Kurt Hudson

Chris Wilson

TIM TAYLOR

Jared Christman

Like nearly every industry, the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) trade continues to struggle through turbulent times. The pandemic and the resulting shutdowns, supply chain disruptions and worker shortages are issues that linger and show little sign of letting up.

We spoke with Kurt Hudson, who is on the national board of directors for the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA). The nationwide nonprofit organization for professionals that install and maintain HVACR systems provides networking opportunities, education, and advocacy services for its members.

Hudson is also a principal at LC Anderson Inc., a family-owned and operated full-service HVACR contractor that works on both service and construction jobs. The company was named the ACCA commercial contractor of the year in 2020.

We also spoke with Chris Wilson, senior manager of projects, and Tim Taylor, director of research for The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER). The nonprofit develops standardized construction and maintenance curriculum and assessments with portable credentials.

Lastly, we spoke with Jared Christman, director of construction technology, ELECTRI International. ELECTRI International, in partnership with the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), funds, conducts, coordinates and monitors the industry’s most critical research and commission and delivers exemplary management education and supervisory training programs. NECA is the voice of the electrical construction industry.

Hudson: We are seeing that supply chain issues post-coronavirus continue to be problematic as they drive schedules. In the past, a standard package rooftop unit was readily available, but now it can take months to get one.

Manufacturers don’t want to give a lead time on how long it will take to deliver parts until an order is placed. When you do get a delivery date, it’s on a floating schedule, so you never know until you actually receive the materials. It makes it very difficult to give quotes to customers. We’re seeing this scenario on equipment and on parts for repairs.

We now shop at a variety of manufacturers to see if they have parts and equipment available. A friendly competitor of mine found parts on Amazon.com. Others are also scouring the internet to source parts.

Wilson: For all of those markets, there’s an uptick in the use of BIM and that trend will continue. Additionally, they’re all seeing a big increase in smart products with many of them tied to the Internet of Things (IoT). Many of these systems have opened up new opportunities for contractors. For technicians, it has changed the products they are installing.

In electrical, energy storage and energy efficiency are leading trends that offer innovations through improved batteries and storage systems. This has helped with more widespread adoption of renewable energy options. Power of Ethernet and components that require less energy, like LED lights, have allowed for additional energy savings.

In HVACR, the trend is towards eco-friendly HVACR systems, which sometimes includes the use of solar panels. Geothermal heating and cooling via heat pumps are on the rise to eliminate the need for petroleum-based electricity. New controls have provided the opportunity to manage interior temperatures and humidity and control the speed of motors with a variable frequency drive.

Taylor: One of the biggest challenges within the construction industry as a whole right now is labor shortages. In addition, the average age for craft workers is 42.9, and trends project that average age to continue climbing in the coming years.

We’re also continuing to see wages for craft professionals grow. According to the 2022 NCCER Craft Salary Survey, many of the top percentage increases have been for people working in the MEP field. Given current inflation rates, construction wages are expected to continue going up.

Christman: Smart buildings, smart cities and smart grids. The smart building is built with integrated systems in mind. These systems are determining when peak usage is occurring, where the majority of the power is being used and any required maintenance that is being required. The smart city is syncing traffic signals to public transportation. This makes transportation more reliable, which makes it more appealing to the public. Smart grids considerably reduce power outage times by isolating and locating the cause of the outage. Another trend is prefabrication which is starting to emerge in more markets. Reality capture is another emerging technology. The 360 camera and point cloud data give you accurate as-built or existing conditions.

Hudson: Everyone is having trouble hiring sufficient staff. The industry needs to do more to get people interested and address the reasons they don’t want to do the work.

One challenge we see is the long road to becoming certified. A person has to go through a five-year apprenticeship to become a mechanic or journeyman, so they have to go to night school for three to four hours after working a full day. How much effective learning is really happening when they’re tired after a full day? While people completed such programs in the past, they’re less willing to these days. It is hard to commit to the whole program.

To make the learning component more appealing and effective, we’re exploring Interplay Learning’s virtual reality (VR) training that has a program that simulates things people will have to do on the job. VR makes the learning component more palatable. People can learn from anywhere they choose. Also, many young people are more comfortable interacting with a screen than being in a classroom.

Wilson: Most of the trends in these industries are about efficiency and energy savings. The reason, I believe, is twofold: first, there is a need to reduce the carbon footprint associated with some of these sectors, from power distribution to the service level; second, there is a desire to take advantage of new technologies for the sake of efficiency and control. By tying things to the internet, they can be controlled from anywhere and systems can be integrated in many ways. I believe the pandemic had more of an effect on the way contractors perform business rather than innovations in the industry.

Taylor: While some of the market responses to the pandemic certainly had a negative impact on the construction industry, especially supply chains, the labor shortage issue existed in construction well before the pandemic. What the pandemic changed is that most—if not all—industries, not just construction, are now facing labor shortages too.

Christman: Smart building cities and grids come from the evolution of the industry. They are more efficient, they create safer neighborhoods and communities, and they can reduce the carbon footprint.

Automation and prefabrication are adaptive to the pandemic. With the workforce shortages across the country, companies had to adapt. Companies had to find ways to maintain the construction schedule, so they turned to prefabrication and offsite construction.

Hudson: The issues related to scheduling are forcing us to recommend that customers prepare long-range plans. In the past, many customers would wait until the last minute to determine how to move forward with their HVACR system. Eventually the system would fail, they’d make a call to a service provider, and they’d have a new system all within a matter of days. That type of scenario might not occur again. Facilities managers should create a plan and budget for new HVACR equipment and not replace every system at the same time.

Wilson: I do. I think that once the technology has been adopted, it will remain and evolve.

Christman: The electrical contractor discovered how efficient offsite construction was. They realized they could be more productive in an environmentally controlled area and implement a more stringent QA/QC policy. I think electrical contractors will permanently adopt the prefab/offsite mindset and use it more.