I didn’t choose the HVAC industry so much as it chose me. Back in 1999, an army buddy recruited me into a field I knew virtually nothing about. What I did know was how to train people — my last military tour was at the Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, where I developed training programs for soldiers heading into some of the toughest environments in the world.

That’s how I ended up going “off the deep end,” as I like to say, spending 15 years doing Test & Balance (TAB) in Texas across restaurants, retail, hospitals, military facilities, and every type of existing building nightmare imaginable.

Those years shaped everything I understand about air, systems, and why good balancing practices matter now more than ever.

A Career Built on Training and Fieldwork

My career took a major turn in 2012 when I attended a National Comfort Institute (NCI) class and later ran their Commercial TAB division for eight years. During that time, I had the privilege of working with industry rock stars and developing the training that many contractors rely on today.

Eventually, I joined Evergreen Telemetry — a company whose products I had been using on the side. Today, as Director of Field Operations, I get to train professionals, support contractors, serve on ASHRAE’s Test & Balance Technical Committee, present to unions and commissioning groups, and help beta test new products with our engineering team and contractors in the field.

Wireless Technology and Why It Matters Today

We started out using the Zigbee protocol — more secure than Bluetooth and commonly used for IoT appliances. Some government facilities ban Bluetooth but allow Zigbee, and for good reason.

Even so, contractors kept asking for Bluetooth compatibility with software platforms like measureQuick^®, and we listened. We’ve launched new Bluetooth enabled products, now in beta testing.

To me, that’s the future: secure, reliable, connected instrumentation that makes testing easier, faster, safer, and more accurate.

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