noise levels, and more compactness levels of its equipment plus the serviceability of its products. In Europe a lot of manufacturers are producing combination equipment that combines heating, air conditioning and domestic hot water all in the same box. While that has yet to catch on in the U.S., Bosch has the diversity of products necessary to put such packages together. Conversely, geothermal technology is leading the way in the U.S. today but not so in Europe. The reasons for this, Cash explained, is that the European marketplace, specifically in the northern reaches of the continent, are primarily concerned with heating and much of that is boiler-based heat as opposed to geothermal and ground source. This boiler technology installed base is so old and the costs to change them out are so high that it’s beginning to open the door to geothermal.

“For us, green becomes part of the future of the way out of this trouble,” he said. “First, it translates into lower operating costs. At the end of the day the consumer can pay less and still have comfort. That is key. Second, we manufacture all our geothermal technology in the U.S. We’re committed to help create more jobs, technical jobs, on U.S. soil. We take this very seriously.”

“All the space conditioning technologies had substantial tax credits through the end of 2010,” he noted. “Now most of those have been reduced to flat dollar amounts. The exception are with geothermal and solar, which standout because they continue to have the 30% credit through the year 2016. So you stand back and say, ‘What is so significant about those technologies?’ Here’s what I think: when you look at the overall impact on the environment, geothermal is about as clean as you can get. The government knows this. It means we have geothermal energy to heat and cool homes and that removes pressure from the grid. It means that we can reduce the import of fossil fuels, and it enables us to take advantage of a very sustainable fuel source.

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