EP247 From CEO to Chief Education Officer: Bill Spohn on Legacy, Leadership & Better HVAC (November 2025)
Release Date: 12/05/2025
EP271 Live from NHPC 2026: Where HVAC, Buildings, and People Intersect With Brynn Cooksey from HVAC-U PART 1 (April 2026)
Building HVAC Science
Quotes from the episode: “High-performance homes are not about the equipment. They are about the outcomes for the people inside.” “The gap is not in technology. It is in execution and understanding.” “The contractors who win are the ones who connect building science to real human experience.” Recorded live at the 2026 National Home Performance Conference in Columbus, this episode of the Building HVAC Science Podcast brings together Bill Spohn, Eric Kaiser, and guest Brynn Cooksey for a conversation at the intersection of buildings, HVAC systems, and the...
info_outline
EP270 Scaling with Simplicity: EOS, Growth, and the Malco Evolution With Rich Benninghoff (May 2026)
Building HVAC Science
Quotes from the episode: “We’re not just selling tools anymore — we’re building solutions that make the trade pro’s life easier.” “EOS gave us the discipline to focus on what really matters when everything is pulling at you.” “(In golf,) you can’t hit everything with a driver — great businesses know which tool to use and when.” In this episode, Bill talks with Rich Benninghoff about Malco's evolution into the broader Malco Group and what it means to shift from a product company to a solutions platform. Rich shares how his 30-year journey...
info_outline
EP269 Collaboration Over Competition: A New Playbook for Contractors With Rhydon Atzenhoffer (April 2026)
Building HVAC Science
Quotes from the episode: “Great equipment doesn’t build a reputation. Great technicians do.” “Use AI like a tool, not a crutch. The work still belongs to the person in the attic.” “We’re missing mentorship across generations, and that gap is costing the trades more than we realize.” In this episode, Bill sits down with Rhydon Atzenhoffer, host of the HVAC R&D Podcast, for a wide-ranging conversation that goes well beyond tools and equipment. Rhydon shares how his show evolved from casual, relationship-driven conversations during COVID into a...
info_outline
EP268 Fresh Air Without the Penalty: Reinventing Ventilation for Real Homes With Austin Riesenberger from Swerv (April 2026)
Building HVAC Science
Quotes from the episode: “If you’re building something new, it has to be better in almost every way or it won’t catch on.” “The stuff that’s bad inside your home doesn’t filter out, you have to move it out.” “We stopped over-modeling and just started testing in the real world as fast as possible.” This episode of the Building HVAC Science Podcast features Austin Riesenberger, founder of Swerv Air, a young entrepreneur tackling a surprisingly overlooked problem: how to bring fresh air into homes without sacrificing comfort, energy efficiency, or...
info_outline
EP267 Why Refrigerant Compliance Is Becoming a Profit Center With Adma Dykstra (March 2026)
Building HVAC Science
Quotes from the episode: “It’s a solution to a problem people don’t even know they have.” “Compliance is no longer just paperwork. It’s becoming part of how smart contractors protect margin and keep access to refrigerant.” “What GPS did for traffic, shared HVAC documentation could do for equipment history, refrigerant tracking, and accountability.” In this episode of the Building HVAC Science podcast, Bill Spohn talks with Adam Dykstra of FM Hero about a part of the HVAC industry that often gets overlooked until it becomes a serious problem: refrigerant...
info_outline
EP266 Legacy, Ego, and the Baton Pass: Real Talk on Family Business Succession With Bryan Orr, Robert Orr, Bill Spohn and Billy Spohn (February 2026)
Building HVAC Science
Quotes from the episode: “The emotional side of letting go and the identity shift is something nobody really warns you about.” “Clarity is kindness, especially when the chips are down.” “Intelligence gets beaten by emotional regulation and patience every day.” (Tommy Mello) This episode is a true “collab” between Building HVAC Science and HVAC School Podcasts, with Bill Spohn Sr. and Bill “Billy” Spohn Jr. (TruTech Tools) joining Bryan Orr and his dad Robert Orr (Kalos Services) to talk candidly about family business succession. They dig into the part nobody...
info_outline
EP265 Why Heat Pumps Fail: It’s Not the Equipment, It’s the House With Larry Waters and Alex Sloan (February 2026)
Building HVAC Science
EPISODE QUOTES “Anyone can install a heat pump, but if you don’t understand how houses work, you’re gambling with comfort.” “Our intake process is a pre-screen. We want customers who already want the heat pump.” “Electrify everything is cute. Electrify efficiently is the job.” In this episode of the Building HVAC Science Podcast, Bill Spohn and Eric Kaiser talk with Larry Waters and Alex Sloan of Electrify My Home, a Bay Area contractor focused on efficient home electrification. Larry walks through his 43-year path in the trade, from early technical training and...
info_outline
EP264 The Unsung Heroes of HVAC Education, Mentors Who Built the Trade With Howard Weiss and Renee Tomlinson (February 2026)
Building HVAC Science
“There are people who teach for income, and people who teach for outcome.” “You want to grow an industry, you can’t ignore half America.” “Become an unsung hero, mentor someone, and give back to the industry you love.” In this episode of Building HVAC Science, Bill and Eric are joined by Renee Tomlinson and Howard Weiss from ESCO Institute (and HVAC Excellence) to talk about a theme that does not get nearly enough airtime: the “quiet” people in HVAC who shape careers and raise standards without chasing attention. Howard explains ESCO’s role in the industry, from accrediting...
info_outline
EP263 Surviving and Thriving in HVACR: Lessons from the Field With Rick Dirmeyer (February 2026)
Building HVAC Science
“The more you know, the more you’re worth and the harder you are to replace.” “Just because you’re a great technician doesn’t mean you’re ready to run a business.” “You can’t buy the satisfaction of helping someone you may never meet.” Bill sits down with Rick Diermeyer, better known to many in the trade as the face behind the HVACR Survival YouTube channel. Rick shares the origin story of his channel, which now boasts tens of thousands of subscribers and hundreds of field-based videos. What began as a simple way to document and share service technician experiences...
info_outline
EP262 “RTFM” and Real-World HVAC Confidence: Why Callbacks Drop When Training Improves With JT Stewart (February 2026)
Building HVAC Science
Episode Quotes: “Airflow isn’t good. It’s measured.” “Most pushback isn’t ‘I won’t.’ It’s ‘I’m afraid I’ll mess it up.’” “This is a people industry, by people, for people.” JT Stewart joins Bill Spohn and Eric Kaiser to talk about how he went from long-term care nursing to HVAC, thanks to a red Chevy Ventura van, a ladder on top, and a “let’s go fix some stuff” invitation. Today JT is an HVAC consultant at Slipstream, working with utilities and state programs to build real-world training that goes beyond “heat pumps are hot” and into the...
info_outline“Get mad at the problem, not the person. When people feel safe, they’ll actually bring you the real issues.” - Bill Spohn
“We’re woven into the fabric of this industry. The industry made me—so in a way, it owns me.” - Bill Spohn
“What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.” - Aristotle
In this episode, Eric turns the mic around and interviews his co-host, Bill Spohn, about the evolution of TruTech Tools, his leadership philosophy, and why he’s shifting from “Chief Executive Officer” to “Chief Education Officer.” Bill traces the roots of TruTech back to late 2006, when a suggestion at a Testo Christmas party planted the seed for an online test-instrument business that launched in April 2007. He talks about how TruTech has become “woven into the fabric of the industry,” helping connect HVAC and building performance pros while focusing on specialty tools, education, and best practices.
A big chunk of the conversation is about people: attracting and retaining the right employees, and running the business through the lens of core values. Bill and Eric walk through TruTech’s four core values—Do the Right Thing, Be a Team Player, Get It Done, and Be Attentive—and how they were distilled from nearly 80 traits the leadership team admired in their co-workers. Bill explains how these values show up in hiring (situational questions), in problem-solving (getting mad at the problem, not the person, and using the “five whys”), and in daily decisions about how to treat customers and each other.
Bill also opens up about his intentional five-year transition plan out of day-to-day leadership and into a more advisory and educational role, including transferring ownership and the President role to his son. He shares why he didn’t want to be the owner who leaves on a stretcher—or the one who keeps wandering back in and undermining the next generation. Instead, he’s leaning into training the team, mentoring startups, and building out the Better HVAC directory as a free resource for contractors and consumers. Along the way, he and Eric talk about the “comfort industry” as a whole, the blending of HVAC and building performance, the importance of passing down institutional knowledge, and even Bill’s side quest to learn rock guitar and someday join the Building Science Boogie Band.
This episode was recorded in November 2025.