The Future of HVAC

Posted on March 9, 2010

One of today’s learning labs had a title that summed it all up—"The Future of HVAC is Not HVAC."

Contractors have a tremendous opportunity to expand their businesses if they open their minds to the changing political and energy climate, and embrace whole systems thinking, according to the workshop’s panel, which included Mike Murphy, Larry Taylor, Ray Isaac, and Stan Johnson.

If they don't, they may face a future as sub-contracted labor for pennies on the dollar. Taylor, Isaac and Johnson shared their visions of the future and their individual experiences in the exciting new world that is replacing HVAC contracting as we know it.

"We're not going to be in the industry we're in right now in just a couple of years," said Isaac. "I like it. It provides a whole other way to get into the home. It makes us the solution contractor."

"You can be a visionary and get ahead of your market or you can wait for your government to push you into it," Johnson, outgoing ACCA chair, said about home performance auditing. "If you do it and do it right, you've got a customer for life. You're not just fixing their air conditioning, you're solving their problems."

Getting involved in home performance contracting can be onerous, the panelists reported, as it requires more training, additional equipment and a person dedicated to keeping up with swiftly-changing regulations. But it can be a great source of differentiation, they said. "The top level people are doing this," Isaac said. "If you do it right, it really is a great opportunity to take your contracting business to the next level."

Other workshops on a variety of HVACR business topics are continually presented this week in Tampa as part of ACCA’s 42nd Annual Conference and Indoor Air Expo. Read all of our blogs and news updates from the event at www.accaconference.com, or from your mobile phone at www.acca10.com.