< PreviousCOVER STORY and works hard to spread the word and teach contractors how best to use all of it. In addition to his consulting work, Drew is also an accomplished writer and contributes articles to several of the HVAC Industry trade magazines. He is a regular speaker and lecturer for organizations like EGIA, the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), and NCI. He gives his time to several charita- ble organizations. He is a leader who has impacted not only the lives of con- tractors across the U.S., but the suc- cess and growth of their businesses. For these and many more reasons, the High-Performance HVAC To- day magazine team welcomes Drew Cameron to the 2023 Class of HVAC Industry Influencers. Congratulations to Nancy, Jim, and Drew. To see other members of the HVAC Influencers list, vis- it HVACToday.com and search for “influencers.” helping contractors increase residen- tial in-home sales and profits. In addition, in 1999, he founded another company, Flow Odyssey (formerly HVAC Sellutions), to help contractors with their marketing, ad- vertising, sales, and selling, as well as sales management, recruiting, hiring, training, and more. When you add all this up, the sum of Drew Cameron’s life has always been about service. He has said any num- ber of times – whether during a con- sulting gig or on the telephone with contractors, the HVAC Industry is a service industry first. It is not a com- modity that can be bought and sold based on a cheap price. He believes contractors must un- derstand how they serve people and that HVAC is about connecting with homeowners and genuinely wanting to solve their comfort and efficien- cy problems. He believes con- tractors provide a substantial value in the design, instal- lation, and maintenance of systems that deliver com- fort, performance, health, safety, energy savings, reli- ability, longevity, and value that customers desire and deserve. He also believes that tech- nology for system testing, air- flow measurement, diagnosing problems, and finding solutions is essential to the future of this industry company, his community, and the HVAC Industry. “We’ve spent gener- ations learning, serving, and growing, and plan to continue by providing the highest quality care,” he says. Welcome to the 2023 Class of HVAC Industry Influencers, Jim. DREW CAMERON From his early days of working in his family’s HVAC business in Phila- delphia, PA, Drew was drawn to the idea of positively impacting people’s lives and businesses. For 19 years, he worked in every fac- et of the com- pany – from installer to warehouse manager and eventually to the company general man- ager. He then helped broker a very lucrative sale of John H. Cameron and Sons to a lo- cal utility company. After the sale in 1996, he used his skills to help a wholesale energy com- pany called Conectiv Energy hire, train, and coach their residential sales team. Two years later, he joined Service Ex- perts to troubleshoot struggling service centers and help improve their market- ing, sales, and profitability. Helping is the keyword here. Drew’s focus remained lasered in on teaching, educating, and mentoring HVAC con- tractors nationwide with other organi- zations like Excellence Alliance, Na- tional Comfort Institute, and Energy Design Systems. The latter compa- ny was a software-based sales ven- ture which Drew and a partner bought out in 2014 and remains focused on 10 JUNE 2023HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYJUNE 2023 11HVACTODAY.COM12 JUNE 2023HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYJUNE 2023 13HVACTODAY.COM SURVEY SAYS … In a 2016 survey conducted by the Build- ing Commissioning Association, 75% of 300 respondents felt that duct air leakage was a sub- stantial contributor to energy loss, and 74% of them felt that their HVAC systems had duct leak- age of 15% or more. Think about the cost involved. For example, in 2022, the average cost of elec- tricity per Kilowatt hour in the United States was 15.12 cents. Theoretically, a five-ton HVAC unit produces 60,000 Btus of cooling. If 15% of the output of a five-ton system was leaking into un- conditioned spaces, that’s 9000 Btus an hour. Let’s say on a commercial building, it ran for 12 hours per day. That’s a loss of 108,000 Btuh or 31.65 kWh per day. Using the 15.12 cents av- erage cost, that’s $4.78 a day, or $1,195 per year, based on a five-day work week wasted on a single HVAC system. Now say there are 20 units in a retail space, office building, or educational facility: That’s $23,900 a year in wasted utility expenses. Grant- ed, this is a generalization. However, the num- bers I’m using are conservative. The average cost of electricity per kWh can be as high as 40 cents in some parts of the country, and many systems have longer operational hours. IT’S NOT ALWAYS ALL ABOUT SAVING MONEY Aside from the money wasted, imagine states such as California and Texas with higher cool- ing demand year-round and fragile energy grids where rolling blackouts are not uncommon. If even a fraction of this wasted energy can be harvested and prevented, avoiding such black- outs is possible. Since states such as California, D uct Air Leak Testing is a critical part of the mechanical construction process. Most commercial Duct Air Leak Test- ing (DALT) is specified to comply with ANSI/SMACNA 016-2012 HVAC Air Duct Leakage Test Manual. ANSI is the American National Standards Institute, and SMACNA is the Sheetmetal and Airconditioning Con- tractors’ National Association. All federal construction projects require DALT per the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) Unified Facilities Guide Specifi- cations (UFGS). The UFGS provides the specifications for all federal military construction projects such as NASA, NAVFAC, and USACE. You’ll find DALT under Division 23 for mechanical construction, specifically under 23.05.03, which are the Test- ing, Adjusting, and Balancing specifications. The Science of Commercial Duct Leakage Testing By Scott Fielder TECHNICAL In these days of electrification, commercial duct leakage testing is more important than ever, especially in states like California.duct leakage testing and who should be responsible for that work: CONDUCTING COMMERCIAL DUCT AIR LEAK TESTING: zStep One: Determine the Surface Area Square Footage of the Duct to be Tested z Step Two: Determine the Leakage Class and Allowable Leakage zStep Three: Determine the Test Pressure zStep Four: Isolate the Area of Duct to be Tested zStep Five: Pressurize the Duct zStep Six: Compare the Orifice Pressure Drop to Manufacturer’s Chart z Step Seven: Plot Actual Leakage zStep Eight: Compare Allowable Leakage to Actual Leakage z Step Nine: Pass or Fail the section of Duct z Step Ten: Complete Final Report. The first three steps are the design team’s responsibility: z Step One: Determine the Surface Area Square Footage of the Duct to be Tested zStep Two: Determine the Leakage Class and Allowable Leakage z Step Three: Determine the Test Pressure. The next step is the Mechanical Contractor’s responsibility: zStep Four: Isolate the Area of Duct to be Tested Depending on how the specifica- tions are written, the next step may also fall upon the mechanical contrac- tor to perform with the TAB team to verify and witness, then sign off on. Or it may be the direct responsibility of the TAB contractor to complete. When specifications dictate that the TAB firm is to witness DALT Testing, best practices are that the TAB firm lends the Mechanical Contractor the DALT testing machine. AFTER Mechanical confirms DALT passes, DALT Testing is scheduled with TAB & Commissioning Agent (CxA)/ Owner’s representative, etc. This process will save ALL parties time and money. z Step Five: Pressurize the Duct zStep Six: Compare the Orifice Pres- sure Drop to Manufacture’s Chart zStep Seven: Plot Actual Leakage zStep Eight: Compare Allowable Leakage to Actual Leakage. The final steps are typically the sole responsibility of the TAB con- tractor and overlap with the mechan- ical contractor. z Step Eight: Compare Allowable Leakage to Actual Leakage z Step Nine: Pass or Fail the section of Duct zStep Ten: Complete Final Report. NOT ALL LEAKAGE IS OBVIOUS Not all leakage is evident if the sys- tem fails and needs to be resealed. Sometimes it’s minimal, but it spreads across a wide area and can be signifi- cant. For example, two CFM is virtually undetectable. New York, and many others rely more on electric heat, duct leakage testing becomes even more critical. Around the country, many code changes require Duct Air Leakage Testing; however, these are currently the exception and not the rule. Most codes will allow up to 10% leakage and only require high and medium-pressure ductwork testing. Federal construction standards, as outlined by the UFGS, typically also require testing low-pressure duct systems. Ultimately, it’s up to the mechanical design team to specify more stringent standards regarding allowable duct leakage and which systems to test. FIRST STEPS TO DALT A few steps to commercial DALT start long before the testing appa- ratus is physically connected to the ductwork. First, you need to determine the air duct leakage class for the ductwork. You typically derive the air duct leak- age class from the SMACNA Air Duct Leakage Test Manual and/or SMAC- NA Duct Construction Stan- dards. SMACNA also has a smart- phone app you can use. The first step is to determine the al- lowable duct leakage. The design me- chanical engineering team typically does this based on the SMACNA Air Duct Leakage Test Manual. Following is a breakdown of the steps necessary for doing commercial 14 JUNE 2023HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYJUNE 2023 15HVACTODAY.COM TECHNICAL name states, the TSI/ALNOR PANDA, or PAN231, can test under positive or negative pressure. Regardless of the brand, equipping yourself to conduct commercial DALT requires a significant investment. However, that is the cost of doing the job correctly and why everyone isn’t doing it. Unfortunately, there is little train- ing available on how to conduct DALT. It is typically a skill set handed down from one generation of technicians to the next. Many SMACNA training centers of- fer courses in HVAC Air Duct Leak- age. SMACNA even provides online training for its members. Beyond SMACNA, be careful when research- ing training, as most courses target residential testing, which is an entire- ly different animal. In closing, Commercial Duct Air Leakage Testing is critical to the me- chanical construction process. As multiple municipalities and states move towards electrification, the cost of Air Leakage in commercial systems will skyrocket. There’s going to be more demand than there are contractors trained and equipped to perform it. The conse- quences will be more severe as ener- gy grids become more burdened and stretched. However, two CFM at 100 locations is ½ ton of cooling capacity lost. Often, contractors look for gaping holes or obvious gaps when the reali- ty is much more complicated and in- visible to the naked eye. Also, as a TAB professional, when explaining to a mechanical contractor that their system failed the Duct Air Leakage Test, you can present all the statistics and numbers and explain the physics and equipment. Still, they only hear one thing: “You didn’t do your job!” Regardless of the statistics and physics, the TAB professional must present this information as polite- ly and professionally as possible and be aware of what the contractor hears and thinks. After the duct is resealed, the seal- ant needs time to set. Twenty-four hours is a typical time frame. Test- ing too soon after resealing will blow out the sealant and result in a second failure. INVEST IN PROPER TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS Commercial Duct Air Leakage Test- ing requires very specialized and du- rable equipment. There are only a few manufacturers of these devices, most of whom are based in the Unit- ed States. The oldest and best-known is the McGill Leak Detective. Oriflow currently makes three models – the Cobra, Panther, and Rhino – all capable of testing up to 10 in. The Oriflow Rhino model can test up to 57,000 square feet of duct at four inches of water column. TSI/Alnor produces the Posi- tive And Negative Duct Accred- itation System or PANDA. As the Scott Fielder is the Director of Field Operations for Evergreen Telemetry , a Phoenix-based TAB equip- ment manufacturer. Scott has over 23 years in the TAB industry, including 15 years working in the Texas field and seven years providing TAB training and training development. He can be reached at ncilink.com/ContactMe .16 JUNE 2023HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYJUNE 2023 17HVACTODAY.COM ideas to help my business.” Jake Basnett of Basnett Plumbing and Heating, Littleton, MA, says that the conversations were “so lively and fun. I like how interactive the ses- sions were, and it is great to hear how other con- tractors are implementing performance and what they did to succeed.” “Our theme this year is, “It all starts with Ser- vice,” NCI CEO Dominick Guarino told attendees during the opening general session. “Service is where problems are often identified before your customer notices them. “Through testing, you can turn a service call into a replacement, system renovation, or up- grade lead. Done properly service can help you gather all the data you need to take the next steps with your customer.” H igh-Performance HVAC contractors took center stage in Branson, MO, from April 17-20 as National Comfort Insti- tute’s (NCI) 20th Annual High-Perfor- mance HVAC Summit got underway. Once again, Sum- mit was open to the entire HVAC Indus- try with the intent of shining a spotlight on like-minded peo- ple willing to share their high-perfor- mance experiences with peers. More than 100 contractors, pre- ferred partners, and other industry lumi- naries gathered to network, learn, and set the stage for the rest of the year. This year’s focus centered on the vital importance of service as the basis of High-Perfor- mance Contracting. Each session discussion was facilitated by a member of NCI’s training team. WISDOM OF THE CROWD NCI dubbed this the “Mastermind Group Ap- proach.” The idea was to draw from the Wis- dom of the Crowd to glean the best HVAC in- dustry practices for delivering high performance and quality. Based on contractor comments, this approach was different, fun, and provided great sources for many excellent ideas. “I’ve never been to any industry event that was done this way,” says Tom Hearn of Hearn Heat- ing and Plumbing, Madison, OH. “I really enjoyed this approach and am going home with many new NCI Summit 2023: High-Performance Starts with Service By Mike Weil SUMMIT 2023 REVIEW Summit Scholarship recipients for 2023. NCI provides scholarships to deserving individuals who want to attend Summit but need a little help to make it work. Recipients this year included (in no particular order) Ili- ana Aguirrie, Bluebonnet AC Services; Alex Bond, Schnei- der’s 72 Degrees; Dustin Cole, Cole Air; Tim Conway, Interstate Mechanical; Michael Greany, Air Rite AC; Mark Hanemann, Dynamic Air; Matt Hawkins, Harstone Heat- ing; Michael Housh, Housh: The Home Energy Experts; Manuel Magallanes, Aire Frezco LLC; Ben Moore, Rich’s AC; Ismael Saenz, Precision Air; Ricardo Soto, Casita Heating & Air; Kieran Stirling, Polar Bear AC; John Whitehead, Honest Heating & Cooling; Brian Wright, Crossway Mechanical. Dominick Guarino welcomes attendees during the open- ing general session of the NCI High-Performance HVAC Summit.diagnostics. The systems were pur- posely set to achieve low perfor- mance/low efficiency, and attend- ees were tasked with improving both. NCI’s Andrew Smith, Jeff Sturgeon, and John Puryear guided participants through testing principles, necessary instruments, and processes to help at- tendees discover the hidden defects impeding system performance. GAMES, IDEA SHARING, AND COACHING The Opening General Session kicked off Tuesday morning, April 18th. All attendees were treated to a rousing multimedia introduction, followed by an interactive game show called “Reach for the Summit.” The game show began with select- ing two random contractors from the audience to answer multiple-choice questions from real-world installation and service scenarios. The audience then had the oppor- tunity to vote via the National Com- fort Institute (NCI) Summit 2023 mo- bile app for the answer they thought was correct. The contractors earned points for correct answers, with the winner taking home a new NSI 6000 Low-Level CO Monitor. Each question was followed up with commentary by David Holt and David Richardson, who discussed the merits of each answer and which way they felt the audience would vote. The winner of the Reach for the Summit game was Hunter Wallace of Progressive Heating in Newnan, GA. Dawn Mroczek of GV’s Heating in Glenview, IL, came in second. JAN SPENCE’S KEYNOTE SCORES A TOUCHDOWN Noted lecturer, speaker, and author Jan Spence got the crowd fired up with her experiences as a professional fe- male football player and award-win- ning businesswoman. Through speak- ing, training, and coaching, this TEDx speaker inspired Summit attendees to work hard to realize their core val- ues and purpose to fulfill their service mission better. She set the tone for the conference. IDEA MEETING ROCKED Contractors convened for the pop- ular contractors-only Idea Meeting hosted by Vince DiFilippo of DiFilip- po’s Service, Paoli, PA, and Mike Weil of NCI. This meeting was divided into He added that Summit 2023 is tight- ly focused on the High-Performance HVAC service team and how informa- tion moves from them to sales, instal- lation, and beyond. That evening all contractor attend- ees and vendor partners helped to kick off Summit 2023 in Branson during the Welcome Reception sponsored by Daikin Comfort Systems. THE SESSIONS Summit 2023 included 16 discus- sion forums facilitated by High-Per- formance HVAC expert instructors from National Comfort Institute. Dis- cussion themes included: z Profitable System Upgrade Leads Through Testing and Diagnostics On Service Calls zKeep Customers Safe and Generate Leads with CO Safety and Combus- tion Testing zIncrease Sales Success by Properly Managing Service-Generated Leads zBuild Lifetime Customers with High-Performance Maintenance Agreements. LOW-PERFORMANCE TOWN Attendees were provided hands-on testing experience on several work- ing HVAC systems to learn about de- livering high performance through (Left) During the Low-Performance Town sessions, Jim Bergman of MeasureQuick demonstrates how this software helps capture airflow data from a working system. Nick Guarino dressed for success for his “emcee” debut as host of the Reach for The Summit Game. Jan Spence SUMMIT 2023 REVIEW 18 JUNE 2023HIGH-PERFORMANCE HVAC TODAYtwo one-hour sessions: one dedicat- ed to High-Performance Lead Gener- ation and the other to Sales. Attendees presented their ideas on each topic and then voted for those they felt were the best. The winning ideas were from: z Lead Generation: Dawn Mro- czek, GV’s Heating, Glenview, IL z Sales: John Whitehead of Hon- est Heating and Cooling, Marshall- town, IA. PARTNER TRADESHOW Twenty-two exhibitors arranged ta- bletop displays around the general ses- sion ballroom, so contractors could talk with them during breaks and regu- larly scheduled tradeshow hours. New at Summit this year was our “High-Performance Product Expo.” This ‘toy-store’ for HVAC contractors featured the latest innovations in tools, testing, and digital solutions from a se- lect group of cutting-edge companies like TSI, Evergreen, and more. All exhibitors also participated in NCI’s annual Preferred Partner Prize Drawing. AWARDS AND RECOGNITION BANQUET NCI recognized several companies and individuals for excellence in train- ing, technology, and sales. These rec- ognitions are the highlight of every Summit event and 2023 marks the 19th year that NCI recognizes excel- lence in the High-Performance HVAC Industry. Following is a rundown of the awards and the winners. CONTRACTORS OF THE YEAR Each year, NCI presents three Con- Dominick Guarino (left) and David Richard- son (far right) present the Small Contractor of the Year Award to Jason and Elizabeth Nichol, JN Electrical, Bowerston, GA. David Richardson (left) and Dominck Gua- rino (far right) present the Medium Con- tractor of the Year Award to Brian Wright (next to David) and Joel Torres of Crossway Mechanical, Tomball, TX. Cardinal Heating and Air Conditioning’s Dan Guttenberg and Luke Wrona were honored with the NCI Large Commercial Contractor of the Year Award. SUMMIT 2023 REVIEW Cliff Dennis (center) of Vassers of Richmond, VA received NCI’s David Debien Award for Technical Excellence. Ron and Scott Getzschman of Getzschman Heating (second and third from the left) along with some team members receive the John Garofalo Implementation Excellence Award from Dominck Guarino (left) and David Richardson (far right). This year’s Scott Johnson Training Excel- lence Award was presented to Tom Hearn (center) of Hearn Plumbing and Heating. JUNE 2023 19HVACTODAY.COMNext >