High-Performance HVAC™ contracting often conjures images of sophisticated equipment installations, advanced diagnostic tools and training, and large, well-staffed firms with the resources to test, measure, and document everything they do.
However, the truth is that some of the most innovative and precise work in our industry is also being done by small contracting firms, with craftspeople who view every job as both a challenge and an opportunity to create something exceptional.
Few embody that spirit better than Dave Coziahr, owner of a very small HVAC company, whose dedication to precision and craftsmanship dates back three generations. Dave’s story is a reminder that “high performance” isn’t defined by company size or technology. It’s about a mindset — one rooted in curiosity, care, and the kind of pride that never cuts corners.
Humble Beginnings During Hard Times
In 1936 — at the height of the Great Depression — most families were trying to keep food on the table. Jobs were scarce, pay was small, and sacrifice was a part of daily life.
David Coziahr, his wife and co-owner Luanne,
David’s mother Nancy and father Walter.
For many, the idea of starting a business during those lean years would have been unthinkable. But for Walter Coziahr Sr., working for someone else who didn’t pay him for all the hours he put in was unacceptable, so he quit and started his own HVAC company.
In those early days, Coziahr was known for grit, adaptability, and craftsmanship. Dave Coziahr’s father, Walter Jr., began working in the company when he turned sixteen in the 1950s. After serving in the Army during the Korean War era, he returned home in 1959, ready to enter the family business full-time.
Then tragedy struck. Walter Sr. passed away suddenly, and at the age of 26, Walter Jr. found himself running the company.
Industry friends — mostly World War II veterans — took him under their wing. Over the next four decades, he built a reputation not only as a contractor but also as an active educator and trade leader, working with National Warm Air, ASHRAE, and contractor groups across the Midwest.
“We brought in seminars, brought in estimating experts like Fails Institute, and helped grow dealer education,” he says with pride.
Walter Jr. retired in 1999. But long before he stepped aside, he made a promise to himself to make Dave an equal partner.
Says David, “Dad trusted me to make decisions. He’d discuss things with me, but he never overruled me. That gave me the confidence to grow.”
Crisis Reshapes Business
Like many HVAC companies in the 1990s and early to mid-2000s, Coziahr heavily invested in the residential new construction sector. According to David, up to 60% of their work was new construction. When the economy began to slip in 2006, and payments from the general contractors fell so far behind that it crushed the under $300,000 HVAC company.
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