CLEVELAND — National Comfort Institute Inc. (NCI) announced a partnership with Pearl Certification, a national third-party organization that certifies high-performing homes across the U.S. The two organizations will work together to help high-quality HVAC contractors educate homeowners on the value of performance-tested equipment.

“Consumers are often surprised to learn that most heating and cooling systems in the U.S. don’t provide the comfort and energy savings they should because they weren’t installed correctly,” said Dominick Guarino, CEO of NCI. “NCI is delighted to partner with Pearl to help educate consumers about this problem and how to solve it.”

NCI trains heating and air conditioning contractors in “performance testing” — measurements that confirm a heating or cooling system has been installed properly and functions the way it was designed to do. Without proper installation and testing, heating and cooling systems often waste energy and may create health and comfort problems instead of solving them.

“Through our new partnership, Pearl will invite NCI member contractors into the Pearl Advantage Network,” said Robin LeBaron, Pearl president and COO. “Contractors in the network will be able to use Pearl Certification Reports as a way to help their customers understand the value of quality work and performance testing, and to enable their customers to recapture some of their investment in high-performing HVAC systems.”

Pearl’s Certification Reports showcase HVAC systems that have been performance tested, so homeowners have full documentation about their home’s equipment and how it performs.

The reports may help the seller capture some or all the value of their investment in high-performing equipment when the home is sold or refinanced by showcasing this equipment and its benefits to potential buyers.

The Pearl Advantage Network is designed for, high-quality residential contractors. Only the top 5 percent of the contractors in a region are invited into the network.

“Pearl recruits contractors who invest in their employees’ knowledge and skills,” said Pearl CEO Cynthia Adams. “NCI’s training and certification is the perfect example of that kind of investment.” 

Pearl Certification was founded by energy efficiency and residential construction experts with a goal of developing a simple way to help homeowners make their homes more comfortable, healthy, and energy efficient. Pearl also works closely with real estate agents and appraisers so that energy efficiency improvements are visible at the time of sale and add value to the home. When marketed properly, Pearl certified homes sell for a 5 percent premium, according to an independent study authored by appraisers.

NCI is singularly focused on helping its customers develop a culture that will enable them to become more successful and reach the highest possible profitability while ethically and passionately serving their customers. NCI strives to accomplish this mission by providing its customers with the proven technical and business knowledge, tools, training, support, coaching, and systems needed to successfully implement Performance-Based Contracting™ in their businesses. NCI’s ultimate goal is to help its customers provide their customers with high quality service, installation, and system renovations to keep their homes and HVAC systems safe, healthy, comfortable, and energy-efficient.

Publication date: 11/6/2018

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