ICE Group, NCI Host Excellent Conferences

water systems, cooling towers and automation -- convened its annual conference September 9-11 at the Westin Peachtree Plaza, Atlanta, GA. 

This year's event was hosted by Mallory & Evans, a group member based in Atlanta, GA.

The mission of the ICE Group is to improve the people, companies and entire commercial chiller installation and service industry with technical support and training, sharing best practices and maintaining positive relationships with strategic industry partners. 

This year's keynote speaker was Chris Fuller, author of Iditarod Leadership: Unleashing the Power of the Team and InSPIRED Leadership: Your Proven Path to Remarkable Results. Fuller's goal as a presenter is to help organizations execute with excellence and create teams that deliver results and build winning cultures. 

Fuller was the first speaker we've ever seen with experience in sailing, dog sled racing and mountain climbing. Each sport presents unique challenges and dangers, but to be successful in all requires the good ol' team approach. If we have lost the passion for our work that we once had, it could be due to leadership or ourselves. Why have you lost the passion? Could it be your team needs to rethink processes? According to Fuller, reinvention is essential whenever a business achieves a 30-50 percent growth plateau. "We need to grow to the next level. This also applies to young leaders we put in charge of people, without 'leveling them up' to new responsibilities." Do your young leaders have the capabilities and ability to handle the stress that comes with the promotion? Does the entire company have a mission that’s worth the run, and do we have systems that enable us to rise above problems?

Progress Report 

With the ICE Group now in its tenth year, John Claybourn, ICE Group member/leader and president of Oklahoma Chiller, provided a perspective on the group's success as a contractor organization.

“Ten years ago, we had our inaugural meeting at Chillco in New Orleans. I don’t think any of us expected we would have the growth and success we have had, although they were high. It’s remarkable how far we’ve come. Since then, we’ve grown substantially, not just in numbers, but more importantly, in influence and purpose," Claybourn said. "With that we felt a need to create a vision statement. And so, I will tell you to not underestimate the power of vision and direction. The board is focused on that, so everybody knows where we’re going and understands what the ICE Group is all about." 

The mission statement of the ICE Group is: Independent Contractor Exchange seeks to be recognized as the elite group of independent mechanical service companies with expertise in applied chillers and other complex systems. This premier network of highly engaged companies is committed to sharing knowledge, the relentless pursuit of innovation, and ongoing development of the best people in the industry.

“We feel this vision is accurate, compelling and worthy of our efforts. It’s important that we know where we’re going and state that vision clearly," Claybourn said.

R. Scott Tracy introduced new ICE Group members:

• Applied Industrial Systems, Spokane, WA.
• Shambaugh Services/EMCOR
• EMCOR Services MESA Energy NorthwestPA Industrial
• Jordan Steiner, YORK.

Tracy said the ICE Group receives many applications in a year and will accept eight to 10 percent of those. "We do our best to find people who can give back," he said.  

Why Do Some Projects Fail?

During a presentation on project management, attendees use the Vevox app to answer a series of questions related to project management: What defines a project? Why causes a project to

underperform? How can we better control the predictability of project performance?

Reasons for project failure or underperforming projects were discussed:

• the salesperson
• unclear scope or project plan
• bad estimate or upfront risk assessment
• poor project management
• cost escalations (after proposing / before authorization
• calling a project "complete" prematurely.

In the group exercise guided by Don Newell, PE/CEM/LEED AP and senior vice president of operations and innovations for EMCOR  Building Services, 70 percent of ICE Group participants attributed project failure to an unclear scope or project plan and a bad estimate or risk assessment. Fifty-eight percent attributed project failure to poor project management.

Additionally, Newell said projects can "go south" due to pursuit of "bad" opportunities that you’re unlikely (or shouldn’t want) to win; and failure to identify payment concerns such as slow- or no-payers. Other causes can be related to estimating issues, ineffective transition from sales to operations and failure to monitor and adjust during project execution. 

An evening networking event was held at the Chick Fil A NCAA College Football Hall of Fame.

Each year, the NCI Summt welcomes like-minded contractors who have put aside "swapping boxes" in favor of solving home comfort problems with testing and measuring according to NCI proven best practices based largely on the exact science of airflow.

This year's theme was "OUTPERFORM!" All workshops and sessions focused on helping contractors outperform competitors in general and outperform attendees' own sales and profits.

The 2024 NCI Summit broke the all-time attendance record for the event, with more than 200 contractors, preferred partners, and other industry luminaries gathered to network and learn. It also broke the record for the most first-time attendees. And, it was the first Summit to host HVAC Industry influencers who conducted live streaming and podcasting directly from the conference headquarters in the Asheville Crowne Plaza.

Many HIgh Performance Topics

Eleven main sessions were presented in rotation during the three-day event. Among those topics were:

• Take Your Testing Accuracy to the Next Level, by NCI Instructor Mark Hunt
• How to Build a High-Performance Culture in Your HVAC Business, by John Boylan, Lakeside Service
• The Sweet Spot, Where Building Science and HVAC Intersect, by NCI Instructor Rob Minnick
• The Air Updgrade Cure, by NCI VP of Training David Richardson
• High Performance HVAC Renovations from Start to Finish, by Dustin Cole, Cole Air, Inc.
• Customer Communication: Drop the Technospeak, by Chuck Worley, Owner of Worley Home Services.

Four hours were devoted to exhibits and networking. Partner educational sessions featured Daikin; measureQuick; RectorSeal/DustFree; TruTech Tools; and The Energy Conservatory.

No More Guessing

One of National Comfort Institute's mottos is, "If you don't measure, you're just guessing!" With that

in mind, National Comfort Institute Dominick Guarino spoke on "The State of High-Performance." Using an analogy based on the science fiction film, "The Matrix," Guarino contrasted contractors who "swap boxes" without testing a home's existing airflow characteristics ("blue pill" contractors) with those who use a variety of airflow measurement tools ("red pill") and proven NCI methods to ensure a home HVAC installation is performed correctly. 

‘Blue pill’ contractors know how to service and maintain equipment and swap boxes when they breakdown or age out. Unfortunately, those represent over 90 percent of our industry," Guarino said.

"When we start to measure, test and see what’s going on in that home, it’s not looking quite as good. Pressures are off, airflows are off, combustion analysis shows the furnace is not doing what it’s supposed to be doing. There are so many great measurements we could take," he continued.

"When we look at pressures and airflows and measure temperatures and more, we often learn that a home isn’t as comfortable and safe as it seems. Testing gives us ‘x-ray vision’ so we can see what’s under the skin, and know what to do to make homes healthier, safer and more energy efficient.

"The way I see it, those that made the decision to start testing and measuring actual performance have taken the ‘red pill’ and can’t ‘unsee’ the reality between the veneer that ‘everything’s fine.’"

The 2025 NCI Summit will be held in Austin, Texas, September 9-12.