< Previousto understand that IAQ is a very complex subject. And there is no cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all fix. Each home and each customer come with their own unique set of challenges. Installing the lat- est gadget that your supplier is pushing may cre- ate more problems than the original issue. Re- member: prescription without diagnosis is malpractice. Working with clients and their IAQ problems requires a different approach. Most of the HVAC industry primarily focuses on selling new equip- ment and offers IAQ as an accessory, add-on, or afterthought. We need a paradigm shift because, as an HVAC/IAQ professional, our primary fo- cus needs to be IAQ and ad- dressing the specific needs of the customer. Equipment will be the add-on. Listen to your customer and focus on their desired outcome. Doing this will undoubtedly separate you from all other contractors. If you are not standing out, you are just blending in. GETTING STARTED The first step is always the hardest one, and ed- ucation is vital. I remember taking my first air balance class from Rob Falke over 17 years ago and how that knowledge was a game-changer for me. Now, I have the privilege of teaching a two- day IAQ Principles Workshop for Daikin/Ama- na/Goodman. Getting educated is a good founda- tional place to start. It’s all about the process. We are a process-driv- en industry. We have processes for everything: Y ou should follow six key principles when dealing with HVAC system per- formance and its impact on Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) within homes, business- es, and other environmentally-controlled places. But first, we need to start with some definitions. System Performance: This is the measured performance of a complete field-installed HVAC system compared to the manufacturer’s labora- tory specifications. The measurements will de- termine if the installed HVAC system operates as close to those specifications, including Btu out- put, airflow, and efficiency. The HVAC system in- cludes all equipment, com- ponents, filtration, and air distribution. Indoor Air Quality: The purity of the air in a specified area, especially as it relates to the comfort and health of building occupants. Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is a huge, missed opportu- nity for contractors to serve their clients well. That makes it an excellent prospect for the HVAC residen- tial marketplace. In fact, a 2021 report by glob- al market research firm Technavio on the PR Newswire predicts, “The global indoor air qual- ity solutions market is poised to grow by $10.27 billion during 2021-2025.” Take note: the report states “solutions,” not just products. Identifying these value-added solutions-based opportunities for HVAC custom- ers will drive up revenue for contractors. I be- lieve the HVAC industry is in a perfect position to serve clients well in the IAQ field. So, how do we accomplish this? We first need System Performance and Indoor Air Quality By John Ellis TECHNICAL AirAdvice™ Air Monitoring System OCTOBER 2022 11HVACTODAY.COM12 OCTOBER 2022HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY sensible latent ratios, airflow, stat- ic pressures, filtration rates, air ex- changes per hour, and leaky ducts, is a fantastic start. Then we move on to investigating the structure. Using a blower door al- lows us to identify pathways for pol- lutants to enter the structure. It is very important to know infiltration rates. We want to keep inside air in and outside air out. Air is the medium on which all things travel. One CFM in equals one CFM out. Next, we need to measure and iden- tify any pollutants in the space to “see the unseen.” Measuring and identify- ing such contaminants requires some specialty testing equipment. An Air- Advice™ IAQ monitoring instrument is a great entry-level tool for this pur- pose. By identifying what pollutants are in the space, we can also under- stand where they are coming from and how to get them under control. ANALYZE Having data is great, but we must understand that data compared to what the customer is experiencing. Examine your photos carefully. Re- view the customer’s questionnaire answers. At this point, things should start to make sense and become clear as to what direction you need to go. QUOTE We can now build our scope of work using the first two steps, investigate and analyze. This quote is customized for your client’s specific needs. The scope of work will usually be multi- tiered to address many different is- sues. Take the time to explain how each option works, what upkeep is in- volved, and how much it will cost to provide the various solutions. At this point, you can advise the customer on whether to replace the equipment to support the options you are offering. With some training, practice, and experience, you are on the fast track to becoming an IAQ professional. SIX KEY PRINCIPLES Here are six fundamental principles we should already use in our everyday HVAC businesses. These are founda- tional principles to help quick-start you on your IAQ journey. zThermal Comfort: We are in the comfort business. Thermal comfort how our CSRs answer the phones, how a technician handles a service call, how we do invoices, commissioning, installs, etc. How we approach IAQ is no different. Through the years, I have devel- oped a process for addressing custom- er IAQ needs: Investigate, Analyze, and Quote. You have to do all three, and you have to do them in order. Fre- quently, our industry goes right to the quote without fully understanding what’s happening in the space and its effects on occupants. INVESTIGATE The first step should be the investi- gation process or discovery phase. It’s during this phase that contractors go in and gather data. I start with sending a questionnaire to be filled out ahead of time. The answers to this question- naire give me an idea of what direc- tion to take the investigation. I take many pictures and always conduct a system performance test on the equipment. More often than not, the HVAC sys- tem can have the biggest impact on the structure and its occupants. Getting information on delivered capacity, OCTOBER 2022 13HVACTODAY.COM TECHNICAL comfort levels. Too little humidi- ty can cause mucous membranes to dry out and cause high static elec- tricity in the home. z Building Pressures: This gets us into building science and is very important. Having a slight nega- tive pressure in a home or building can cause undesirable results, such as gases, pollutants, or dust getting into the space. Even worse, negative pressure can cause combustible ap- pliances to backdraft, bringing car- bon monoxide into the space. Even when doing a load calculation, hav- ing an infiltration number is critical. zPollutant ID and Source Con- trol: You can’t address what you don’t know. Using an instru- ment like the AirAdvice monitor is is essential to how your custom- er feels. Frequently, uncomfortable conditions can intensify their health issues. z Filtration: Every HVAC system should have some filter in place. Un- derstanding how to design a filtra- tion system into an existing or new mechanical system is essential. z Ventilation: Ventilation is our in- dustry’s most overlooked part of an HVAC system. You will find that ventilation will become a vital part of almost every solution. And not al- ways for the same reasons. zHumidity Control: Give close at- tention to this aspect, whether there is too much or too little humidi- ty. Too much humidity can lead to microbial growth and undesirable always a good idea. I can’t stress this enough: source control, source con- trol, source control. In closing, you can diagnose the whole house as a system using these six key principles and the latest test- ing tools and technology. Then, you too, will be able to design and im- plement safe, healthy, comfortable, and efficient environments for your clients. JOHN ELLIS is an IAQ Specialist who owns Dynamic Air Consulting company. He is also a training coach for The New Flat Rate and an instructor for the Daikin/ Amana/Goodman man- ufacturing team. He can be reached at Dynamic- AirConsulting@aol.com.OCTOBER 2022 15HVACTODAY.COM industry. The balancing hood boiled down mea- surements that used to take 15 to 30 minutes to just a few seconds. Its ease of use led to the bal- ancing hood quickly becoming a trusted test in- strument for commercial air balancers. However, there was a shift in its application tak- ing place. An air balancer named Rob Falke start- ed using the balancing hood for something more. He transitioned the hood from air balancing and diagnostics to customer education and sales. Rob used the balancing hood to make air visi- ble to his customers. Remember this principle. It is one reason an air balancing hood is crucial to selling and performing Air Upgrades. A balancing hood allows you to show the dif- ference between what is and what should be. You can also use it to help you and your customers vi- sualize airflow. They connect the dots about why customers have uncomfortable rooms and what it will take to fix them. You and your customers can make the right decisions with the correct information. Howev- er, before making the right decisions, you must know how to use a balancing hood. BALANCING HOOD BASICS You can use a balancing hood for supply regis- ters or return grilles. It measures a series of ve- locity readings through a grid in the hood’s base. The velocity readings are then averaged and mul- tiplied by the hood’s base opening area to calcu- late an airflow reading. The calculated airflow in cfm (cubic feet per minute) appears on the bal- ancing hood display. The formula a balancing hood uses to calculate airflow may look familiar. It’s Area X Velocity = CFM. Most air balancing hoods are simple to use. As I ’ll never forget the first time I assembled a bal- ancing hood more than 20 years ago. It was also the first time I met Rob Falke. He grinned as I walked into the room at the Energy Man- agement Conference in Louisville, KY, and asked me, “Ever put a balancing hood together?” I was at an interesting point in my life. I was preparing to leave the HVAC industry because I saw no future in the business. As Rob showed me how to insert the skirt poles and adjust the hood fabric, neither of us knew how life-changing this event would be. Rob’s presentation, The Balancing Act, chan- ged my mind. It gave me hope for what our fam- ily company could achieve. The balancing hood played a big part in this. It’s one tool that helped save our family company and kept me in the HVAC industry. This article was supposed to be Rob’s. It’s based on a presentation he put together for the 2022 NCI Summit in Scottsdale, AZ —the last pub- lic presentation he would ever give. I hope I cap- ture Rob’s spirit here because I felt his influence the entire time I wrote this. Let’s look at air balancing hoods and why they are the go-to test instrument for Air Upgrades. A SHIFT IN APPLICATION In the early 1970s, an engineer named Ernie Shortridge built the first air balancing hood. It would revolutionize the testing and balancing Balancing Hoods: The Go-to Instruments for Air Upgrades By David Richardson TECHNICAL A balancing hood allows you to show the difference between what is and what should be.16 OCTOBER 2022HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY its limitations and how to best use it. HOW MANY BOXES OF AIR WOULD YOU LIKE? Once you have confidence in your ability to use an air balancing hood, it’s time to use it to create a custom- er experience like no other. As you use the hood to teach your customers about their HVAC system, it becomes a differentiator. It helps you stand out. For the hood to work most effec- tively with a customer, there must be pain. Getting your customers interest- ed is much more challenging if there’s no pain. Your questions often reveal pain points. Some are obvious. Others are not. Consider how doctors ask you, “Where does it hurt?” Chuck Worley of Worley’s Home Services in Yorktown, VA, has one of the best questions I’ve heard about getting to pain points. He asks his cus- tomers where they would like another thermostat in their home. The answer often reveals the most uncomfortable room and an opportunity to use the balancing hood. This approach to questioning chang- es the conversation. It moves the dis- cussion beyond equip- ment to the system and the repairs necessary to correct any prob- lems. Another bene- fit is this process puts the customer in con- trol of their buying de- cision instead of being at your mercy. They are in control. They decide based on data from their investi- gation. Before you take the first airflow measurement with a hood, you need a target. An airflow measurement without one is useless. That’s because there is no context for the reading. NCI teaches a quick and easy way to estimate room airflow in our Duct System Optimization class. It helps the customer set airflow targets and then see how close the balancing hood measurements are. The entire process is fun and engaging. Contact me for a single-page report and procedure if you want to learn more about estimat- ing room airflow. Once you set the airflow target, it’s time to let your customer discover a new side of their HVAC system. It’s one that few in our industry look at – delivered airflow. THE EXCITEMENT OF DISCOVERY Your best use of a balancing hood is when you don’t use it. That’s right. In- stead, let your customer measure room airflow. Put the hood in their hands and let them see how much I helped Rob assemble that hood, his first instructions were, “cubba da ho and mash de button” (Cover the hole and press the button). Once you master the following steps, you will also be on your way to knowing how much air is really mov- ing through a register or grille. zFirst: position the hood, so it cov- ers the grille or register completely. Rock the hood away from you to en- sure a tight seal over the register or grille before taking your reading zSecond: allow the airflow reading on the hood display to stabilize zThird: press the button on the hood to record an average airflow z Fourth: record the measured air- flow that shows the display screen. As with any instrument you use, un- derstand that every balancing hood has some limitations. Some of the most common balancing hoods read airflow over 30 cfm, but any reading less than this will show a zero on the display. The maximum airflow limit that most balancing hoods can read is 2000 cfm. Make sure you read the in- struction manual for your hood. Know Let customers use airflow hoods. This puts them in control. It changes the conversation and allows them to make smart decisions.OCTOBER 2022 17HVACTODAY.COM FEATURE OVERLINE use the right tools, properly train your team, and make the customer part of the solution. You’ll never need to wor- ry about bad results. Can your com- petitors say that? in our installations that we had to cor- rect before we could go out and repair other duct systems. Show your install teams how much of an improvement the hood can mea- sure on their duct repairs. It blew my guys away when they saw the results. It surprised them how much more air- flow they could get from a flexible duct just by straightening and supporting them correctly. Your install teams will see the value of their work and understand the dif- ference they can make to a customer’s comfort. Finally, share your results with cus- tomers. Transparency breeds account- ability. Hold your installers account- able to you. They will hold themselves accountable to each other. And your customer holds you accountable for your promises. That’s a scary place to be if you have something to hide. You create transparency when you airflow is coming into their problem room. Their responses are the best, so look for them. I’ve seen everything from puzzled looks to frustration. Be ready for anything. After the first response, there’s a transition you’ll notice. You’ll see the customer’s excitement of discovery as they become a detective in their home. They realize they finally know why they’re uncomfortable. You also real- ize they know more about their duct system than 95% of your competitors. Keep the education process and ex- planations simple as you work with your customer. Don’t try to sound smart, clever, or techy. Remember, it’s about them, not about you. If you do your job well, you’ll get the sale. Once they buy, you can fine-tune your room airflow de- sign values with more accurate, indus- try-approved design methods. TRUST BUT VERIFY The balancing hood has many uses, so don’t limit it to sales. Remember the original use of a balancing hood? It was for diagnostics and balancing. You should still use it for these origi- nal purposes. Use the balancing hood in air diag- nostics to uncover hidden obstacles in a duct system. We’ve found a lot of duct systems that looked great from the outside. However, static pressure and airflow readings identified hidden issues invisible from the exterior. An eye-opening way to use a balanc- ing hood is to verify your work. You can assure your designs operate as in- tended and show improvements from your Air Upgrades. My first experience with this process was uncomfortable. We found issues David Richardson at NCI Summit 2022 This article is based on a presentation given by Rob Falke at National Comfort Institute’s 2022 High-Performance HVAC Summit in Scottsdale, AZ. David Richardson presents it here in memory of Rob, who passed away in May. This session was titled, “Balancing Hoods: The Go-to Test Instrument for Air Upgrades.” In this article, David shares how airflow hoods allow you to be more accurate in your room airflow calculations, but also how it is a superb sales tool where you can get the cus- tomer involved. If you didn’t attend this year’s Summit, this article should give you the key highlights of what Rob originally shared with those who were there. Be sure to mark your calendars for the 2023 Summit, from April 16-20, 2023 in Branson, MO . David Richardson is NCI’s director of training. You can reach him at ncilink. com/ContactMe with any questions. HVAC SUMMIT 2023 HIGH-PERFORMANCEOCTOBER 2022 19HVACTODAY.COM While new prospects may offer new revenue potential and the allure of a large purchase, there are no guarantees they will buy anything. While you invest money and time chasing prospects and not paying attention to existing customers, don’t be surprised if those current customers leave you. Why? They may feel indifferent toward your com- pany, or another company poaches them by offer- ing to solve problems you miss. Plus, if you choose not to offer high-perfor- mance products and services to pesky problems that present a lower-revenue opportunity on the surface, you miss the chance to turn those small money fixes into larger income projects. Such longer-term scenarios can help your customer build their perfect home environment over time. SALES SHOULD BE LIKE CONSISTENT AT-BATS In baseball, you cannot always swing for the fences, or you end up striking out more often and hitting fewer home runs. However, if you consis- tently put the bat on the ball, you will get on base more, drive in more runs, hit your fair share of home runs, and win more games. In-home sales work much the same. The cus- tomers you serve consistently can eventually turn into a consistent string of base-hit sales, home run sales, or a referral to more base hits and home runs. COST STRATEGIES Regarding the effort to sell prospects versus customers, prospects require more marketing dollars to convert into a customer. High-per- formance home service contractors report the average cost to create a prospect can average $400. That cost increases to an average of $600 W hen it comes to selling to home- owners, salespeople are selling to new prospects or existing custom- ers. There are valid reasons for selling to both. New prospects offer the opportunity to serve a new home that is full of potential. This can lead to increased market share and a new referral resource. Existing customers offer the opportunity to elevate your level of service, expand your relation- ships, sell more products, plus solve longstand- ing problems. Existing customers often cross-pol- linate with other services you offer, with a higher probability of buying and spending more money. In other words, existing customers should never be taken for granted in favor of new prospects. Selling to New Prospects Versus to Existing Customers By Drew Cameron SALESNext >