Building HVAC Science

Eric and I agree: Tersh Blissett would win the best-dressed in HVAC award if there was one. But beyond his dashing apparel, Tersh is a person of many talents. As a visionary creator of the Service Business Mastery podcast (now with co-host Josh Crouch), he is a font of wisdom and inspiration that has been flowing since 2017 when he became part of Bryan Orr's Blue Collar Roots Network with me (and...

Listen in as Eric and I interview two of the leaders of Malco products and learn how they have become the nation's leading solution developers and manufacturers of "tools of the trade" for HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning), exterior remodeling, and more. Joining us is Rich Benninghoff, President & CEO, along with Rebecca Talbot, Malco's VP of Marketing. They share with us the rich h...

Another post on LinkedIn is what got this conversation/episode started. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7104814299386171392/ Perhaps it was the architectural rendering of a piece of cake that caught my eye – well done Steven! (FYI as of this writing this post has 564 reactions, 59 comments and 45 reposts- that's influence!) Meet Steven Biersteker, architect by day and content...

Eric and I had a great conversation with Cindy Zeis of Performance Systems Development, https://psdconsulting.com/ , a company with the tag line: "Moving Energy Efficiency Forward" and description. We combine building science with technology to help utility companies, program implementers, and building performance professionals achieve energy savings.   This whole conversation was spurred by a pos...

DEFINITION of Culture Learned patterns of perception, values, and behaviors, SHARED by a group of people that are dynamic and heterogeneous. (diverse in character or content.)   I like having guests on the podcast share their journeys and important lessons learned along the way.  We explore these topics and more with Tim Destasio as he explains how he learned what he knows today.   From his start...

We had a great time interviewing the man behind the brand "Love2HVAC". Ty Branaman's passion for all things HVAC education certainly comes through in every conversation and interaction we've had. Ty has a lot of patience (and a small pointer finger thing) that help explain and highlight whatever topic is teaching at the moment. He stresses the use of tools, measurements and your brain to help teac...

I'm not exactly sure when I got introduced to the concepts of EOS, the Entrepreneurial Operating System. It was likely during my 12 week "crash course" in business with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business program or 10kSB ( https://www.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/10000-small-businesses/US/ ) – probably one of the 145 people in my National Cohort #6 mentioned it. I read the book Traction by Geno W...

Eric and I had the pleasure of interviewing Josh Teekell, founder of SmartAC.com Josh has envisioned, developed, and built a straightforward, EASY-to-install tech product that enables Smart Maintenance plans. Josh describes the net result for HVAC and plumbing companies is for them to maximize their revenue by dramatically increasing their membership conversion rates, lowering customer attrition,...

Meet Robby Schwartz, founder of the BuildTank and the BuildTank Podcast who aims  Robby on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robby-schwarz-b17b956/ I have been engaged in Applied Building Science, Resiliency and Sustainability, energy efficiency, Codes etc. since the early 1990's. My experience is varied, including several years working as a commercial fisherman in Alaska, traveling the world,...

My guest today, Alex DeGagne', is one of those very interesting people I have met in my travels in the last few years. Alex is CEO & owner of MINOTAIR, a manufacturing company currently based in Gatineau in southwestern, Quebec, Canada.  His main product is the Pentacare-V12, a compact, ultra efficient air exchanger that incorporates a HEPA filter, and uses a self-contained heat pump to control ve...

Eric Kaiser and I had the pleasure of interviewing the man, the myth, the legend (and our friend) Jim Bergmann in this episode. As Jim's business has grown, there are a lot of new updates, activities and events happening and coming up soon. Go to the mQ site for more details, especially the resources page: https://measurequick.com/resources/ Some significant quotes and thoughts from the interview:...

I've been meeting a lot of interesting people from the tech world in in the last year or so.  My new colleague at Duckling, John Hoehn, Shelby Breger at Conduit and most recently, Brent Davidson. Brent has created the first US Heat Pump Summit coming up this November in Berkeley, CA- links below for details. He defines success for the event as the attendees leaving with many new, meaningful connec...

This episode started in 2018. I have had the notion for quite a while (since 2018) of the need for a responsible contractor network or RCN. This came up when my widowed sister that lives many states away was having trouble with her HVAC system in her home. She asked who I might recommend. I had no immediate answer. I created a few basic principles of conduct, process, and integrity for RCN. I even...

"Art and sweat built the tool bag." This statement summarizes my interview with Roger Brouard, the founder of VETO Pro Pac. Roger shares with us the full story of his work life which lead him from a Fine Arts degree in Sculpture to becoming a carpenter and building wooden lobster boats – which is not an easy task, "it's like making a zucchini out of wood." Roger describes frustrations in using var...

Jennifer Manzo is a powerhouse. I do not know where she finds the time to do all she does. From running a HVAC business and raising a family in Maine with her partner Valentino Valeriani, to creating the HVAChicks Coalition to running a free tech support line (see below) and much much more, I really do not know how she does it! In this podcast she mentions it is one of her goals to help save the t...

(He blinded us with science) (Science) (Science) (Science) Actually he spends a lot of time illuminating us with details about building science.   Join us as Allison Bailes, "a well known troublemaker and a general pain in the asterisk" shares with us the career path that lead him to form the Energy Vanguard. You see, a vanguard is the group of people who are at the forefront of a new movement or...

Wes Davis joins us to provide some definitions, insights, and perspectives on HVAC Codes and Standards from his role as Director of Technical Services at ACCA - The AirConditioning Contractors of America. We dig into details of the ANSI/RESNET/ACCA Standard 310, The Standard for Grading the Installation of HVAC Systems, published in June 2020.  The 310 standard was written mainly to help builders...

Let me take you back to a time, long, long ago, when Jim Bergmann did not understand everything in HVAC. Listen in as we delve into the story of Jim Bergmann and how the communities of HVAC, and more recently building science, helped to encourage and challenge Jim to become the HVAC guru that we know today. From his self-described times of annoying the crap out of Bill Spohn, to his overlapping ex...

Connect and support: a kind and noble mission that can span all elements of humanity. Connect in one way to understand.  Connect in a second way to bring information streams together. Conduit Tech is developing a means of rapidly connecting technical information to help HVAC contractors excel - what a cool basis for the name of a new company!   In this episode, I am joined by Shelby Breger cofound...

A simple episode where Eric Kaiser (ELK) and Bill Spohn (OverKill Bill) riff on TruTech's business philosophies: Core Values, Purpose and Niche and what kind of actions we take to put these words into action in the world. Also what we feel it means to be a good steward to the industry. OH and cheer on #HVACLIFE team in the Maine 70.3 Ironman on July 30, 2023 featuring Chris Hughes (TEC-13.2 miles...

This episode should be helpful to business owners.  However, anyone working IN a business should find it interesting to know more about one of the topics on the mind of many business owners: business succession planning. After walking the walk of leading a $100M family-owned business through their transition, Laurie is now a guide to business owners providing a structured process to plan successfu...

Bryan Uhler calls himself a naturally observant builder. This personal characteristic has served him well as understands the residential construction market with some keen observations. Join as Bryan explains how he came to learn about building science, later building it into all projects. Also, hear about how he found this podcast by mistake! Here's cool description from of his brother's YouTube...

Listen in as Bill chats with… himself! Again! He shares some recent, personal and business encounters and discussions that left an impression on him. We hope you find them interesting.   This episode was recorded in June 2023.  

Trevor Matthews shares with us his fascinating life story: from the moment he shifted his life interests from travel and surfing into the trades and as it led to forming the Refrigeration Mentor a training, education and mentorship program for the refrigeration trade. Some notable thoughts from this episode: "You can get a handle on anything with your mindset." "Be prepared to pay the price in tim...

The 349 common connections Eric Kaiser and I share in LinkedIn speak a lot to the common perspectives we share. Yet, it's in the differences, in the weeds, where the conversation gets interesting. Please welcome Eric Kaiser as TruTech Tool's new Industry Engagement manager. And new co-host of this podcast. We call Eric the ELK, his initials, to differentiate him from my Co-Owner, Eric Preston. Let...