hvactoday.comJUNE 2021 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: INDOOR HUMIDITY: PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS RENOVATION AND REDESIGN: THE CORE OF PERFORMANCE TRINITY WARRANTY SOLUTIONS: PERSONAL PARTNERSHIPS PROVIDE VALUE 20212021 HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVACHIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC INDUSTRYINDUSTRY INFLUENCERSINFLUENCERS HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYHVAC TODAY TM If You Don’t Measure, You’re Just Guessing! ™HVACTODAY.COMJUNE 2021 3 JUNE 2021 VOLUME 5 NUMBER 6 HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYHVAC TODAY TM TECHNICAL: Indoor Humidity: Problems and Solutions Ben Lipscomb, P.E. and Dennis Mondul discuss the importance of humidity for indoor comfort, air quality, and health. LEADERSHIP: 2021 High-Performance HVAC Influencers Welcome to the Class of 2021. This year’s group represents some of the top people working toward the betterment of the High-Performance Contracting™ community. MANAGEMENT: Renovation and Redesign: The Core of Performance Duct system renovations and redesign are the foundation of business for Punbar Ltd. of Houston, TX. Ronald Amaya explains. 16 12 9 DEPARTMENTS Today’s Word .........................................................................................4 High-Performance Product Review ...............................................5 Partner Spotlight: Trinity Warranty Solutions ..........................6 Member Update ...............................................................................19 HVAC Smart Mart ...............................................................................20 Ad Index ................................................................................................21 One More Thing ................................................................................22HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY4 JUNE 2021 For many in the HVAC Industry, ventilation is often overlooked. It is certainly misunderstood. You wield your influence as a High-Performance Contractor by addressing airflow issues first. The impact on your customers is they actu- ally receive the comfort and energy efficiency you promise them. And you can prove it via your “be- fore and after” testing and airflow measurements. Finally, as a group, High-Performance Con- tractors impact and influence the entire HVAC Industry. You demonstrate how testing and measuring provides HVAC service in the way it was always intended. Back in the 1980s there was a phrase that was kicked around in the quality circles of Ameri- can Industry: It was called DIRTFT (pronounced as ‘dirt foot’) or “Do It Right the First Time.” High-Performance Contracting enables you to do just that and is a delivery method that provides provable results. When you consider all these factors, you can see how your career influences much more than just your company. And you should be able to see all the opportunities that are available to you. According to statistics gathered by NCI, more than half the residential systems installed in the U.S. today operate well below their rated per- formance levels. In addition, the retrofit market continues to grow, especially now as we near the end of the global pandemic and demand for bet- ter Indoor Air Quality continues to rise. By providing duct renovation services as a stan- dard part of your company offering, you set your- self apart from nearly every other HVAC contrac- tor out there. You have a unique sales proposition and have more influence than you even know. As a High-Performance HVAC contractor, you are on a path to help influence change, even to evolve the overall industry as it exists today. S ometimes it’s important to talk about the vital role the HVACR Industry plays in the success, productivity, and profitability of the U.S. economy and our society. There is no doubt that without our technology, prod- ucts, and services, large swaths of the U.S. simply wouldn’t be as inhabitable as they are today. Many industries wouldn’t even exist without HVACR systems. Some of these include the phar- maceutical industry, food production and deliv- ery, medical industry, and others. HVAC even contributes greatly to the gross domestic product of the United States! That is a lot of influence. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines influence as having the power or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or in- tangible ways. They also define it as having au- thority, sway, even clout. When you add in the High-Performance Con- tracting skillset many of you are mastering or have mastered, the impact of your influence goes even further. For example, as a High-Performance HVAC contractor, you impact the operation of your company. Such impacts run the gamut from the technical and business processes you build to sup- port your team, to creating a culture that rewards your people and holds them accountable for com- pleting measurements and testing on every job. The other impact on your company is you be- come more data-driven when it comes to system design, diagnostics, and problem solving. In other words, you focus more on the overall system, not just the equipment. This approach puts the “V” back into HVAC. The fact is, ventila- tion may be the most important part of any HVAC system. Your focus on that enables you to find, what NCI’s David Richardson calls, “invisible de- fects” that competitors don’t even know exist. Do You Understand Just How Much Influence You Wield? TODAY’S WORD By Mike Weil Mike Weil is editor- in-chief and director of communications and publications at National Comfort Institute, Inc. Contact him at ncilink.com/ContactMe.HVACTODAY.COMJUNE 2021 5 back into the oil con- tainer. This is called the Fieldpiece RunQuick Oil Change System . If you want to minimize evacuation times, pick up the VP 85. It lets you quickly and proper- ly perform system evacuations. It even has a large oil reservoir window provid- ing a clear view of your pump oil. You’ll instantly know the condition of the oil and the system. The eight-cfm pump is equipped with ¼-in., 3/8-in., and ½-in. ports, so any size hose will work. Of course, using the larg- est hose will pull a vacuum much faster. Three-port and four-port gauges are ac- ceptable along with direct evacuation using a portable micron gauge. There are also two different settings for evacuation. Flip the gas ballast on and this helps pull down to 3000 microns quicker. Switch it off and the pump will go into a deep vacuum for the final run time. The pump is very rugged feeling. You know it’s been built with durable mate- rials, which is a must. If anyone is in the market for a new vacuum pump, don’t hesitate, make the investment in the Fieldpiece VP 85. For more information, visit the Field- piece website at ncilink.com/VP85 . — by Casey Contreras, NCI Field Coach and Instructor Fieldpiece VP 85 Vacuum Pump The release of the Fieldpiece VP 85 Vac- uum pump made me jealous of all you field guys. I’m very familiar with the qual- ity and craftmanship of Fieldpiece instru- ments and how they focus on develop- ing their instruments for the technician. I never thought I’d get the opportunity to use the VP 85, but I was wrong. I often help friends with installation jobs. Recently, I was doing just that when I realized I needed to get several tools. So I chose to get the VP 85 vacuum pump from Fieldpiece. I was shocked when I unboxed the pump because it came with two filled oil bottles. Why was this shocking? The VP 85 oil can be changed as the pump is still running and the old oil gets dumped HIGH-PERFORMANCE PRODUCTPARTNER SPOTLIGHT By Mike Weil 6 JUNE 2021HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY Rich Jurek Peter Dikeos Trinity Warranty Solutions: Personal Partnerships Provide Value I n nearly every business segment in the U.S., product and service providers often “back up” those products and services with extend- ed warranty programs. But what does that mean? Extended warranties are more like insurance policies, a safeguard against expensive, unforeseen re- pairs. They cover repairs for an agreed-upon period and can include parts and labor coverage. In the HVAC Industry, over the years, most extended warranty pro- viders operate with the backing of a single top-rated insurance underwrit- ing company. Then there is Trinity Warranty Solu- tions (ncilink.com/Trinity). Trini- ty is a third-party vendor supporting and partnering with the High-Per- formance Contracting™ industry through its National Comfort Institute (NCI) relationship. A LITTLE HISTORY Trinity began in 2009. It was start- ed by Peter Dikeos, who is the firm’s president. He looked at warranty companies that pre- viously served the HVAC marketplace and studied some of the challenges they faced. Based on what he learned, Dikeos designed a different extended warranty company that he named Trinity War- ranty Solutions. The most significant difference is that Trinity works with several A-rat- ed insurance companies. According to Rich Jurek, Trinity’s stra- tegic account manager, warranty com- panies are typically backed by one in- surance underwriter. If that company decides to stop underwriting HVAC pol- icies, the warranty company is no longer able to fulfill its obligations to the con- tractor and the homeowner. Having several A-rated insurance un- derwriters backing them is Trinity’s unique proposition, according to Jurek. In addition, he says that Trinity is a sub- sidiary of a larger, publically traded com- pany called Kingsway Financial (king- sway-financial.com). “As part of a publicly traded com- pany,” Jurek says, “we are regular- ly audited on our business practices to make sure we meet industry stan- dards, which provides a high level of accountability on transactions.” A TOTAL HVAC INDUSTRY FOCUS Rich Jurek has a storied background that began during summer breaks from college when he worked for the Sears HVAC group as a helper. He has been in sales in both the commer- cial and residential HVAC arena, and more. He brings that experience and industy focus to Trinity. Today, Trinity is a leading extend- ed warranty provider for residential and commercial HVACR and plumb- ing contractors. Their primary goal is to help contractors increase sales and improve customer satisfaction. “We accomplish this by giving con- tractors the ability to provide the best new installation guarantee in their market, which also gives them a supe- rior value proposition,” Jurek says. “This is done by giving contractors the ability to pro- vide a first-class installation prom- ise to their custom- ers, which also pro- tects the contractor. The result is that they can offer bet- ter home comfort solutions than their competitors.” The company is organized into two divisions. The Trinity Warranty Division focuses on providing Ex- tended Service Agreements to pro- tect expensive HVACR and plumbing equipment and complement manu- facturer’s warranties. Trinity National Accounts spe- cializes in facilities management, spe- cifically designed to handle HVACR and Plumbing assets for retail, com- mercial, and restaurant locations across the country. HOW TRINITY GOES TO MARKET Jurek says the company works with the three main channels in the HVAC JUNE 2021 7HVACTODAY.COM Industry: OEMs, distributors, and di- rectly with HVAC contractors. The company employs co-workers spread across the country. Most work from home because of the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. According to Jurek, once the restrictions are lift- ed, most will operate from Trini- ty’s headquarters in Lombard, IL. However, several factory rep- resentatives work from other parts of the country. “We also go to market through distributors and we sell directly to HVAC contractors,” he adds. CONTRACTOR DIRECT PROGRAMS Believe it or not, Jurek says there was a pandemic benefit for Trinity. He says it forced them to transition a lot of their business to online portals. “We have a very developed web- site that contains not only informa- tional content, but it also has tools available that provide a high level of contractor assistance.” Through that portal, Trinity can help create a landing page for the con- tractor’s website that explains the ex- tended warranty product, talks about what it covers, and why it benefits the homeowner or end-user. Trinity’s Contractor Center also addresses the differences between their warranties and home warran- ty products. It also provides con- tractors access to other services like personalized marketing materials on several different levels. These ma- terials include information aimed directly at a homeowner, such as a homeowner brochure. “So, contractors can take some of our marketing material and incorpo- rate their contact information into it. They can then use this material in THEIR presentations to homeowners. In other words, they can brand it to their own company,” Jurek says. RELATIONSHIPS ARE THE FOCUS In many ways, Trinity’s approach to relationship building is old school. Jurek says their success can be at- tributed to talking with and getting to know contractor customers personally. He says, “By that, I mean that we talk to and listen to our customers. I will call my customers and touch base with them to see what’s happening in their world.” He says one aspect of their reputa- tion is how willing they are to custom- ize their standard programs to meet customer needs. CUSTOMIZING PROGRAMS One example Jurek shares involves a commercial new construction proj- ect where a contractor is servicing a 500-unit multi-family residential com- plex. The HVAC contractor installs the HVAC system, but with the onset of winter, the general contractors and other subs begin using it to keep warm while they complete their work. “That eats into the one-year facto- ry warranty provided by the OEM,” Jurek explains. “If the building isn’t done until eight months later, when it is turned over to the occupant or own- er, the warranty has only four months left on it. “We’ll work with these groups to put together an addition- al year of parts coverage. So, when that building owner takes possession at month eight, he doesn’t only have four months of coverage left. He has one year and four months left. “We can do this because we lis- ten to the contractor and try to come up with creative solutions.” Another creative solution is Trinity’s policy of providing both resi- dential and commercial Extended Ser- vice Agreements that are transferrable. If a homeowner sells his or her home, that warranty can now be transferred to the new homeowner. This transfer provides value to the homeowner and is a sellable feature for the contractor. THE NEED FOR GOOD TECHNICIANS Rich Jurek’s background covers the gamut from working as an air condi- tioning helper to helping found an HVAC training school. The school was known as HVAC Tech, and it did something very dif- ferent than most technical schools serving the HVAC Industry. Its focus was on hands-on training, not only book learning. “We’d take our classes out of the school and into the field. Every class HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY8 JUNE 2021 PARTNER SPOTLIGHT did at least one system installation. Not in a lab, but on a job site,” says Jurek. Throughout his career, he saw a need for attracting young techs and savvy contractor owners. The savvy part comes from owners recognizing that students of HVAC schools have made a financial commitment and in- vestment to get educated and trained. “These young people are greater as- sets than the person simply looking for work,” he says. “If we don’t address the need for quality technicians in our field, this issue becomes the Achilles heel of the industry.” PREFERRED NCI PARTNER Maybe it’s Jurek’s educational back- ground. Perhaps it’s his career climb through various HVAC industry chan- nels, but he says he and the team at Trinity want to help contractors be- come more educated and savvy busi- nesspeople. The training provided by National Comfort Institute was a draw. A big part of that was NCI’s Training Incentive Partnership Pro- gram (TIPP). If contractors buy war- ranty programs through TIPP, they earn credit – in NCI Bucks – toward more training and certification. “This is very important to me, per- sonally, and to Trinity overall,” Jurek says. “We not only want to support NCI through this preferred partner program, but we will fully support High-Performance HVAC contrac- tors and become preferred partners with them as well.” He explains that a solid, well- backed extended warranty program offered to contractors’ customers is a powerful sales tool. “It says that you, the contractor, are profession- al and that you completely back up your work. “Trinity’s thought process is that we’re offering contractors a prod- uct that will help lock them into their end-user for the life of the agreement. It also enables them to build their re- lationship with the customer. If they don’t already have such a relationship, they will hopefully have a customer for life when the warranty expires. “We also believe that NCI-trained and certified contractors seek to differ- entiate themselves as quality organiza- tions with quality technicians. In that way, we are kindred spirits.”HVACTODAY.COMJUNE 2021 9 2021 High-Performance HVAC Industry HVAC Industry InfluencersInfluencers By Mike Weil LEADERSHIP D. GUARINO M. GREANY P. WIEBOLDTD. SQUIRES Every industry is served by people who significantly impact it — whether from the invention of technology or process devel- opment, from sales and/or marketing techniques, to training and cultural evolution. Because of their experience, knowledge, position in the indus- try, and relationship to others, these people impact its advance- ment. The High-Performance Contracting segment of the HVAC industry is no different. T hese influential people are not only members of the High-Performance Contract- ing™ community, but they work to help others succeed. In fact, by their actions, they contribute to the High-Performance Industry’s growth and acceptance throughout the greater HVAC Industry and among consumers. They believe in education and train- ing and continually seek better ways of doing things. They lead by example. They take what they learn and imple- ment it successfully into their business- es, then take the time to share what they learn during that process with others. The following “influencers” join our past inductees in our quest to recognize movers and shakers in the High-Per- formance HVAC Industry. We don’t consider the time or era in which they served. We looked at what they have done or are doing and the impact of those efforts on the industry. Our past inductees include: ● Steve Clinton of Southern Califor- nia Edison ● Jim Davis of National Comfort In- stitute ● David Debien of Central City Air Conditioning ● Dave DeRose of Masterworks Me- chanical ● Rob Falke of National Comfort In- stitute ● Tom Johnson of T.M. Johnson Brothers ● Don Langston of Aire Rite Air Con- ditioning ● Tom Turner of Austin Energy. So, without further ado, here are four influencers who directly impact the High-Performance HVAC Industry. Welcome to the Class of 2021: DOMINICK GUARINO, CEO, NATIONAL COMFORT INSTITUTE, CLEVELAND, OH When you think of National Comfort Institute, Dominick Guarino and Rob Falke immediately come to mind. Both are the founders of the only indepen- dent High-Performance HVAC training and certification organization in the in-Next >