Last week you learned more about why manufacturers want to make HVAC purchasing, installation, and servicing easier for millions of American households and what they’re planning behind the scenes.
This week’s special installment — an interview with Contributing Editor Jamie Skaar and blue-collar tech leader Ben Reed of Teal Maker — zooms out to understand what new software and HVAC industry shifts mean for consumer experiences.
This interview excerpt has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Listen to the full conversation on YouTube here.
Jamie Skaar: We want to get focused on where the consumer is meeting them there. Some people hear this and say, “No, I'm not going to do that.” Okay. Well, what happens if you do put this off? Are you prepared for that?
In what world is HVAC not changing similarly? If resilience is what drives the purchase, then you shouldn’t care about the heat pump in isolation. You care about the heat pump with the weatherization, with the airflow, with energy management, with batteries, because that is actually where the consumer is at.
You’re comfortable with fragmented engagement because you think that’s where the consumer is and will always be, but you’re wrong.
According to EnergySage last month, nearly half of all solar installations right now include a secondary product like battery storage or heat pumps.
The idea of a consumer working with 8 different specialists to get the outcome that they’re looking for sounds crazy because it is crazy. We know that no consumer is going to sign up for that if they can help it. So… are you betting on the consumer or betting against them?
One group I see betting on consumers strongly is Gen Z. They’re focused on technology and innovation, big time.
Ben Reed II: I agree. We’re going to see a drastic shift in culture. The last couple of decades of trades, people would maybe join the trades because they're more hands-on, they're kinesthetic people, they really enjoy that type of work. But there's also a lot of people who are like, “I don't excel on the academic side, so I guess I'll reluctantly just get a trade, it will be comfortable.”
And then as they're going throughout that journey in the trades, because of the terrible working conditions that exist, these same folks come to realize that there isn't respect for tradespeople. There aren't enough resources to make sure that they can do their jobs properly. And there's a lot of people who burn out and a lot of people who are resentful. If you're an industry association, you’re probably struggling with membership engagement, and for good reason.
But now with electrification we’ll have folks who say, “I want to do something that makes it feel like I'm making a difference. I want to the world a better place.” This combination is going to create a very different type of culture moving forward. Trade associations have to understand that their membership base is changing.
When speaking to new professionals championing technology in the industry, instead of belittling them with “Oh, you don't know enough, you haven't been in the industry long enough,” their response should be, “Show me.”
“You’re outpacing people who have been in the industry for a very long time? Show me how.”
Jamie Skaar: Think about how much that could really shift the industry! What's one of the number one reasons that people have for moving into the clean energy industry? I want to have an impact. “I sat around for the pandemic and the next thing I do, I want to make sure it's meaningful.”
Ben Reed II: Trade associations have a massive opportunity to elevate people in this younger generation who both understand the technology and are not jaded by the conditions that older professionals have faced.
Do you think this younger generation will be satisfied going into homes and only talking about a heat pump? When they know what the real opportunities for real impact are, and they know how to help homeowners see them, too?
Jamie Skaar: And consumers are going to welcome this. They want the ability to roll up all these products and solutions into one conversation and one nice platform. Now as a contractor your only job is to be the champion of it.
We’re not far from people on Instagram being like, “I installed an induction stove and changed this family's life! Come see me sometime.” I mean, how many people in Gen-Z jumped into being real estate agents so that they had the opportunity to show off the work that they were doing? This momentum is aligned with where the larger culture is at.
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Jamie Skaar: You need a layered approach to reach consumers in the clean energy transition. Influential players want to enter the market — your Googles your Samsungs your Teslas — and the truth is, they have a very long runway for success. Smaller companies that choose isolation and put up walls and create barriers between themselves and other companies and new consumers: they've got a much shorter runway.
Ben Reed II: Yeah, I agree. There's too many moving parts. There's too much work that needs to get done. There is no one platform that's going to be able to own it all. It’s going to be important to take that step back and think, “At the core of what we might do as an organization, as an association, what do we stand for?”
I think it takes some self-actualization and a better understanding of the trends that are happening in the market, but I'm really hopeful that the market is going to start talking about resilience as the end game instead of steroid injections and reducing everybody and everything down to a financial transaction. I really do hope so.
Jamie Skaar: I’d go a step further to say, I’m excited! I'm so excited. All of the change that people who have worked in building performance have imagined for so long: it’s starting to happen, it’s here. It might not necessarily seem like it because there's a lot of push and pull in different directions.
But zoom out and you can see: the pieces are moving into play. Will it all be beautiful? No. Will there be some parts that hurt? Absolutely. But as a whole, there's so much opportunity. The number of new tools that are going to enable and effect real changes for consumers? Crazy.
On one hand, I said earlier that I wouldn't want to compete with these larger corporations. And I still don't want to! (laughter)
But the prospect of them coming into the space and enabling the market in a way that takes work off of my plate and removes resistance? All right, great!
Now I can start thinking about having a greater impact where I work the best, and with that, I think we're going to see more excitement from consumers, too.