< PreviousDECEMBER 2020 11HVACTODAY.COM Y ou may have heard of “Hot-lanta” Georgia. Well, the Greater Houston area is also well known for its heat and humidity during the summer. In fact, it’s classified as a humid, subtropical climate. It can be a tough place to live if your indoor environ- ment isn’t properly conditioned and controlled. Our customers, the Nichley family, were look- ing for a “forever” home that was large enough for their three young children and in which Michael and Lindsey Nichley could settle down and grow old together in comfort. After shopping around, they decided to move from Houston proper. Thirty miles due west from Houston, in the city of Katy, TX, they found such a house. Situated on a golf course, its idyllic setting and beautiful aes- thetics drew them in. The house is a 5,756 sq. ft. custom-built Geor- gian-style colonial with an attached garage. It was built in 1986 and has four bedrooms and a play- room on the second floor, with the master suite on the first floor. The comfort system consisted of three air condi- tioning units. The systems were single-stage, basic units with standard 80% AFUE gas furnaces. According to Michael, practically from day one, they had a hard time controlling the tempera- ture throughout the house. He says the kids’ bed- rooms were so inconsistent that there often was a 10°F difference between them. He and his wife both complained that the mas- ter suite was often very humid. The master suite has a southern exposure with many windows which contributes to the heat and humidity. The owners’ newborn baby stayed mostly in the mas- ter bedroom suite, so it needed to be clean and quiet in there. High-efficiency air filtration was also necessary because of the baby and Michael’s allergies. In addition to the issues described above, the family room downstairs has vaulted ceilings as does the entry hall, all of it conditioned by the first- floor system. Getting air down to the occupant lev- el was a challenge. We found high airflow resis- tance and poor air distribution. The systems were trying to cram all of the air into just a few, under- sized, “wandering” ducts. SEEKING HELP Michael and Lindsey knew they needed help and sought the advice of Lindsey’s parents. Her parents recommended Crossway Mechanical be- cause of a long-term relationship we had taking care of their home’s systems. So, we came out and did a walkthrough with Michael and Lindsey, listened to their comfort is- sues, and began formulating a plan of action to help them. At first, they wanted to figure out how to piece- meal a solution, looking at what they could sal- vage, and what needed to be replaced. Two of their air conditioning units were oversized and the third stopped working. For other HVAC contractors, this project could be very simply done. But the team at Crossway knew there was more to it, especially since they had recently completed training and earned cer- tifications in Duct System Optimization from Na- tional Comfort Institute. Our Technical Excellence manager, David Small, also has air distribution expertise as one of the technical committee members that col- laborated on the NATE Air Distribution exam By David Small and Brian Wright MANAGEMENT Beating the Houston Heat - A Performance-Based Home Run Because there was no builder floorplan for the house, Crossway had to create one using Elite Software RHVAC9. Leyla and Brian Wright (front, third and fourth from left) pose with the Crossway team.12 DECEMBER 2020HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY (along with Rob Falke of NCI). We had several months of using that training in the field when we ap- proached Michael and Lindsey on this job and asked if we could use their project as a live test. The Nichleys agreed. We then performed a full load analy- sis, full duct design, and so on. We fol- lowed the NCI processes and tracked the hours we worked. DOING THINGS THE “NCI” WAY Because the Nichleys wanted to look at a repair versus a replacement, we spent a lot of time upfront putting to- gether a price of what we could do to fix what was already there. We also gave them the option of having us come in to test and measure the entire system. The latter included testing the ex- isting system’s static pressures, tem- peratures, airflow, and so on. We used iManifold™ digital testing instru- ments that do the calculations and produce real-time data. We found a lot of deficiencies impacting the over- all system performance. First, the ductwork was very poor- ly designed, poorly supported (lots of sagging going on), and we found a lot of holes. Plus, Michael Nichley says the at- tic looked like “a duct superhighway making the two-story space unus- able.” He wanted it fixed so he could one day turn that space into a bonus room or rooms. Unfortunately, the house didn’t have an existing floorplan for us to refer to. So, we used Elite Software’s RHVAC9 program to draw floorplans based on our physical measurement of the home. We also used it to perform the heat load estimates and calculate air- flow requirements. (Now they have a floorplan!) In the past, we had mostly used stat- ic pressure testing for troubleshoot- ing. We didn’t fully comprehend how everything worked together until Bri- an took the NCI Duct Optimization and Air Balancing classes. After all our training, static pressure testing is NOW part of our daily routine. The result is we now knew how to properly correct the ductwork, all the undersized returns, and so on. Once all the measurements were completed, we crunched the num- bers and presented the Nichleys with two options: they could spend $20k to try and fix what was there, or for $60k they could get a complete renovation. Note that before this project, we had never presented a proposal that was that big in scope on a residential retro- fit project. It was also the first propos- MANAGEMENT A Home Like Heaven on Earth! By Mike Weil It’s always fun to speak with home- owners who have just experienced an HVAC project done using Perfor- mance-Based Contracting™ methodol- ogy. I interviewed Michael Nichley to see how things went and how he feels about his home a year after the work was completed. He told me doing things right has al- ways been his mantra and based on the “detailed and scientific approach” of the Crossway team, he felt this was abso- lutely the best way to go. “The execution by Crossway was phe- nomenal,” he says. “Totally white glove. They brought in a team and they didn’t bother me or my family once. They had a plan and they executed it beautiful- ly. The entire project was done in three days and the end-product is just beauti- ful – a veritable work of art.” He went on to explain that his goal was NOT getting a return on investment. “I did it for comfort,” he explains. “The result has been amazing. Our home is heaven on earth. We are so much more comfortable both upstairs and down- stairs. We can maintain a constant tem- perature throughout the house. “We don’t have to think about it any- more. We have zero humidity issues and in Katy, TX that is saying something. Our relationship with Crossway continues as we have a service agreement with them, and they have kept these systems hum- ming as well today as the day they fin- ished installing them. We recommend them all the time to our friends, family, and work colleagues. I really can’t say enough about them.” And that speaks volumes. Congratulations to the team at Crossway Mechanical. The attic space in the Nichley home was, as the customer described it, a ‘superhighway of duct’ rendering the space un- usable for anything else. Until Crossway completed their work! AFTER BEFOREDECEMBER 2020 13HVACTODAY.COM That price was more than $60,000 and we guaranteed we could eliminate their comfort issues. In Michael’s words, “The numbers that Brian Wright and David Small shared with me made sense. And with the financing Crossway made avail- able, I could afford to do the job right, which is what my goal always was. So, we opted for the full renovation, worked with Crossway to get the price down to around $56,000, and they went about the work.” “Their approach was the most de- tailed and scientific process I have ever seen with any contracting firm. They listened to what we wanted, they went over my options with me, and even made allowances in their calcu- lations for the new windows and attic insulation I was planning to install!” THE END RESULT We solved the comfort and air dis- tribution issues by dividing the home into three zones: ■ Downstairs living area/kitchen ■ Downstairs master suite ■ Upstairs bedroom and playroom. We replaced the three existing units with Amana two-stage 18 SEER com- municating outdoor units and 96% effi- cient, two-stage gas furnaces with ECM blowers. We redid all the ductwork us- ing R-8 flexible ducts connected to re- ally long extended plenums – designed with the “static regain” method. All flexible ducts were properly supported using duct saddles. We added new vent piping, new re- al that had ALL the details document- ed – both the design work and the potential outcome. Plus, we offered a great financing package to them. MAKING THE BEST DECISION Michael Nichley is a financial advi- sor. He understood what the numbers meant right away. The first option was to fix the exist- ing ductwork, replace the non-func- tioning air conditioning unit, and do other repairs to try and get the exist- ing system to perform better. The cost was around $20,000. The second option was a complete renovation, replacing all the equip- ment and visible ductwork with ones that are properly sized and custom- ized to meet the owners’ requirements. 14 DECEMBER 2020HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY ness model. This allows us to show our customers the before/after perfor- mance results … to help them see in real numbers the value for which they have paid. By the way, the result is a new sys- tem performing at .52-in. W.C. of total static pressure! THE PROJECT AS A TEMPLATE The Nichley home was a template for us to truly use our training in a real set- ting. The experience taught us how to quote the work, price it, do the work, and deliver a quality end-product. It was a business decision to invest in new processes and tools to take our compa- ny AND our customers to a new level. It’s the NCI approach to High-Per- formance contracting that has helped us in all this. And the best thing is that we find ourselves being so excited about it! This process has helped to re- invigorate us about our work, our thirst for more knowledge, and our creativity. Contracting is fun again. And, we are progressively “carving out a niche” in this kind of work in our market. frigerant lines, drain pans, condensate drain piping, humidity controls, as well as April Aire 1510 extended media high-efficiency filters and Reme-Halo air purifiers in all systems. The final touch was the Honeywell Pro Wi-Fi thermostats provided for each zone. When we finished the renovation, we commissioned all three systems by test- ing airflow with an air balance hood, took all the system static pressure and other measurements, and balanced the system to assure the Nichleys it was de- livering what we promised them. The furnaces were commissioned using a Bacharach combustion analyz- er and NCI protocol. We use the iMan- ifold™ tools and reports as part of our High-Performance Contracting busi- MANAGEMENT Brian and Leyla Wright are the owners of Crossway Mechanical, a Houston area contract- ing firm employing 14 people and grossing $2.1 million in sales. The company is mostly a residential replacement and service firm with three NCI trained and certified technicians on staff. David Small is the manager of Technical Excellence who holds the NATE Senior Efficiency Analyst certification and is a NATE proctor as well. Crossway Mechanical is a NATE Recognized Training Provider and Testing Organization.DECEMBER 2020 15HVACTODAY.COM H eat is the last step on the PATH to performance. If you have put the pre- vious steps of pressure, airflow, and temperature into practice, Btus are the result. They are an indicator of true installed HVAC system performance. Measuring Btus is the key change our industry needs to make. It can move us beyond just selling and servicing equipment to becoming providers of personalized comfort solutions. Not only does this provide new opportunities to better serve your customers, but it also enables you to show that your work does what you promised. As we look at this last step, I hope you see the potential for what it can do for your company and our industry. PRINCIPLES OF HEAT Before you can measure Btus, it’s a good idea to review what they are and how we define them. A Btu is the amount of heat it takes to raise the temperature of one pound of water, one degree Fahrenheit. The purpose of every piece of heating or cool- ing equipment is to deliver or remove Btus from the conditioned space of your customer’s home or office. Every equipment manufacturer pro- vides detailed information about how many Btus their equipment can add (heating operation) or remove (cooling operation). THREE TYPES OF HEAT There are three forms of heat to be aware of. They are sensible heat, latent heat, and total heat. In heating mode, you will typically measure sen- sible heat only. In cooling mode, you will account for all three forms. Sensible heat is heat that you can feel. It caus- es the temperature to change. When a system adds sensible heat to the air, such as in heating mode, the temperature increases. When a sys- tem removes sensible heat from the air, such as in cooling mode, the temperature decreases. Cooling systems also remove moisture from the air. As warm, moist air contacts the colder evaporator coil surface, moisture in the air con- denses. It then runs into the drain pan where it flows down the condensate drain. The moisture removal is latent heat, and it causes no change in temperature. Since a cooling system removes both sensi- ble heat (temperature change) and latent heat (change in moisture), you need to account for both. Total heat is a combination of the two and how manufacturers rate cooling equipment total capacity. APPLY THE BTU FORMULAS Of the three forms of heat, it’s easiest to mea- sure and calculate only two of them. They are sensible heat and total heat. Each of their corre- By David Richardson TECHNICAL Heat: The Last Step to Airside Performance THIS IS THE FIFTH IN A SERIES OF ARTICLES BY DAVID RICHARDSON DISCUSSING THE PATH TO PERFORMANCE: PRESSURE, AIRFLOW, TEMPERATURE, AND HEAT. The PATH to Performance: Part 5 We continue our series detailing the PATH ( P ressure, A irflow, T emperature, and H eat) to Performance. ● Read Part 1 here: ncilink.com/PATH1 (Overview) ● Read Part 2 here: ncilink.com/PATH2 (Step 1: Pressure) ● Read Part 3 here: ncilink.com/PATH3 (Step 2: Airflow) ● Read Part 4 here: ncilink.com/PATH4 (Step 3: Temperature). Remember, practice makes perfect. So, as Richardson explains, become proficient in each step before proceeding to the next. In the end, you will be able to deliver the greatest value in service and performance that your customers have ever seen. And that will help you deliver the most well-deserved profits to your bottom line. In his next article, Richardson will address what it takes to do all this and walk the PATH to performance. Stay tuned! The PATH to Performance: A Six-Part Series16 DECEMBER 2020HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY to compare your Btu measurements to the equipment’s rated Btu output. This is where you score the perfor- mance of an installed system. SCORE INSTALLED SYSTEM PERFORMANCE Once you have the Btu measure- ments from an operating system, you need to track down the manufactur- er’s equipment-rated output. If you’re testing a furnace in heating mode, look at the rated Btu output on the furnace nameplate. This is the num- ber that you will compare your mea- surements to. If you measure in the cooling mode, you will need to gather more informa- tion than what’s on the nameplate. You will need: ● Outdoor air temperature at the outdoor unit ● Dry bulb temperature entering the indoor coil ● Wet bulb temperature entering the indoor coil ● Airflow across the indoor coil. With these four variables, you can determine the equipment-rated Btu output capacity at those conditions. Once you have a system’s measured Btu output and equipment-rated Btu output, you divide the two to come up with an installed system performance score. National Comfort Institute, Inc. (NCI) introduced this simple test method to determine installed system performance over 17 years ago – the System Efficiency Ratio or SER. To score a cooling system you would use CSER (Cooling System Efficiency Ratio). To score a heating system, use HSER (Heating System Efficiency Ra- tio). In 2020, we refer to this method as a System Performance Score (SPS). A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE To expand on how to score installed system performance, I thought it would be fun to look at the first test I did with this method back in the win- ter of 2003. Little did I know how much we would come to use these principles in the following years. The home we tested in Central Ken- tucky had a 92% efficient, 100,000 Btu input, horizontal gas furnace. If everything was perfect, the duct sys- tem should deliver 92,000 Btus (92% of 100,000 Btu) of sensible heat into the home. That would equal an HSER of 100%. Since we tested in heating mode, we used the sensible heat formulas. To complete it, we needed to gather sys- tem airflow and ∆t. Our first step to determine heat- sponding formulas uses airflow and temperatures from an operating sys- tem to determine delivered Btus. I rec- ommend you start with sensible heat and then progress to total heat. The sensible heat formula is: Sensible Heat = CFM x ∆t x 1.08 ● CFM = Airflow measured at the fan or supply registers ● ∆t = The dry bulb temperature change ● 1.08 = A multiplier based on standard air conditions. The total heat formula is: Total Heat = CFM x ∆h x 4.5 ● CFM = Airflow measured at the fan or supply registers ● ∆h = The enthalpy change in Btus per pound of air ● 4.5 = A multiplier based on standard air conditions. Once you calculate sensible heat and total heat from a cooling system, you can estimate latent heat remov- al by subtracting your results from the two formulas. This is quick and keeps the process simple. Your imagination will determine how far you can apply these formulas. The simplest place to master their use is at the equipment to see how well it’s operating. From there, you can move to the duct system and see how well it works. With more advanced testing, you can estimate duct system losses and gauge the influence of outside air ducts and economizers. The application of these formulas is the first step to assuring a system per- forms as designed. The second step is TECHNICAL Similar to the EPA’s Energy Guide found on most gas-fired equipment, this System Performance Guide would highlight the Total System Performance Score.DECEMBER 2020 17HVACTODAY.COM peratures in the same manner and av- eraged them. Our average return grille temperature was 71.7° F. To get our system ∆t, we subtracted 71.7 from 120.3 to find a 48.6° F sys- tem temperature change (120.3 – 71.7 = 48.6). We now had the second piece of the sensible heat formula. Next, we needed to determine deliv- ered Btus from this system into the home. We plugged our total supply register airflow and system ∆t into the sensible heat formula. We found the system was only delivering 57,317 Sen- sible Btus (1092 x 48.6 x 1.08 = 57,317). To determine the heat- ing system’s performance, we divided our system measured Btus of 57,317 by the furnace-rated output of 92,000 Btu. This meant the system was operating at 62% of its potential (57,317 ÷ 92,000 = 62%). This lev- el of performance was unacceptable and not what our customer expected to see. Unfortunately, it’s common in our industry because it remains hid- ing system performance, or HSER, was to measure total supply register airflow. We used a TSI balancing hood and mea- sured airflow from all the supply reg- isters in the home. Once we had our readings, we added them together to get the total delivered supply air- flow of 1092 cfm. This is the first piece of the sensible heat formula. Next, we determined the system ∆t. With an accurate and fast digital ther- mometer, we measured the average supply register and return grille tem- peratures in the home. We chose three supply registers across the duct sys- tem to take our readings and then av- eraged them. Our average supply temperature was 120.3° F. We also took two return grille tem-18 DECEMBER 2020HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY ing Btu measurement. Having that foundation is important to you because there are a lot of mov- ing pieces that can frustrate you. You learn by doing, so get out there and start testing. You must get your hands dirty to master these skills. It’s important to understand that the equipment must be right before you can get the system right. If your combustion and refrigerant charge are off, there’s no way you can get the Btus even with proper airflow. Start with your installations, just like the other steps on the Perfor- mance PATH, and find what works and what doesn’t. We put the steps in place in the NCI training classes, but every company must use each step in a way that works for them. WALK THE PATH In the next article, we’ll look at what it takes to walk the PATH to Perfor- mance. We will revisit the importance of small steps and what it takes to build consistent habits, and what you need to know to add performance to your daily services. den without measurements. The good news is, because we DID do these measurements, we were able to “fix the customer” with a complete duct renovation which greatly im- proved the overall system efficiency. OBSTACLES IN THE PATH When we first began to measure Btus and rate system performance, we didn’t know the questions to ask until after we tested. It’s impossible to account for every variable before you start. Don’t let fear of the un- known prevent you from taking one step at a time. If we had not mastered the prin- ciples of pressure, airflow, and tem- perature, I don’t know if we would have been successful at implement- TECHNICAL David Richardson serves the HVAC industry as a curriculum developer and trainer for National Comfort Institute, Inc. (NCI). If you’re an HVAC contractor or technician interested in learning more about airside performance, contact David at ncilink.com/ ContactMe or call him at 800-633-7058. NCI’s website www.nationalcomfortinstitute.com is full of free technical articles and downloads to help you improve your professionalism and strengthen your company.DECEMBER 2020 19HVACTODAY.COM I n the world of Performance-Based Contract- ing™, training is the cornerstone to success. Even if you are not following the high-perfor- mance path, training is the secret weapon to keep your company ahead of the competition so it can better serve customers. Period. Here at Getzschman, we believe that a com- pany without training is a company destined for failure. Trained employees are ambassadors for your company. The more experience they gain from training, the more valuable they are to your entire team. TRAINING ON PURPOSE The key to putting together a program that keeps your technical team on top of the best tech- niques, skills, and processes is one that is done on purpose. It requires thought, planning, and of course, enactment. That requires you to have money set aside to cover the costs, and in our case, to pay our techs while they are taking train- ing classes. Sometimes, membership organizations have rebate programs you can use to help pay for train- ing. For us, our membership with National Com- fort Institute (NCI) has a benefit where a percent- age of the dollars you spend doing business with their vendor partners are rebated back to you in the form of what they call NCI Training Bucks (ncilink.com/bucks). We do a great business and buy a lot of equip- ment and tools through NCI’s vendor partners. So, we earn a lot of NCI Bucks, which we use to help pay for nearly all the technical training for our team. We often use those bucks to bring trainers into our facility to train just our people. We believe that is the best way to train your en- tire team in the most correct methods for testing, measuring, and diagnosing HVAC system perfor- mance issues in the field. We also do a lot of vendor training as needed for new products, new equipment, and new tools. That covers our outside training. Like many HVAC companies, we do a lot of internal training led by the company owners as well as our service manager. Our human resources manager keeps tabs on who has done what, who needs what, and maintains all the training re- cords. That way we have all the informa- tion necessary when applying for licenses and permits. Our service depart- ment meets weekly and the installation crews meet daily to cover job and code issues as they come up. TRAINING IS A PROCESS Training is a process that needs to be continu- ous for it to stick. It must be top-of-mind aware- ness. If you don’t regularly reinforce the im- portance of those processes to your people, the process will suffer. This applies not only to train- ing itself but to other processes like sales. For ex- ample, if we aren’t always talking about mainte- nance agreements with our techs, they soon stop talking about them with customers. It’s out of sight, out of mind. The same goes for training. If we aren’t contin- uously holding classes and teaching sessions, the lessons slip away, and techs tend to revert to old routines and habits. That is human nature. By Ron and Scott Getzschman TRAINING Training is Key to High-Performance Contracting Left-to-right: Ron and Scott Getzschman accepting one of many recognition awards over the years. This one is the 2018 Contractor-of-the- Year Award from National Comfort Institute.Next >