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“It was back in the 80s when I started learning about thermal solar because it just made sense to try to draw power sources from places that weren't traditional,” says Phil Jensen, Co-Owner of Sensible Heating and Cooling. Phil started his engineering career in the 80s with thermal solar and soon transitioned into working on traditional HVAC systems. His time working on thermal solar created the foundation of his passion for energy efficiency and the need to move towards energy conservation in buildings. 

Phil explains the growing crisis of lack of interest in the mechanical engineering field, specifically from younger generations. He explains that younger generations aren’t aware of the large spectrum of jobs available to them with a mechanical engineering degree. Not every mechanical position defaults to an office job, and Phil shares that his own role in mechanical contracting always keeps him engaged and on his toes. 

Tune into the premiere episode of Better Buildings, Better Society for a conversation with Phil Jensen about energy efficiency. Learn more about Phil’s advice to his younger self, the benefit of integrating household systems, and the importance of educating your customers on the benefits of your products. 

 

Quotes

• “Well, as far as the labor goes, I think, as an industry, what I've seen is we've done just a terrible job of recruiting people and getting them interested in this industry.” (06:05-06:14) 

• “It was back in the 80s when I started learning about thermal solar because it just made sense to  try to draw power sources from places that weren't traditional.” (14:19-14:32) 

• “Thinking of the building itself as a system is really important.” (19:43-19:46) 

• “It's been really interesting talking to potential customers because when they talk to my competitors, my competitors are always trying to downgrade the value of the heat pump system. So, I think what's really interesting about that is just trying to educate people about how to integrate all the systems in their house and not look at them as separate things.” (22:10-22:34) 

• “Really pay attention and do some investigation, especially on existing buildings, you know, do some investigation and figure out what was there before you start doing anything.” (36:41-36:48) 

 

Links

Sensible Heating

Website | https://sensibleheat.net/ 

LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/sensible-heating-cooling/ 

Phil Jensen’s LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/philjensen/ 

 

Learn more about Better Buildings, Better Society:

Website | https://www.dma-eng.com/ 

LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/dma-engineering/ 

Steven’s Personal LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-forrester-36a91517/ 

Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/dma_engineering/ 

 

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm