This podcast raises an awareness: If new building codes pertaining to HVAC are mandated after COVID-19, there will be a ripple effect in the industry. They will affect HVAC design, equipment installation, energy efficiency, and local laws. Use this down time to recreate yourself and learn something new, use the online resources that didn't exist in 1918.

Meet Dawn Jones Redstone. Dawn worked as a union carpenter before teaching at Oregon Tradeswomen, a non-profit that helps women access living wage careers in construction. During the sixteen years she spent in these positions, she was also making films and is now a full-time filmmaker. Dawn made a short film called Sista in the Brotherhood, which involves a female African American apprentice carpenter who experiences discrimination on the job site and has to choose between making a stand and keeping her job. After winning multiple awards during its festival run, the construction industry began using it as a training tool. Dawn explains why using her film for this purpose is quite different compared to other training methods. I think that the film does a fantastic job at depicting what actually does exist in the construction industry. Currently doing research in pursuit of making a feature-length film, Dawn had the chance to talk to a woman whose job it is to ensure that her company is meeting its workforce diversity requirements. This particular woman had great success in doing so, and Dawn tells us how she was able to achieve this with a focus on her hiring practices. When we hear about diversity quotas, men sometimes get upset and think “just because she’s a girl, that’s the only reason she’s getting hired.” It bothers me to hear people say that. When women get into these positions, they do have a level of responsibility. I love when women utilize their opportunities to make a great change, which the woman Dawn talks about is doing. Dawn tells us about how the process of making her feature-length film is going and provides a timeline for when she hopes to have the final script finished. We learn more about how the film is being used to train people, as Dawn mentions that even the United States Department of Labor has recently picked it up. Dawn and I discuss some more about why conveying this message in a film makes for a more impactful experience. Be sure to visit her website Sista in the Brotherhood: http://www.sistainthebrotherhood.com/  

Meet Nancy Novak, she is the Senior Vice President of Construction at Compass Datacenters and has been working in construction for many years, you can see her bio here. I first discovered Nancy through a LinkedIn post she shared back in February this year. I checked out her profile, immediately recognized our similar interests, and did what most people on LinkedIn do; I requested to connect and messaged her to be on the show. After many attempts to sync our calendars, we were finally able to connect and on April 22nd, we made it happen. Below is just a glimpse of our insightful conversation. Nancy cites that there is so much opportunity in the industry, yet few people know about it. She likes teaching children about this from a very young age and emphasized the lack of construction visibility at most school career days and the importance of educating teachers about the industry as well. I briefly shared Mike Rowe’s worse advice he got from his guidance counsellor, when he was in high school, back in 1977. According to Nancy, there is currently a perfect storm of supply and demand when it comes to construction jobs. She explains why this has caused ideal conditions for driving towards more inclusion in the field. She discusses the fact that construction jobs are never thought of as STEM jobs because people don’t realize how fascinating the industry truly is and how construction allows for learning in so many different areas with the variety of skill levels involved. After most of Nancy’s speeches given throughout the country she is very optimistic when men come up to her to ask how they can help females. Nancy gives her thoughts on the way that men and women view competition between each other and talks about the reasons that each gender stays in their positions. It’s a systemic problem, it's how we were raised. There’s much training that must be provided to both women and men on diversity and inclusion. When we modify the testing so it is done in a way that focuses on attributes instead of giving a simple yes-or-no answer, we understand a person’s strength and it’s the only way to foster better leaders. About three quarters of finding success in diversity, stems from just having the desire to be in the field. Nancy says that when top management makes their company policies, they should be created in a neutral way and normalizing new actions will make them actually happen. 

While facing growing, life-threatening risks from climate change, city leaders across the US have pledged to completely transform their cities to meet clean energy goals within 30 years or less.  Many believe that turning these promises into a reality will never happen on this aggressive timeline.  H.G Chissell is the Founder and CEO of Advanced Energy Group, a quarterly stakeholder engagement platform focused on collaborative leadership operating in New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago and San Francisco. In this podcast, I discuss with H.G. Chissell the different approach Advanced Energy Group takes to help cities and their communities achieve the seemingly impossible. You can listen to our interview directly on the web by clicking on the player above or listen on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. To request an invitation to participate in these stakeholder meetings, please visit the calendar section of the Advanced Energy Group website where you can also see the impressive list supporting companies and organizations as well as a wealth of information on what each city is doing quarter after quarter on the road to 2050.

On October 1st 2015 Hurricane Joaquin took down the SS El Faro cargo ship along with the lives of 33 people. This tragic event ranks as one of the worst Maritime disasters in the United States history. Sophia Meyer, a 16-year-old Thornton Academy student from Maine became interested in the El Faro after reading an article about a year ago. She wanted to learn more and decided to research the El Faro for the 2019 History Day Contest. In her research she found out there was an additional ship the SS Matsonia. Liz Gotthelf wrote an article posted by the Journal Tribune on February 18th 2019 highlighting Sophia’s research. I was impressed by this 16 year Old’s desire to learn about the Maritime industry and I wanted to get an interview with her. Only days after Liz Gotthelf’s article was posted about Sophia’s research, the Matsonia was discovered to have a crack in it’s hull. On February 28th, 2019 I was lucky enough to get Sophia on the phone and had the following interview. 

A little bit about Geir Isene, he is a nerd from Norway. Yes I said that! He loves mathematics, astronomy, astrophysics, particle physics, chemistry, hardware and software. He is the most diverse person I’ve had on my podcasts to date. What’s most awesome is that he helps people, he is a coach and mentor who inspires others to reach their goals and potentials. If you would like to learn more about him, you can visit his website. https://isene.org  Geir held a workshop at the annual WISTA conference (WISTA being the “Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association”) and after leaving Tromsø he launched the podcast: Women will be last to be replaced by robots and AI - that title intrigued me to listen to his episode and after I asked him to be on my show. Since the points he made concentrated on men, I asked, So how will men stay significant? Listen to the episode to hear what was said. The music on this podcast “Clouds” was produced by Geir Isene.

Before I apologize for not launching an episode in over a year, I want to thank the operator who called me out on this. I was at a hospital the other day, an operator opened up his podcast app and showed me my cover photo and asked, “is that you?” I smiled and said "yes", he then said, “You haven’t launched one in a real long time”. That’s when I knew he was a true subscriber. Thank you for for calling me out, it has inspired me to get me back on it. When I initially launched the first episode I didn’t know if the industry was ready for it. Heck some of the guys were still using flip phones but I was told, “build it and they will come”. I’m glad I did because they are listening. If you know of any products or services that save energy, will impact owners, and help operations please let me know, I’d love to learn about it and have you as a future guest. https://www.ebs.nyc/contact/ (background music provided by Geir Isene)

Asit has taught over 2,200 students in several different courses related to energy efficiency in multi family residential buildings ranging from 20 to 1000 units. His students include facility maintenance and operations staff, facility management and owners, trade contractors, as well as other energy and engineering professionals. Asit and I met when I spoke on the topic of Preventative Maintenance at AEE in 2015 and again when he discussed Condensing Boilers at NYC’s 32BJ Union in 2016. I asked Asit to be a guest because I was most impressed with his extensive knowledge and understanding of residential heating systems from a practical perspective. During our interview Asit emphasized on the value of waste prevention vs. energy conservation and identified three opportunities to optimize and improve heating systems in residential buildings with existing controls. The simple adjustments can provide significant savings without installing new equipment only if certain management protocols are revised. He also touched on some “safe factors” some design engineers incorporate that cost owners lots of money in the end. Now more than ever, with a technologically advanced generation, the training that’s necessary for operations require more than just hands on and I’m glad Asit recognized and validated this during our interview. To listen to the full interview where you can hear the three low to no cost savings solutions he spoke about, please listen to the entire interview. Be sure to subscribe so you can hear about new products, more interviews, and industry news. Thanks for listening! Hope you enjoy it. 

Join me in an interview with Don Yeganeh. Don is a licensed Professional Engineer in New York State and also a Certified Measurement and Verification Professional who graduated from Columbia University as a Mechanical Engineer in 2009. Since then he has spent 6 years as a commissioning engineer and the last 2 years of his professional experience has been with a start-up company Ener.co In our interview we talk about the existing problems with Air Cooled Condensers and their solution that has a payback in less than a year in some cases. Enercoat® is a performance coating designed to prevent corrosion and increase thermal conductivity, resulting in the most energy efficient condenser coils on the market. Their coating does the following: Reduction of energy cost by 14% Increase in energy efficiency by 50% Reduction peak kW consumption by 8% Increase in cooling capacity by 55% Improvement of indoor air quality with an increase in moisture removal and YES they have the field monitoring to prove these results. Air-cooled heat exchangers lie at the heart of the energy efficiency of air conditioning systems. Weather, environmental conditions, dirt and debris are constantly damaging outdoor cooling equipment. Untreated coils begin to corrode from the first day they are exposed to the elements. There is an estimated 3 – 5% loss in efficiency per year due to corrosion. “This means that in just 10 years exposure to the elements can impair thermal performance in a coil by 30% to 50%. With the average age of air-cooled units in the U.S. is 21.5 years. This means that 2/3 of cooling capacity has been lost on average by that time.” Traditional coatings aim to create a smooth fin surface that accumulates less debris over time and protect against fin corrosion. However, traditional fin coatings noticeably impair thermal conductivity – how well heat is transmitted. These coatings possess low levels of conductivity, transfer less heat, and negatively impact energy efficiency. They are also susceptible to tears and cracking, which leaves gaps at the point of the fin-to-tube bond or unfinished edges where fins are cut during the manufacturing process. Their product Enercoat® addresses all of these issues by: Inhibiting causes of fouling and the adhesion of dust and grime to coils Decreasing power consumption Increasing cooling capacity Optimizing compressor operation; reduces stop/start cycles; extends compressor life. Extending overall equipment life, deferring capital investment in new a/c units Why is their coating so special? They have leveraged graphene nanomaterial technology to create a one-of-a-kind coating that delivers real performance change. Multiwall nanotubes of carbon (CNT) and graphene have a very high thermal conductance. The products twin properties of high thermal conductivity along the axial direction and poor thermal conductivity in the radial direction provide an excellent heat conduction channel that can confine heat currents on the nano scale. Incorporating these at high doses into a polymer produces a stable corrosion protective conductive layer. Application to the metal surfaces of tubes and fins in a heat exchanger ensures the retention of a condenser’s heat exchange capacity. Nano layers of conductive graphene platelets enhance the coating and makes it extremely conductive both electrically and thermally. Join me in our interview to learn more of the details.

James Park (Jim) is an Energy Conservation Specialist who currently works for I-Star Energy Solutions, a company that focuses on Mechanical Insulation Assessments. Jim brings 42 years of experience in the building industry and has had many different roles since he started as an asbestos worker back in 1974. He has reinvented himself many times to stay relevant and it was a pleasure chatting with him to hear about the significant of amount of money he has helped save companies over the years. Jim shares some of the challenges he deals with when trying to convince clients about savings in their building that is mostly always overlooked. You’d be surprised to hear how some small changes can pay for it self and put money in your profit margins each and every year. If you’d like to learn more about Jim and his industry experience you can find him on LinkedIn. Enhanced Building Solutions LLC, offers a “train and retain” turn key solution for training and development that embraces staff involvement. Building equipment technology is advancing faster than operators can keep up with and buildings account for approximately 40% of CO2 emissions in the United States alone. Training staff to operate buildings efficiently is necessary. Enhanced Building Solutions encourages video training in addition to hands-on. Video provides consistent information, saves on employee turnover, and minimizes liabilities. Nothing will ever replace hands-on learning but blending the two will create an ultimate training solution. Are you ready to be a pioneer in the industry? ~Annmarie Bhola