The information on this website comes from many different labor market, workforce, and education-focused data sources. Below is a list of these sources and links if you would like to learn more about them. 

Some sources are primary data sources, meaning information that was gathered specifically for the development of this website. An example of a primary data source is shown as number five below. There is an electronic survey and a follow-up conversation with people who work in the HVAC/R field. Other information on this website is from secondary data sources, meaning the data already exists for other purposes. An example of that is noted in number twelve below, the Occupational Outlook Handbook, a resource published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

1. Burning Glass Technologies (2021). Burning Glass Labor Insight.

   Burning Glass was a proprietary web-based research platform that scraped the internet for all publicly-accessible online job postings and used them to provide real-time labor market information about employer priorities and demand for different job roles. Burning Glass analyses were conducted to identify specific occupation-based job duties, in-demand skills, educational attainment, experience level, certifications, individual employers doing the most hiring, industries doing the most hiring, and most common job titles in New York State’s HVAC/R field.

   The Burning Glass query filters for each occupation included location (i.e., New York State), interval of analysis (January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020), keywords related to the HVAC/R field, and an optimization function (only including job postings that specify an employer) to remove job postings from staffing companies because these tend to be duplicated across job search sites.

   Burning Glass is currently unavailable. The company merged with Emsi, another labor market data provider, and now operates as Lightcast.

2. Careers (2023). CareerExplorer. https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/

   Zippia. Overview. https://www.zippia.com/

   Indeed. Career Development. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development

   A number of career service online platforms and websites were consulted in preparing occupation descriptions. Data were initially retrieved in 2021 and revisited in 2023.

3. DOE. (2015). Increasing Efficiency of Building Systems and Technologies. Retrieved from Department of Energy: https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/03/f34/qtr-2015-chapter5.pdf

   The 2015 Department of Energy report was consulted in preparing the “About HVAC/R” page.

4. Lightcast^TM (2023). Lightcast Analyst. https://lightcast.io/

   Lightcast, formed through the merger of Burning Glass and Emsi, is a labor market analytics company. They collect job postings from various online sources to provide real-time insights into the labor market. Lightcast data were queried for each occupation on the career map based on location (i.e., New York State), interval of analysis (January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022), keywords related to the HVAC/R field, and company type (non-staffing companies). The lists of top employers included in some occupation profiles are listed in the order of those that posted the most ads to the fewest and in alphabetical order when an equal number of ads were posted.

5. New York City Labor Market Information Service (LMIS) and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) conducted an online survey in February 2021 to learn about job entry points, career pathways, hiring requirements, and training and education in New York State’s HVAC/R field. Follow-up industry-focused conversations were conducted in March 2021 and October 2022 to help further interpret the survey results. The survey and interview findings were used in development of the interactive career map.

6. National Center for O*NET Development (2023). O*NET OnLine. https://www.onetonline.org/. Data was originally retrieved in 2021, accessed again in 2023.

   O*NET is a resource sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA) and developed by the North Carolina Department of Commerce. It includes detailed descriptions of many different types of occupations.

7. New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) (2023). New York State long-term employment projections. https://dol.ny.gov/employment-projections

   New York State long-term employment projections are determined by NYSDOL. Employment estimates include self-employed workers. Projections for 2018-2028 were obtained in 2021, and subsequently updated to reflect projections for 2020-2030.

8. NYSDOL (2023). Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) estimates for New York State (July 2023 release). https://dol.ny.gov/occupational-wages-0. Original data reflected the 2021 release and were subsequently updated per the 2023 data release.

   The OEWS employment and wage data are determined by NYSDOL. The wage estimates include both part-time and full-time employees (excluding those who are self-employed) and are adjusted (by NYSDOL) to reflect wages from the first quarter of 2023. These data are reflected in the occupation wage estimates and the size of different occupations.

9. NYSDOL (2023). Occupations Licensed or Certified by New York State. https://dol.ny.gov/occupations-licensed-and-certified-nys. Data was originally retrieved in 2021, accessed again in 2023.

   This web page from NYSDOL lists occupations licensed or certified by New York State as well as links to licensing requirements. Readers should also check local government websites for the jurisdictions in which they work for additional information on licensing or certification requirements.

10. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2023). Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/#data. Data was originally retrieved in 2021, accessed again in 2023.

    Occupational employment totals and research estimates by state and industry published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for New York State were used to inform the discussion of the types of employers that hire workers in HVAC/R occupations.

11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2023). Occupational Projections and Worker Characteristics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/occupational-projections-and-characteristics.htm. Data was originally retrieved in 2021, accessed again in 2023.

    The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) prepares projections of national employment for over 800 occupations. Data in Occupational Projections and Worker Characteristics include 2021 and projected 2031 employment, job openings, education, training, and wages.

12. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2023). The Occupational Outlook Handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh. Originally accessed in 2021 and revisited in 2023.

    The Occupational Outlook Handbook is a publication of the BLS, an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor. The Handbook provides profiles and data overviews for a range of occupations.

13. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022). Union Membership: Table 3. Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by occupation and industry. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.t03.htm

    Union membership data provides the percentage of employed workers at the occupation and industry level who are members of unions or represented by unions.

14. U.S. Census Bureau. (2019 and 2021). 2015-2019 and 2017-2021 American Community Survey 5-year Public Use Microdata Samples. IPUMS release dates February 2021 and February 2023. https://usa.ipums.org/usa/

    The American Community Survey (ACS) is a survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau each year to provide demographic, social, economic, and housing information. The 5-year Estimates from the ACS were used to calculate education distributions of the HVAC/R occupation in New York State.

15. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2023). Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/. IPEDS 2018-2019 data was obtained in 2021 and subsequently updated to reflect 2020-2021 data (the most current as of 2023).

    The IPEDS system is a collection of interrelated surveys conducted annually by the U.S. Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics. IPEDS gathers education information from all colleges, universities, and vocational schools/training institutions that participate in the federal student financial aid program. The education table in each individual occupation profile only lists schools that offer degrees directly related to the job market identified by the Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) – Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) crosswalk file produced as a joint effort by BLS and NCES. For each occupation and region, several of the largest programs based on number of degrees awarded are listed. Other schools may offer similar degrees or degrees in other program areas that prepare candidates with transferrable skills. Readers should check with local educational institutions for program availability.

16. U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (2023). CareerOneStop. https://www.careeronestop.org/. Data was originally retrieved in 2021, accessed again in 2023.

    Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, CareerOneStop provides job and career information and training resources.