Hearthstone Quality Home Heating Products, manufacturer of furniture grade heating appliances for the last 30 years, is paving the way with a new standard for the specialty hearth retail business by introducing the Genesis Program. Announced this week at the HPBExpo in Orlando, Florida, the Genesis Program offers consumers the opportunity to purchase online with order fulfillment through the local dealer.

"We are innovating and creating a new paradigm for the specialty hearth retail business that will be beneficial for the consumer, manufacturer and retailer," says Dave Kuhfahl, president of Hearthstone Quality Home Heating Products.

Hearthstone developed the Genesis Program, partnering with specialty hearth retailers, to capture potential online consumers and redirect the business through the brick and mortar store. Utilizing Hearthstone's brand recognition and online traffic, the Genesis Program will capture the segment of consumers that prefer to shop online.

"Hearthstone recognizes the importance of the local specialty hearth retailer," said Rob Woroniak of Salter's Fireplace, Patio & Grill, Norristown, Pennsylvania. "They are reimagining a future that embraces the changing marketplace."

When asked why the Genesis Program was developed as a partnership model with dealers, instead of a direct to consumer model, Kuhfahl responded, "I am not comfortable putting fire in people's homes without your help. Our goal is to support your business, helping it to thrive and adapt to the changing world we live in. We continue to stress the importance of the local specialty hearth retailer as we believe our futures go together. Together we'll move forward and embrace the 21st century."

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Global temperatures are warmer than at any time in at least 4,000 years, scientists reported Thursday, and over the coming decades are likely to surpass levels not seen on the planet since before the last ice age.

Previous research had extended back roughly 1,500 years, and suggested that the rapid temperature spike of the past century, believed to be a consequence of human activity, exceeded any warming episode during those years. The new work confirms that result while suggesting the modern warming is unique over a longer period.

Even if the temperature increase from human activity that is projected for later this century comes out on the low end of estimates, scientists said, the planet will be at least as warm as it was during the warmest periods of the modern geological era, known as the Holocene, and probably warmer than that.

That epoch began about 12,000 years ago, after changes in incoming sunshine caused vast ice sheets to melt across the Northern Hemisphere. Scientists believe the moderate climate of the Holocene set the stage for the rise of human civilization roughly 8,000 years ago and continues to sustain it by, for example, permitting a high level of food production.

In the new research, published in the journal Science, Shaun Marcott, an earth scientist at Oregon State University, and his colleagues compiled the most meticulous reconstruction yet of global temperatures over the past 11,300 years, virtually the entire Holocene. They used indicators like the distribution of microscopic, temperature-sensitive ocean creatures to determine past climate.

Though the paper is the most complete reconstruction of global temperature, it is roughly consistent with previous work on a regional scale. It suggests that changes in the amount and distribution of incoming sunlight, caused by wobbles in the earth's orbit, contributed to a sharp temperature rise in the early Holocene.

The climate then stabilized at relatively warm temperatures about 10,000 years ago, hitting a plateau that lasted for roughly 5,000 years, the paper shows. After that, shifts of incoming sunshine prompted a long, slow cooling trend.

The cooling was interrupted, at least in the Northern Hemisphere, by a fairly brief spike during the Middle Ages, known as the Medieval Warm Period. (It was then that the Vikings settled Greenland, dying out there when the climate cooled again.)

Scientists say that if natural factors were still governing the climate, the Northern Hemisphere would probably be destined to freeze over again in several thousand years. "We were on this downward slope, presumably going back toward another ice age," Dr. Marcott said.

Instead, scientists believe the enormous increase in greenhouse gases caused by industrialization will almost certainly prevent that.

The modern rise that has recreated the temperatures of 5,000 years ago is occurring at an exceedingly rapid clip on a geological time scale, appearing in graphs in the new paper as a sharp vertical spike. If the rise continues apace, early Holocene temperatures are likely to be surpassed within this century, Dr. Marcott said.

Dr. Mann pointed out that the early Holocene temperature increase was almost certainly slow, giving plants and creatures time to adjust. But he said the modern spike would probably threaten the survival of many species, in addition to putting severe stresses on human civilization.

"We and other living things can adapt to slower changes," Dr. Michael Mann said. "It's the unprecedented speed with which we're changing the climate that is so worrisome."

Tropitone Furniture Company has launched a completely new Tropitone.com website. "Our old website served us well for many years," said Walter Cornelison, Tropitone's director of Technology Services and Human Resources. "However, our new Drupal 7 Content Management System platform will streamline continuous improvement of the new website."

"From a pure marketing communications perspective, we brought the look and feel of the website into complete alignment with the current market positions of the Tropitone, Basta Sole and Tropitone MODA brands," said Demetrius Linebarger, senior manager for Digital Marketing for Tropitone. "But our overriding objective was to provide a website that users could navigate as easily, quickly and intuitively as possible. The first step was to create separate portals for commercial and residential users. Intuitive reductive navigation specifically designed for each user group takes over from there."

Different user groups require different utilities from a website. Commercial sales representatives, designers, dealers and end users require a more straightforward navigation path. They are frequent users and want to get in, quickly find what they want and create presentable specifications.

Consumers may come into the casual furnishings category every five years or so. Such infrequent users will want to browse and need to be lead around the website. Frequent residential users such as sales representatives, designers and dealers are more like commercial users. They will find a more straightforward residential navigation path built specifically for them.   

"We strongly believe that the casual furnishings industry is perfect for a combination of traditional and digital marketing & sales approaches," said Tanya Stevens, vice president of Marketing and Operations Services.

Visit the Tropitone website or the Tropitone MODA website. 

Bruce Lisle.

Energex Corporation has announced that Bruce Lisle, the founder and previous CEO of the company, will return as CEO. He replaces John Burrows who left on March 14.

"I thank John for his service to Energex over the last five years and wish him the best in his future endeavors," said Bruce Lisle. Lisle founded the company in 1993 with the acquisition of the Bioshell plant in Lac-Mégantic, Québec, from Shell Petroleum. He further developed the company with the acquisition and expansion of the company's Mifflintown facility.

Energex is a leader in the wood pellet industry covering the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions in the U.S. along with Eastern Canada.

Over a million homes in North America are now heated with wood pellets that are made from wood residues generated in the sawmilling and other wood processing industries.

"Wood pellets have taken off in North America as they are the only renewable, carbon neutral fuel that has achieved consumer acceptance as a mainstream fuel for residential and commercial installations. Wood pellets are not subsidized by the government and are half the cost of competing fossil fuels," said Lisle.

Lisle has been developing pellet-fired boilers and furnaces since he left the company in 2008. He has been a director of the Pellet Fuels Institute for 18 years, serving as its president for four years, and currently co-chairs its Government Affairs Committee. He is also a recipient of the Pellet Fuel Institute's "Pillar" Award for his contributions to the industry.

For further information, contact Bruce Lisle at (717) 436-2400, ext. 111.