2022 AMCA Idea Exchange and 2022 AMCA North America Region Meeting

March 2-4, 2022

Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

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AMCA Committing to In-Person Meetings in 2022

Nearly two years after COVID-19 upended the way the world conducts business, AMCA members are indicating they are ready for the return of in-person meetings.

“In recent surveys, members have overwhelmingly stated they miss the opportunities to get together,” AMCA Director of Marketing, Membership, and Education Robb Clawson said. “The chance to meet face-to-face to network and to rekindle personal relationships has been sorely missed.”

Ever listening, the AMCA staff is recommitting to live events in 2022, beginning with the 2022 AMCA Idea Exchange and the 2022 AMCA North America Region Meeting, which will be held back-to-back March 2-3 and March 3-4, respectively, at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

“AMCA is working to bring high-level speakers and topics to the meetings, along with opportunities to conduct important committee business in person,” Clawson said. “We don’t want this to be simply a report-out from staff. The meetings are designed to share news, education, and interaction on a range of topics important to members and the industry. We want AMCA meetings to be marked on calendars months in advance because attendees from all levels of our member organizations know they will get something from it that will enhance their professional, personal, and organizational growth.”

Designed especially for sales-and-marketing, human-resources (HR), and manufacturing professionals from AMCA member companies, AMCA Idea Exchange is a forum to share thoughts on, and work toward solutions to, common issues and challenges and learn from acclaimed speakers. This year:

• Andy Core, MS, an expert on work-life balance, productivity, and well-being, will present “Tips and Tactics to Motivate Stressed People.”
• Jack Shaw, an innovation and change-management strategist, will present “The Digital Transformation of HVAC Manufacturing, Sales, Marketing, and HR.”

Additionally, Daniella Canada, director of implementation for association-management-solution provider Impexium, will discuss how AMCA’s new association-management system, which will launch in April, will make member interactions, information sharing, and activities easier and more robust.

The morning of March 3, the 2022 AMCA Idea Exchange will conclude and the 2022 AMCA North America Region Meeting will begin with dual keynote sessions on leadership excellence and employee engagement presented by speakers from Disney Institute, the professional-development and external-training arm of The Walt Disney Co.

Also on tap for the 2022 AMCA North America Region Meeting are gatherings of the AMCA Marketing, Education, North America Region Air Movement Advocacy, and North America Region Air Control Advocacy committees and business sessions including a state-of-the-association address, an update on the development of AMCA’s 2021-2024 strategic plan, and a financial report. Lastly, Ashley Armstrong, senior advisor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, will give a virtual presentation on DOE fan regulations, pending standards on air-over motors, and more.

To help ensure safety, attendees will be asked to wear a mask and maintain proper social distancing.

"We want to see as many members and their guests attend as can make it," AMCA Meeting Manager Janet Blanchfield said. "Walt Disney World Resort is open and making every effort to ensure a safe, clean, and enjoyable environment. It's a wonderful venue to restart AMCA's face-to-face meeting schedule."

Registration will close on Feb. 16. To register for either or both events, click here.

For more information, contact Blanchfield at +1 847-704-6255 or [email protected].

AMCA Partnering With Women in HVACR

As part of a newly signed partnership agreement intended to bring more women into the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration industry, AMCA is teaming with Women in HVACR (WHVACR) to present a free industry session at the 2022 International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition (AHR Expo), which will be held Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas.

The session, “Empowering Women in the Workforce,” will be offered Feb. 1 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Room N233. Emma Barnhart, senior marketing specialist, Ruskin; Erica Leonor, member, board of directors, WHVACR; Rhonda McCaughey, regional sales manager, Ruskin; and Ben Middleton, national sales director, Goodman Manufacturing, will discuss challenges women face in the workplace, what is and is not working, and how to empower women in the trades.

Organized “to further the growth of women in all areas of the HVACR industry, including technical, sales, management, and ownership,” WHVACR provides for its more than 600 members, who include both women and men, “a variety of opportunities to network and develop in a professional environment.” AMCA is an official WHVACR 2022 partner.

With AMCA’s focus on increasing female representation in its leadership, a partnership with WHVACR seems only natural, AMCA Education Manager Lisa Cherney said.

WHVACR “emphatically supports and advocates networking, mentoring, and education across the HVACR industry, which, obviously, AMCA agrees with,” Cherney said. “… WHVACR has a significant presence and membership among contractors, individual professionals, and other associations, and with AMCA’s manufacturing base, we complement each other well. Both (organizations) look forward to many years of successful partnership.”

Per the AMCA-WHVACR partnership agreement, each party will share the other’s logo on its website, with a direct link to the other’s Web page; meet with the other at least twice a year to discuss growth, opportunities, mentoring, education, and connection between organizations; provide opportunities for the other to present on webinars and at membership meetings; allow the other to contribute articles or submit advertisements for monthly newsletters; include the other’s logo on banners for conferences and regional events; and more.

“Empowering Women in the Workforce” joins the eight previously announced free industry sessions AMCA will present at the 2022 AHR Expo:

• Jan. 31, 9-10 a.m.: “HVAC Terminal System Selections: A Real-World Project Data Survey,” presented by Aaron Gunzner, senior manager, advocacy, AMCA, and Dave Morrow, managing partner, Applied Marketing Knowledge.
• Jan. 31, 10:30-11:30 a.m.: “Living With a Skill Gap—Designing Higher Efficiency Fans With a Less Experienced Workforce,” presented by Geoff Sheard, DSc, president, AGS Consulting LLC.
• Jan. 31, 12:30-1:30 p.m.: “Minimizing Fan System Effect,” presented by David Maletich, vice president of marketing, The New York Blower Co.
• Jan. 31, 2-3 p.m.: “Acoustical Design for the A/E/C Industry,” presented by Jeff Boldt, managing principal, IMEG Corp.
• Jan. 31, 3:30-4:30 p.m.: “High Velocity Low Speed (HVLS) Fans: Updates on COVID Guidance and Federal Energy Regulation,” presented by Aaron Gunzner, senior manager, advocacy, AMCA, and Christian Taber, principal engineer, codes and standards, Big Ass Fans.
• Jan. 31, 5-6 p.m.: “Air Curtain Technology and the Impact on Building Energy Consumption,” presented by David Johnson, director of engineering, Berner International, and Frank Cuaderno, vice president of engineering, Mars Air Systems.
• Feb. 1, 9-10 a.m.: “Louver Requirements, Codes & Specifications in Hurricane Prone Regions,” presented by Michael Bulzomi, director of marketing, louvers and dampers, Nailor Industries.
• Feb. 1, 10:30-11:30 a.m.: “Field Modifications of Fire, Smoke, and Combination Fire/Smoke Dampers,” presented by James Carlin, product manager, dampers, Pottorff.

All of the AMCA-sponsored sessions will be held in Room N233. Each is worth one professional-development hour (PDH). To encourage attendance, AMCA will be distributing at its booth (C3628) and in Room N233 “passport books.” For each AMCA-sponsored session a passport holder attends, AMCA will stamp a page in the book, with five or more stamps qualifying the passport holder to receive a special gift: an engineering design kit. Quantities are limited and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information about the free industry sessions and the partnership with WHVACR, contact Cherney at [email protected]. For information about AMCA exhibiting at the 2022 AHR Expo, contact Director of Marketing, Membership, and Education Robb Clawson at [email protected].

Tim Reilly Named AMCA Engagement Manager

Tim Reilly, longtime AMCA laboratory manager, is transitioning to the new role of AMCA engagement manager.

Engagement is one of the central tenants of AMCA’s soon-to-be-unveiled 2021-2024 strategic plan. Through engagement, AMCA will seek to improve, broaden, and focus participation in, and awareness of, the association.

As engagement manager, Reilly will be responsible for promotion and outreach regarding the AMCA Certified Ratings Program, the AMCA Laboratory Accreditation Program, and other association activities. He will report to AMCA Director of Marketing, Membership, and Education Robb Clawson.

“Tim has done a wonderful job as the AMCA lab manager and has demonstrated his readiness—and willingness—to expand his responsibilities and take on the challenges this new opportunity presents,” Clawson said.

Reilly will fully assume the new role after a new laboratory manager is named and the transition of that position is complete.

“I anticipate he will be fully on board with the ‘engagement’ team—marketing, membership, meetings, and education—in March,” Clawson said.

Reilly joined AMCA in July 2013 as a lead laboratory technician, a position he held until being promoted to laboratory manager in January 2018.

ICYMI: Mathson Named AMCA Lab Director; Meyers Tapped to Lead CRP

Tim Mathson has assumed the role of AMCA laboratory director, and Charlie Meyers is now responsible for administering AMCA’s Certified Ratings Program (CRP).

Mathson, who joined the AMCA staff in the role of principal engineer in 2019 after more than 30 years with AMCA member company Greenheck, has extensive experience in both engineering and test-laboratory management. He is an active member of a number of AMCA and ASHRAE technical committees, including the AMCA-administered U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 117, Fans; the AMCA Fan Engineering Committee; and ASHRAE Technical Committee 5.1, Fans.

Meyers joined the AMCA staff in June, bringing a wealth of relevant experience to the role of CRP manager, having spent the previous nine-plus years with testing-and-certification-services provider Intertek, most recently as director of product certification. With Intertek, he was responsible for establishing standard operating procedures, managing metrics and key performance indicators, developing plans, coordinating with interdepartmental stakeholders and clients, implementing cost-control measures, and managing a client-facing team.

Mathson and Meyers report to AMCA Executive Director Mark Stevens.

“The lab and CRP are in good hands with these folks,” Stevens said.

Nazme Mohsina recently departed the AMCA staff.

Volunteers Sought to Develop New Fan Wind-Loading Standard, AMCA 280

AMCA is seeking volunteers to serve on a technical committee charged with developing a new standard: AMCA Standard 280, Method of Test for Wind Loading of Fans.

AMCA Standard 280 will establish uniform methods of laboratory testing a fan’s ability to withstand wind pressure, lateral force, and/or large-missile impact. It will define the test methodology, pass/fail criteria, and functional criteria.

Committee members will be expected to participate in reviewing the standard and resolving any comments received. Meetings will be held virtually via conference call.

Stakeholders for the standard include fan manufacturers, building design engineers, architects, end users, fan testing laboratories, and HVAC-industry trade associations and professional societies.

To volunteer, click here and complete and submit the form by the close of business on Feb. 18. For more information, contact Shruti Kohli-Bhargava, manager, publications and standards, at [email protected].

AMCA Revises Jet-Fan Standard 250

AMCA this month announced the publication of ANSI/AMCA Standard 250-22, Laboratory Methods of Testing Jet Fans for Performance, an update of, and replacement for, the 2012 version of the standard.

ANSI/AMCA Standard 250 establishes uniform methods of laboratory testing jet fans installed in road/rail/mining tunnels and in parking garages, among other applications.

Changes to the standard include:

• Updates to the purpose and the scope to ensure the standard applies to all jet fans.
• Modified definitions and variables.
• The basing of the measurements section on thrust.
• The noting that any obstruction or inclusion of additional apparatus for measuring flow will negatively impact thrust development.
• Updates to thrust, sound, and vibration test procedures and figures.
• Updates to the presentation of the results section.

The cost of ANSI/AMCA Standard 250-22 is $45 for AMCA members and $90 for non-members in PDF or printed format and $61 for AMCA members and $122 for non-members in both PDF and printed formats. To purchase, click here.

For more information, contact Director of Publications and Standards Joe Brooks, PE, at [email protected] or Publications and Standards Manager Shruti Kohli-Bhargava at [email protected].

AMCA in the Media

For the January 2022 issue of its scientific journal, The Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning and Sanitary Engineers of Japan translated into Japanese and published “UV-C for HVAC Air and Surface Disinfection,” the cover article from the 2020 edition of AMCA inmotion magazine.

Written by Daniel Jones, co-founder and president of UV Resources, and Michael Ivanovich, AMCA senior director, global affairs, and edited by Scott Arnold, AMCA manager of industry content and AMCA inmotion editor in chief, “UV-C for HVAC Air and Surface Disinfection” provides engineer-level guidance for the use of ultraviolet C energy to continuously reduce and even prevent the growth of dangerous microbes in HVAC systems and the circulation of infectious pathogens in air streams. In October, it received an honorable mention in the category of Single Article, Association/Nonprofit, Professional/Membership Association in the 2021 Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards.

AMCA Senior Manager, Advocacy Aaron Gunzner Passes PE Exam

Learning, it has been said, is a journey. AMCA Senior Manager, Advocacy Aaron Gunzner reached a significant milestone along the road of his last month when he passed the Colorado Mechanical—HVAC and Refrigeration Principles and Practice of Engineering examination, earning, pending the completion of documentation requirements, the “Professional Engineer” (PE) designation.

To take the exam, Gunzner had to have graduated from a Colorado State Board of Licensure for Architects, Professional Engineers, and Professional Land Surveyors-approved engineering program of four or more years—he holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the Colorado School of Mines—and have passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam, which he did near the end of his undergraduate studies.

Passing the PE exam was no small feat. The preparation materials recommend roughly 300 hours of study. Gunzner estimates that, from June through early December of 2021, he studied for approximately 350 hours.

“About half of that time was spent reading study materials, watching instructional and informational videos—there are many YouTube channels dedicated to this topic, for example—and participating in a targeted study group offered by my local ASHRAE chapter,” Gunzner said. “The other half of my review time was spent working through practice problems and taking multiple eight-hour practice exams. The key was practice, practice, practice!”

The computer-based, closed-book exam is divided into principles (basic engineering practice, thermodynamics, psychrometrics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, and energy/mass balances) and applications (heating/cooling loads, equipment and components, systems and components, and supportive knowledge). Examinees have eight hours to complete it.

“Given that there are 80 exam questions, you have an average of six minutes for each question,” Gunzner said, adding, “The exam was basically what I expected after having worked hundreds of practice problems in the study materials.”

Gunzner passed the test on his first attempt. According to the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, which developed, administered, and scored the exam, the pass rate for first-time takers is 71 percent.

“Passing the exam was immensely gratifying,” Gunzner, who was quick to credit AMCA Senior Director, Global Affairs Michael Ivanovich for encouraging him to pursue a PE license, said. “… Passing validated the many hours that I put into studying, not to mention what I have learned while working in industry at AMCA and elsewhere [prior to joining AMCA as advocacy manager in May 2019, Gunzner was a design engineer and production manager for a manufacturer of X-ray collimators in Golden, Colo.]. I am very appreciative of the support I received from AMCA staff, through participating in the Rocky Mountain ASHRAE study group, and from my family and friends. I also am grateful for the institutional support provided by AMCA, which strongly encourages professional development among its staff so they may continually serve AMCA members to the best of their ability.”

For readers who may be looking to take the PE exam themselves, Gunzner offered the following advice: “I learned that it helps to be organized from the outset. After registering for an exam date, I had six months to prepare. Early on, I set numerous minor goals—reading a certain amount of review material and doing a certain number of practice problems on a weekly basis, performing practice-exam assessments periodically, goals like that—to make sure I was reaching milestones along the way.”

To congratulate Gunzner on his achievement, write to him at [email protected].

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