From High Performance Medicine to High Performance HVAC - Short #290

In this short podcast from the 8th HVACR Training Symposium's Bry-X stage, Ken Davis shares his experience as an HVAC contractor who has brought vital experience from high-performance medicine to High-Performance HVAC. Ken's experience comes from developing high-reliability organizations (HROs).

An HRO has a low fail rate in an industry where high fail rates aren't tolerated due to catastrophic consequences, such as in medicine, nuclear, and aviation industries. This model can also be applied to relatively low-risk industries, like HVAC, to help businesses perform better. Ken had the idea to use the HRO model when he witnessed a traumatic medical emergency and co-founded an air medical program that brought trauma management methods from the hospital to the field. These methods bought time to transport patients to the hospital and improved survivability outcomes; they could also be applied to relatively low-stakes HVAC work and produce better outcomes.

One of the key aspects of developing an HRO is to use checklists for complex tasks. Interactive checklists help people think through the procedure and see what they may have forgotten. They also make mistakes visible and show how change is possible; the HVAC professional just needs to have the desire to do better, which can be screened for during the hiring phase by searching for work ethic and personality over experience. 

As HVAC professionals, in addition to creating detailed checklists, we can start by getting better at the basics, such as evacuation, airflow measurement, and utilizing software tools like measureQuick. Load calculations are also important, as is the use of software to make sure they're accurate and aid with proper equipment selection. Improving ductwork also has the potential to produce much better outcomes for customers, regardless of whether you use flex or sheet metal ductwork. We can also use advanced tools and testing methodologies (like zonal pressure diagnostics and blower door tests) to sell upgrades that verifiably improve customer indoor air quality, such as dehumidification and better filtration.

 

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