HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYHVAC TODAY TM If You Don’t Measure, You’re Just Guessing! ™ hvactoday.comJUNE 2020 Industry Influencers of High-Performance HVAC ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Residential Air Balancing: Meet the Demands of the New Normal Virtual High-Performance HVAC Sales Contractor Spotlight: AC By J Has High-Performance in their DNA To m J o h n s o n , T M J o h n s o n B r o t h e r s St e v e C l i n t o n , S C E E n e r g y E d u c a t i o n C e n t e r J im D a v i s , N a t i o n a l C o m f o r t I n s t i t u t e , I n c . D a v e D e R o s e , M a s t e r w o r k s M e c h a n i c a lJUNE 2020 3HVACTODAY.COM JUNE 2020 VOLUME 4 NUMBER 6 HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYHVAC TODAY TM LEADERSHIP: Residential Air Balancing: Meet the Demands of the New Normal In this COVID-19 era, the safety and sanctity of people’s homes is more important than ever. Rob Falke explores how residential air balancing helps you meet their needs. COVER STORY: High-Performance HVAC Industry Influencers Welcome to the 2020 class who, through their selfless giving, work for the betterment of the Performance-Based Contracting™ community. SALES: Virtual High-Performance HVAC Sales Virtual sales is the way to help customers buy the comfort they need without the fear of COVID exposure. David Holt explains. 16 13 10 DEPARTMENTS Today’s Word .........................................................................................4 High-Performance Products .............................................................5 Contractor Spotlight: AC By J, Scottsdale, AZ ...........................6 Member Update ...............................................................................19 Photo of the Month .........................................................................20 HVAC Smart Mart ...............................................................................21 Ad Index ................................................................................................21 One More Thing ................................................................................224 JUNE 2020HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY ers, VoTech schools, and other organizations. In fact, in early April, National Comfort Institute (NCI) converted the Cleveland training center into a video studio in just a few weeks. It is complete with professional sound equipment and multiple cameras, most of which are pointed at hands-on setups that use working equipment and test in- struments. It’s all tied together with a robust on- line training platform. NCI’s curriculum development team simul- taneously reconfigured several in-person class- es into live-online classes, complete with quiz- zes and hands-on sections. NCI has been doing live-online training virtually every day since ear- ly April. Does it work? Just based on NCI’s experience, more than 80% of the participants said that while initially uncertain, some even fearful of the experience, they were pleasantly surprised by how much they learned. Most said they would gladly do it again. All of this is really impressive and makes me proud to be a member of this industry. Furthermore, it truly brings to light the impor- tance of measuring, testing, diagnosing, and re- solving comfort and energy issues in homes and businesses. Finally the world recognizes that the HVAC Industry is vital to people’s lives and well being — a fact we’ve known all along. So now is the time to communicate to custom- ers how important your services are and what steps you take to protect them AND your co-work- ers as we move forward. The more you ease their minds, the easier it will be to get into their homes, measure their systems, and solve their comfort, health, and efficiency issues. This is how we adapt and keep moving forward. And that is why I feel this industry is one we all should be very proud of. E verywhere you look these days the news is grim. Is anyone else as fed up with the COVID Pandemic reporting as me? As a member of the media, I cannot begin to tell you how tired I am of the sensationalist and irresponsible reporting I see on national televi- sion, in our newspapers, and especially via social media outlets. Be that as it may, I have no doubt that this pan- demic has changed our world and will leave its im- pact for a long time to come. It has changed the so- cial discourse and created a fear ethos that impacts the service trades as a direct result. But the good news is, at least in the HVAC In- dustry, we are fleet-footed and adaptable, and can quickly find ways to accommodate these changes for the betterment of our customers and our businesses. Frankly, we have a history of this. Examples in- clude finding alternative refrigerants in response to ozone depletion and global warming, overcom- ing oil market and housing crashes, and dealing with the after-effects of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Why should a pandemic be any different? Despite the fear being caused by so much over-reporting of pseudo-facts, this industry im- mediately began finding ways to ensure consum- er safety and at the same time, their comfort. It’s simply amazing how quickly the concepts of virtual service, sales, and the technology behind them have cropped up. Most HVAC training organizations quickly em- braced this and now offer contractors a variety of virtual technical and soft-skills training using cur- rent technologies. Contractors can now help keep employees and customers safe while still providing vital HVAC system maintenance and service. My email inbox practically explodes each day with training opportunities from manufactur- An Industry that Quickly Adapts to Change is One to be Proud of! Mike Weil is editor-in-chief and director of communications and publications at National Comfort Institute, Inc. Contact him at MikeW@ncihvac.com TODAY’S WORD By Mike WeilJUNE 2020 5HVACTODAY.COM NCI has a test port plug that will keep the integrity of that double-wall pipe. With its tapered design going from .25” to .5”, it assures a seal between the inner and outer jackets of the vent. Plus they are easy to insert and remove. If you’re worried about the test port plug melting, don’t! This thing is rated for 600°F, which is 50° higher than the rating of double-wall pipe. If this test port plug melts, you have bigger problems than a melted silicone plug. In addition to using them for dou- ble-wall pipe applications, they are more than adequate for single-wall and PVC venting. They are also great for use when air testing rooftop units. Because of their heat rating, they won’t become brittle and fall apart from long UV exposure. They ship in 100-count bags. So head over to the NCI store and get your heat- resistant test port plugs today. For more information or to purchase, go to ncilink.com/siliconeplugs. — By Casey Contreras, National Comfort Institute Field Coach and Instructor NCI’s Heat Resistant Test Port Plugs Who doesn’t like cones? I mean come on, there are ice cream cones, pine- cones, silicone, and traffic cones, right? OK, maybe not traffic cones. But for the most part everyone loves cones. If you haven’t been to the NCI store in a while, you will see coned-shaped test port plugs. These are essential for use during car- bon monoxide (CO) and combustion testing. You may be wondering why you should use a cone-shaped test port plug. The answer is simple. In our combustion class the hardest thing for students to wrap their minds around is installing test ports into double-wall pipe. They fear it will destroy vent system integrity. Written By HVAC Professionals for HVAC Professionals HIGH-PERFORMANCE PRODUCT REVIEW6 JUNE 2020HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY suppliers – the manufacturers and distributors – for help. “It was a blessing in a weird way,” Bryce explains. “We didn’t learn any bad habits. We took guidance from the people who build the equipment. That meant doing load calculations and using proper installation techniques very early in our careers.” Fast forward a few years and Jay’s son Brad decided to leave. So Bryce bought him out and then began the process of growing the business slowly. THE COMPANY TODAY Today AC By J is a $10 million res- idential/light commercial service and replacement company serving the HVAC and plumb- ing marketplace through- out the Valley of the Sun. Bryce says the company is on track to hit more than 20% growth in 2020, de- spite the challenges sur- rounding the pandem- ic. In fact, he says 20% growth has been the norm for years. Today the company employs 45 co-workers and fields 18 HVAC service vehicles plus eight plumbing trucks. And the entire operation is managed by Bryce’s business partner and wife Kelly Johnson. “She is the face and voice of AC By J,” he says. “She is the president and is a big reason we are successful. We promote the fact that we are a female- owned and operated business.” STEERING CLEAR OF NEW CONSTRUCTION In addition to Kelly’s management, Bryce attributes the company’s success to their decision, early on, to steer clear of the new construction market. “New construction was never in our DNA,” he explains. “We did do some, but much of it surrounded a patent I had on some hybrid geothermal tech- nology to make systems work in the desert Southwest. “We also took the route of private la- beling HVAC equipment. AC By J held patents on hybrid systems and was in a position to work with the mechanical engineers, but still retain control of ev- erything from cradle to grave.” The compa- ny’s success re- volves around its residential focus. Bryce says 25% of their total rev- enue is de- rived from res- idential HVAC service, 50% from replacement, and another 25% from the plumbing service. FOCUSING ON BLOCK- AND-TACKLING With the onslaught of the Corona- virus, the world changed, and Bryce says that has forced him to look at their processes and their systems and focus on getting back to basics – busi- ness fundamentals. S ome stories that spotlight Performance-Based Contrac- tors start with second-gener- ation offspring converting an old-school business approach to the Performance way. Others have to do with mergers and acquisitions. But when it comes to a one-time small, family-owned HVAC contracting business in Scottsdale, AZ, the journey to performance took a slightly different route. AC by J was founded in late 1983 by a father and son who worked out of their residential garage. THE BACK STORY During that first year in business, they hired their first employee, a young man named Bryce Johnson, who ad- mits that his original plan was to move to Arizona with his car and about $500 in his pocket. When the money ran out, it was time to get to work and he took a job with AC by J. Not long after he joined, the owner suffered a heart attack on the job and passed away leaving Bryce and Jay’s son, Brad, in charge of a company they knew nothing about operating. “It was an interesting time,” Bryce says. “Neither the owner’s son nor I had any experience running a busi- ness and had to figure everything out for ourselves.” AVERTING DISASTER He says they did something to avert disaster that, in hindsight, not many companies do. They turned to their CONTRACTOR SPOTLIGHT By Mike Weil AC by J: High-Performance Contracting™ is in their DNA Kelly and Bryce JohnsonJUNE 2020 7HVACTODAY.COM ADVANTAGES OF BTI Bryce adds, “When you take the over- head from the school and cross-polli- nate those instructors into continuing education for the team at AC By J, that creates a huge opportunity to step up our game.” That opportunity extends beyond just the HVAC team. It is product re- lated as well. Bryce says that recently, due to the climate and concern in the marketplace, plus the growing con- sumer awareness of everything from IAQ to how germs are spread, they are researching and exploring the en- tire family of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) products and sharing that information with the entire company. “Not just with the HVAC service techs,” says Bryce, “but with our plumbers and the office team as well. The idea is to get everyone onto the same page so we are all talking the same language when we make recom- mendations and provide advice to our clients and the community.” GEARING UP THE TEAM Another opportunity that Bryce sees is to further enhance an initiative that creates clearly defined career paths for AC By J installers and service tech- nicians. In the AC By J Service Tech Pathway, there are five career steps. “A level five is the top technician: the guy you wish all your techs would aspire to be,” Bryce says. “Each level requires a number of certifications to be achieved and has a compensation range that the techs can expect. Each has requirements for the types of tools they carry and their knowledge of how to use them. It is a pathway they can use to accelerate their career.” PERFORMANCE-BASED CONTRACTING™ Bryce says that he met Rob Falke very early in his career. In fact, he met Rob before National Comfort Institute was born. “Remember, as a relatively new business owner, I knew very little and turned to the manufacturers and dis- tributors for training. But I also turned to people like Rob, as well as the mem- bership organizations I joined, like ACCA, to help me learn every aspect of operating a business successfully and doing the right things technically for customers. “I became Rob’s first customer when we hired him to come to Scottsdale to teach a class. My wife, Kelly, and I in- vited him to stay with us and we held that first class in our home as well. We were sheltering in place before it was a national trend!” NCI RELATIONSHIP “From that point forward, we ce- mented our relationship with Rob and Dominick Guarino, ultimately becom- ing the very first contractor to join the NCI membership,” he says. Bryce also says it was in those ear- “To be honest,” he explains, “it isn’t all due to the virus outbreak. “I belong to an ACCA (Air Conditioning Con- tractors of America) MIX (Manage- ment Information Exchange) Group. They provide tough love and point out missed opportunities. “But then the shutdowns began and the world changed. I definitely wanted to batten down the hatch and focus on improving the fundamentals.” OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND According to Bryce, despite the bad news, there are a ton of opportunities for the HVAC Industry that should help companies keep the lights on and provide essential services to people who are spending more time in their homes than ever before. “With the shelter-at-home orders around the country, many companies are struggling because they lack cus- tomers due to their fear of being ex- posed to the virus. “But it is also a terrific opportunity to pick up training and certification for your entire team,” he says. “We have always focused on train- ing technically as well as on the soft skills side of the business. We consis- tently work towards greater under- standing of the impact overall system performance makes. We are now try- ing to take that to the next level.” He explains that this happens in a variety of ways. One of them is very unique: Bryce founded a state-accred- ited trade school called the Better Tech Institute (BTI) last year which is now licensed in post-secondary education. The school can provide diplomas to graduates. Kelly Johnson is not only the president of this family- owned business, but she is also its public “face.”8 JUNE 2020HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY CONTRACTOR SPOTLIGHT communicate with customers. Because of multi-tiered career levels, maintenance is typically done by a low- er level technician. If they encounter an issue beyond their scope, they call in the higher level techs to double-check and confirm the issue. Says Bryce, “We have a list of what we call mandatory second-opinion conditions. If we find things going on with the system that present opportu- nities that the customer needs to be aware of, we send a higher-level tech out to verify the findings. “The person who comes in for the second opinion usually has a broader level of training, experience, and un- derstanding of potential solutions and options. We like this two-step approach because it lets us offer clients educated opinions and professional advice as to what they should consider. “I want us to live up to the standard that pound-for-pound we are the best HVAC and plumbing contractor in our marketplace,” Bryce continues. He calls this operating in perfor- mance mode and says it starts with un- derstanding the customer and how they use their home, what their plans are, and what they do and don’t like about their comfort throughout the house. “Our techs ask leading questions like, ‘what is the most uncomfortable area in your house?’ We use that conversa- tion as a guide, along with all the infor- mation we gather technically through testing and measuring to find all the opportunities that might be there. “We also use the best technolo- ly years that his philosophy on train- ing zeroed in on investing as much as possible into the entire AC By J team. “We believe that if we are to present ourselves in the marketplace as pro- fessionals, then we need to be profes- sionals. This means we need to con- tinuously train and get certified in the disciplines that make us pros. In my mind, there is no going around that. “Training is one of the most critical aspects of running this organization. I don’t know how else to run a business.” SYSTEM RENOVATIONS AND AIR UPGRADES According to Bryce, the company has a substantial maintenance agree- ment client list and a very structured process when it comes to how they JUNE 2020 9HVACTODAY.COM Why? Because the Phoenix area has many excellent HVAC and plumbing contractors who do some testing and measur- ing and talk with clients about more meaningful things. Bryce says that makes for a more educated client base and that is a good thing. A PHILOSOPHY TO LIVE BY According to Bryce Johnson, if you were to ask anyone who works at AC by J what the purpose of the company is, they will tell you that “we exist to im- prove the quality of the lives of other people. That starts with our clients.” Bryce’s other rule to live by is having a passion for the business. “We see passion from the people we train with. NCI trainers are so pas- sionate about what they teach. It’s in- fectious,” he continues. “Everything NCI teaches is very rel- evant to running a performance-based contracting business. Furthermore, the HVAC business is an essential business. It always has been, but now more than ever. Consumers are real- izing it. The government certainly has finally recognized it. “This business can be really wonder- ful and a fantastic career. But only if you approach it with passion. Those who do have passion can take their business anywhere they want.” It is for these and many other reasons that High-Performance HVAC To- day has shined the spotlight on AC By J. Congratulations to Bryce and Kelly Johnson and their entire team. gy available to us – flow hoods, static pressure testing kits, CO detectors and monitors, high-quality leak detectors, air quality monitors – in conjunction with the conversation to put together a plan that offers the customer choices.” Bryce adds that their techs know how the equipment and ductwork need to be viewed together as a system to get a true picture of what is happen- ing in the home. “Sometimes this can be overwhelm- ing to a customer. But, oddly enough, this issue used to be more of a chal- lenge than it is today,” he says. AC By J service technician in action.Next >