Membership Information
  What is MHA
Why Should I Join?
How Much Does it Cost?
IT'S THE BUSY TIME OF YEAR!
It's that time of year again when the mason finds himself up to his ears in work. Everyone is busy getting their quotes out and making ready for winter.
The Masonry Heater Association is starting to think about next year also. Membership renewal letters where sent out Nov. 5th. MHA grew about a 30% growth in Full Voting membership this past year. We excited to see growth and really looking forward to even more growth next year.
The Fall/Winter newsletter will be sent out shortly. I'm working on various articles and trying to get committee's to send in their reports. There will be a change for next year. First the newsletter will be sent electronically. And there will be four newsletter per year instead of one. If all goes according to plan, you should receive your newsletter by mid December.
Our annual meeting and conference will take on a new look. There will be multiple seminars going on at one time. You can choose which one is best for you and your interests. While the business meeting is certainly important, we want hands-on and education to be the theme of the week. The dates are set: April 11- 17th, 2008 Clear your calendars, you'll not only grow professionally, but also have a great time.
Richard Smith - Administrator
MASONRY HEATER ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA
520-883-0191
email: rsmith@boreal.org
Spaces will be allocated on a first-come first-served
basis. Check out the exciting Agenda, and reserve your spot now.
What is MHA?
The Masonry Heater
Association of North America is a non-profit corporation dedicated to serving the
interests of the masonry heating industry and its clients. It was started in 1987 as the
outgrowth of an ASTM Task Group on Masonry Heaters that was started at the same time to
address building code issues involved in masonry heater construction.
Here is our mission statement.
Currently, the bulk of the membership consists of
professional custom heater masons, and in addition includes manufacturers, distributors,
and installers, as well as other people with an interest in masonry heating. Membership is
open to anyone.
What MHA has done for ALL heater builders in the
past:
The Association has a distinguished history of accomplishment that has benefited both
members and non-members alike. These include:
- developed ASTM Standard Guide for the Construction of Solid
Fuel Masonry Heaters. Lots of builders have used this to get them out of scrapes with
building inspectors and insurance companies.
- have fought successfully to keep masonry heaters from being
banned in Colorado.
- have fought successfully to keep masonry heaters from being
banned inWashington.
- have fought successfully to keep masonry heaters from being
banned by the Canadian R-2000 program
- have developed a top-notch MHA certification program.
We are using this to try to convince regulators in Colorado to reverse their ban on
custom-built heaters. The MHA heater Mason's Reference Manual is the authoritative
guide to the skills and knowledge that a heater mason needs in order to practice his
trade.
- have worked closely with the Hearth Products Association
(formerly TheWood Heating Alliance) to co-ordinate efforts related to emissions
regulations at international, national, and local levels.
- obtained funding for, and was the prime mover behind,
EPA-accredited lab testing for masonry heaters, thus allowing us to obtain EPA equivalency
in a number of jurisdictions.
- set up a private MHA-affiliated test lab and developed North
America's largest database of masonry heater performance tests.
- achieved exemption from Minnesota's drastic (and expensive)
makeup air requirements for woodstoves, based on a MHA research project done for the
Canadian government.
- MHA
News, our official publication, has a long and illustrious history as the major source
of masonry heater related information in North America.
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Why Should I Join?
If you are serious about
building or learning how to build masonry heaters, then you should join MHA. Not only is
this your best opportunity to gain access to quality information and knowledgeable people
who are happy to share their experience with you, but we need your membership.
Your annual dues are MHA's main source of funding, and help
to further the interests of the industry through such actions as publishing and presenting
peer reviewed technical papers, applying to building code bodies for recognition, and
fighting legislative battles as they arise.
What MHA is doing for members right now...
- your annual voting membership includes a free basic website on the MHA server. The website received 29,000 hits in Oct.- a valuable marketing opportunity. A single successful job lead through MHA will pay your dues for several years!
- access to valuable documents and information in the private member's area of the site.
- the opportunity to attend a one week annual meeting at Wildacres Retreat in the Great Smokey Mountains of western North Carolina on April 11th to the 17th, 2008 featuring hands-on workshops, a number of special guests, and an opportunity to network with your peers and develop professionally. The fee for the entire week INCLUDING accommodations, 3 meals per day, and a spectacular setting is only $350.00 (US)!
- working to develop seismic language for the building code.
- developing a masonry heater testing standard through ASTM
- A professional administrator who is actively promoting
masonry heaters with multi-media communication, coordinating, formulating and supporting
MHA members ideas, plans & goals. etc., and making sure that the organization is running efficiently.
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