Eric and I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dominick Guarino the Chairman & CEO of the National Comfort Institute (NCI) about its mission to improve the HVAC industry through education and training. Here are the key points:
NCI's origin and mission:
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Founded in 1998 by Dominick Guarino and the late Rob Falke.
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Driven by the desire to improve comfort, energy efficiency, safety, and health in homes and buildings.
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Focusing on high-performance HVAC and the importance of measuring delivered performance.
NCI's activities:
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Offers technical training classes on airflow, combustion balancing, refrigerant side performance testing, and more.
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Develops and provides certifications, such as the only CO and combustion certification in the industry.
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Emphasizes the importance of communication and customer service for HVAC professionals.
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Helps contractors monetize their services by demonstrating the value they provide.
NCI's team:
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Composed of passionate individuals with industry experience and a commitment to high-performance HVAC.
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Key members include David Richardson (VP of training), Casey Contreras (trainer), John Perer (trainer), Al D’Ambola (trainer), Jim Ball (trainer), and Jim Davis ("Captain Combustion").
NCI's impact:
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Trained thousands of technicians and contractors over the years.
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Helped raise awareness about the importance of CO safety and proper combustion testing.
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Contributed to the development of modern CO and combustion analyzers.
Additional information:
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NCI has membership program with member benefits and a summit event every year.
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Eric Kaiser's first HVAC industry class was NCI's CO and combustion class with Jim Davis, which significantly impacted his career.
Dom’s Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominickguarino/
Learn more about NCI at
https://nationalcomfortinstitute.com/
This episode was recorded in December 2023