Twenty-two years ago NCI set out on a mission to help the HVAC industry move towards measured performance. At the time, we envisioned a future where most systems would perform at over 90% delivered efficiency. We believed the industry would fix most of the HVAC systems in  homes and buildings once the issue was recognized. …
Read more

What if you could offer your customers a system efficiency option of 57%, 78%, or 93%? No, this is NOT equipment-rated efficiency. It’s the operating system’s field-measured efficiency after installation and verification in a home. Here’s a sample proposal of the future. Field Measured System Efficiency Constant advancements in our ability to field measure the …
Read more

Red Ocean

About 10 years ago, a book titled, “Blue Ocean Strategy” was published by the Harvard Business Review Press. When I first read this book I recognized the things that we’d been doing at NCI for the previous 10 years were actually part of a blue ocean strategy. Our blue ocean was, and is, helping our …
Read more

The Thermostatic Expansion Valve (TEV) has become the refrigerant metering device of choice for most HVACR manufacturers in the past decade. Over time, countless valves have been needlessly replaced because of low airflow affecting their operation. A basic understanding of TEV operation helps tie the effects of low airflow to proper operation of the valve. …
Read more

You know, you just can’t win. For decades the U.S. government, through the auspices of the Energy Efficiency Act, the Department of Energy, and even the Environmental Protection agency have worked  tirelessly with electric and gas utilities and the consuming public to become more energy conscious and consume electricity more efficiently and economically. In the …
Read more

NOTE: This editorial was originally published in Contracting Business magazine, in the December 1992 issue, on page 4. We are in the middle of a very exciting time for our industry.  We’re finally getting back to the primary reason for our existence: TO PROVIDE COMFORT. After a 20-year derailment triggered by the energy crisis of …
Read more