Dominick Guarino
The House As A System, Part II
In 1994, one of my editorials as chief editor of Contracting Business magazine entitled, The House As A System, was also one of the first articles written in an HVAC industry magazine that identified the connection between the entire HVAC system and a home's envelope. At the time, research and the practice of "Building Science" were just in their infancy, but many people began recognizing the importance of interactions between the envelope and the HVAC system. ...
Homestar: There’s Still Time To Improve It
There's a good chance you’ve heard about Homestar, the $6 billion Federal energy efficiency program created by the proposed legislation, H.R. 5019, and S.3177 Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010. ...
How To Truly Deliver The "Green"
Unless we have a means to verify actual performance of the systems we sell, design, install and service, we’ll continue to miss the mark in terms of potential energy savings, peak load and carbon emissions reductions. ...
Self-Branding Can Enhance Differentiation
Much has been written on self-branding. A number of HVAC contractors have successfully taken the route of private labeling their equipment and accessories. Others haven't been so fortunate. So what do successful contractors have in common, and why have others failed?...
Your Image, Your Brand
This past October, the National Comfort Institute Annual Business Leadership conference theme was, “Through Your Customers' Eyes, Your Image, Your Brand.” ...
A Time to Build
Well, it's official. Sometime between August 13th and September 16th, 2009, the recession was declared officially over by U.S. and world leading economists....
A Second Chance for California, Part 2
Ed. note: In May of this year, Dominick Guarino participated in an HVAC Energy Efficiency Roundtable in San Francisco, CA. The Roundtable was held to...
A Second Chance for California
In early May, I had the privilege of being invited to participate in a 70-person HVAC Energy Efficiency Roundtable that met for two days in San Francisco....
Make the Most of the New Tax Credits
Educate your customer to understand the value of reinvesting the tax credit into 'fixing' their system to obtain delivered performance that exceeds 90%....
Last Word: Don't Cut Too Close To The Bone
Whether perceived or real, this recession is real enough in the eyes of the consumer thanks to our 24/7 national news. It's my belief that things are...
Last Word: Are You Working On Your Business-Really?
You’ve probably heard the old clich, that to grow, a company owner must work “on” his or her business, not “in” it. This is very true at so many levels. Not only is it nearly imposible to grow your company as long as you’re working “in” it, but because you’re the one controlling everything, you’re often the biggest bottleneck. ...
9 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Company
Theres a good chance youre feeling the effects of the downturn in our economy. Some have decided not to participate and are taking measures to minimize the effects on their companies....
Lessons From Living In a Foamed House
Foam insulation has been around for quite some time, but recent improvements to the products and application methods have made this approach to insulating homes and buildings more attractive than ever. There’s a good chance you’ll work on a foamed house in the near future. If you’re lucky, you’ll be brought into a project where the entire home was foamed, or better yet, you’ll get a chance to work on a new home where you can design and install with foam insulation in mind....
What Shade Of Green Should Your Business Be?
People often ask me what my stance is on the environment, global warming, the ozone layer, and most recently, “green.” My friends know that I’m fairly skeptical about some of the science and historical perspective behind much of the environmentalist hype. I do, however, think that regardless of whether the science is good or bad, we have an obligation to be good stewards of this earth during our short visit here....
Energy Efficiency Round II - Lets Not Blow It Again!
Have you gone “green” yet? Here’s a reality check: whether you believe in global warming or not, the U.S. is jumping on the big GREEN WAVE that’s building momentum worldwide, soon to reach tsunami proportions. It’s become part of our language with words like carbon footprints, carbon credits and white tags now being bandied about in Hollywood and corporate boardrooms....
Are you fishing in the right pond?
It never fails: Im attending an industry meeting and someone says, We just cant find good people. Weve tried everything, theyre just not out there! Many...
Get Out of That Truck!
A common gripe among contractors is they're just not able to "get out of the truck." In other words, they're still running service calls, installing,...
The Hole' in Whole' House Performance
Over the past year or so, my organization has been training an increasing number of home energy raters. As a result, we're learning a great deal about...
Educational Selling The New Frontier
In-home HVAC sales has evolved significantly over the years. Most sales training that was predominant until the mid-1980s taught high pressure tactics...
Has Our Industry Lost Sight of Quality?
Many signs point to the fact that quality in our industry is declining. Numerous studies performed over the past 15 years — some as recently as 2006 — have confirmed this. A fairly recent study performed by Advanced Energy in North Carolina found that 90% of HVAC systems don’t perform as they should....
Six Degrees of Separation Can Decide Your Reputation
Last October I entered into the masochistic process of building a home. I learned some valuable lessons and have a newfound respect and sympathy for general...
12 Steps To Becoming A Performance-Based Contractor
Over the past few years, you've become familiar with the concept of performance-based contracting. You like the idea of delivering measured system performance...
California Energy Policy: A Blueprint for Disaster?
Effective October 1, 2005 California's new Energy Code took effect, sending shock-waves through the state's contracting community. These new laws have...
Before You Call, Collect Information
One of the largest frustrations for technical support people is not having good information when trying to diagnose a problem or identify needed replacement...
Online Advice: Browser Beware
The Internet is truly one of the most revolutionary vehicles to hit our industry. During the past five years or so, the HVAC industry has embraced the...
