< PreviousHVAC SMART MART 30 APRIL 2023HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYAD INDEX HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY TM Publisher Dominick Guarino Editor-in-Chief Mike Weil Art Director Judy Marquardt Online Development Director Brian Roseman Circulation Manager Andrea Begany-Garsed Go to ncilink.com/ContactMe with your comments and questions. APRIL 2023 31HVACTODAY.COM Arzel Zoning Technology, Inc. | www.ArzelZoning.com ......................................................................... 5 Baker Distributing Company | www.BakerDist.com .............................................................................. 30 CI Web Group | www.CIWebGroup.com ..................................................................................................... 18 Daikin | www.DaikinComfort.com ................................................................................................................ 36 Duct Saddles | www.DuctSaddles.com ........................................................................................................ 22 Evergreen Telemetry | www.EvergreenTelemetry.com ........................................................................... 2 Fieldpiece | www.Fieldpiece.com.................................................................................................................. 28 FTL Finance (NCI Financial Partner) | www.FTLFinance.com ............................................................... 27 Goodman Manufacturing | www.GoodmanMfg.com .......................................................................... 33 Lazco Corporation | www.Lazcocorp.com ................................................................................................ 21 MeasureQuick | www.MeasureQuick.com ................................................................................................ 28 Microf (NCI Financial Partner) | www.Microf.com ................................................................................... 27 Mosaic (NCI Financial Partner) | www.JoinMosaic.com ....................................................................... 27 R.E. Michel Company | www.REMichel.com ...................................................................................... 11, 33 Sauermann | www.sauermanngroup.com ............................................................................................... 25 Southern California Edison | www.on.sce.com/hvac.com .................................................................... 9 TEC (The Energy Conservatory) | www.energyconservatory.com .................................................. 22 Testo | www.Testo.com ..................................................................................................................................... 31 The New Flat Rate | www.TheNewFlatRate.com ................................................................................... 30 To Your Success | www.ToYourSuccess.com ............................................................................................. 30 Tru Tech Tools | www.TruTechTools.com ......................................................................................................34 Advertiser Index32 APRIL 2023HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY with each of us trying to poke holes into a theory or a process. It’s what gave NCI the solid founda- tion upon which all of our training was built. Rob was never afraid to challenge or be challenged. It was in his DNA. ASHRAE 221 His life’s work in HVAC culminated in helping to create the ANSI/ASHRAE 221 Standard. For many years we worked on developing solid practices to quantify the performance of an air distribution system and how it impacted the over- all performance of an en- tire HVAC system. Once we honed it down, we realized we couldn’t hoard this knowledge and we had to share it with the entire industry. In 2016 Rob embarked on a four- year odyssey to make this a reality. He assembled a group of some of the finest minds in our indus- try with no-nonsense, real-world understanding of how things work in the field. With the help of some prominent ASHRAE members he formed and chaired what became known as the ASHRAE 221P committee. Pro- posed Standard 221 was titled a “Test Method To Field-Measure And Score The Cooling And Heat- ing Performance Of An Installed Unitary HVAC System.” Development of the 221 standard hit some bumps and potholes along the way, but in a record four short years it became a reality. ROB’S IMPACT ON NCI Last March at NCI’s High-Performance Sum- mit, Rob gave his closing talk about what we had I t’s been almost a year since our industry lost one of its greatest pioneers. Rob Falke was a mentor, friend, and brother to me, and to countless others as well. Together we founded National Comfort Institute (NCI), as a fledgling training organization exactly 30 years ago. We built the organization brick-by-brick, add- ing many new disciplines and great people to our ranks over the years. We had a saying, even in the very early years that “the pioneers are the ones with the most ar- rows in their backs.” I can assure you we plucked out quite a few over the past three decades! Rob was known as the father of modern Resi- dential and Light Commercial Air Balancing. But he was also known by the thousands of people he touched as one of the most caring and kind indi- viduals they’d ever met. He was often affection- ately referred to as “Doc Falke” by many. EDUCATION WAS HIS DRIVING FORCE Rob diligently worked to help contractors un- derstand the concepts of HVAC performance. Just as important, he taught contractors how to teach customers about it, and help them un- derstand the value of having someone trained in NCI’s disciplines service or replace their system. Education was at the core of everything for Rob, yet interestingly he had no formal training in ed- ucation. Instead, he intensely focused on how to teach so that just about anyone could understand complex concepts. One of Rob’s favorite tongue- in-cheek terms was, “butt-crack simple!” But Rob was anything but simple. He had a nat- ural curiosity and a will to unravel just about any technical challenge he came across. Many times I would hear him in his office, which was next to mine, pronounce with glee, “I got it!” Countless brainstorming sessions would ensue ONE MORE THING... By Dom Guarino Remembering Rob Falke Dominick Guarino is publisher of High-Performance HVAC Today magazine and President & CEO of National Comfort Institute, Inc. He can be reached at ncilink. com/ContactMe Rob Falke (Remembering Rob Falke continued on page 34)APRIL 2023 33HVACTODAY.COM34 APRIL 2023HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAY ONE MORE THING... not succumb to it. Some of that deter- mination was to make sure we honored Rob’s legacy. Rob’s absence was felt immediate- ly and intensely. But we also knew he would have wanted us to keep press- ing forward, and keep exploring new opportunities, not just for NCI, but for the tens of thousands of HVAC pro- fessionals we have had the privilege to train and be associated with. So we quickly regrouped and set out to make NCI and our followers better, stronger, and more unit- ed than ever. Now, almost a year later, we are well down that path, and in words that Rob and I often shared year after year, we feel like “we’re just getting started!” Rob, you’ll be missed but nev- er forgotten. Your legacy will, with- out a doubt, endure the test of time. I know that legacy was very important to you. You can rest easy because you have accomplished that and more, my old friend. Someday I know we will meet again, and you’ll have lots to share with me about what you will have learned about the rarefied air up there. God bless and keep you my friend and brother, always. just experienced as an industry coming through the pandemic. He shared a Chinese symbol for the word, “Crisis,” and explained that the symbol portrayed Cri- sis as Danger coupled with Opportunity. How were we to know at that time that NCI was about to lose one of its greatest treasures? Rob’s loss, just as we were coming out of the pandem- ic early last year, was a gut-punch like I’ve never felt before. Everyone at NCI felt a bit in crisis, especially myself and David Richardson, who took on many of Rob’s duties and had big shoes to fill. But with Rob’s smiling eyes watching over us, we overcame what could have been a serious crisis. We made an ear- ly decision to recognize the danger, but (Continued from page 32)Next >