David Ackerman

As a young man, David Ackerman admits he found the adrenaline-fueled allure of drag racing hard to resist. In fact, he couldn’t think of a better way to apply his natural mechanical aptitude than modifying cars for better performance and racing them on the weekend.

“I started working in the high-performance automotive industry right out of high school. I loved it, but was going nowhere fast,” he laughs. “I spent everything I earned on race cars. By the time I was in my mid-20s, I finally acquired some common sense right about the time a friend introduced me to a mechanical contractor in the commercial HVAC industry.”

Ackerman began working for the contractor as a laborer, but soon moved into a mechanical apprenticeship. His apprenticeship evolved into a lucrative and in-demand career as a service technician. Speed down the road nearly four decades, and Ackerman has put tenures at Trane, Innovative HVAC Sales, and Insight Partners — along with a solo stint as a startup and warranty contractor for AAON – in his rearview mirror.

For Ackerman, each post has been an affirmation of his purpose. “Technicians, by nature, are built a little differently. We’re wired to fix problems. Some people see that as a burden. We see it as a reason to get out of bed. It’s all about taking care of our customers.”

At Integrated Cooling Solutions, Ackerman has found the perfect avenue in which to channel his purpose.

“Service is a big part of the company’s ethos,” he affirms. “It was instilled in me early in my career, and that service-driven directive is passed down to everyone at ICS from David Fernandez and the leadership team. No matter what it takes, we take care of our customers.”

Meeting that directive can be challenging on three fronts.

“As a manufacturer’s rep, everyone on the job site is our customer,” Ackerman explains. “The owner of the building, the contractor, the design engineer who put the plan on paper, and the sales engineer who sold the equipment and needs us onsite to help him or her solve a mechanical problem, they are all our customers.”

Along with many stakeholders, the scope of Ackerman and his service team’s work is often much broader by necessity.

“We’re no longer simply look at a piece of equipment,” he explains. “We look at a building as an envelope that must maintain the right temperature, humidity, and pressure for the entire building to function correctly. Most air conditioning contractors or technicians just focus on a piece of equipment. We take a holistic approach and ask, ‘What’s wrong with the building?’ The equipment could be working really well and per design, but there might be other factors affecting its performance.”

The rapid-fire pace of change in HVAC technology also comes into play.

“Our industry has made remarkable improvements in the way we control machines,” he notes. “Everything is very intelligent. Intelligent design means we’re able to control equipment much better, energy efficiency is up, and performance per dollar is much higher. Yet, with that comes a need for technicians who can manage both the technical and the mechanical aspects of our business. Every time we go to a machine, we carry our tool bag and our laptop. We connect and work on the equipment through our laptops. A lot of the younger technicians do well on the electronics side of our business. They were born with a phone in their hand. Computers aren’t a problem but navigating the sequence of operations and mechanical aspects — the expansion valves, coils, compressors, and other parts — is something they must learn.”

Ackerman and ICS are shoring up that knowledge gap. A new training lab in Jacksonville, Florida, will feature running equipment from manufacturers represented by ICS. Hands-on classes in a controlled environment will teach everything from the principles of psychometrics to troubleshooting HVAC equipment.

Along with leading and managing a growing team of service professionals, Ackerman thoroughly enjoys his role as educator and coach. “Teaching, training, and mentoring younger technicians who are coming up in the trade — as well as our sales support personnel — is very rewarding. I’m glad I can transfer some of the knowledge I’ve gained over the last 38 years and help them be successful. It’s a very exciting time to be in the business. I kind of wish I was 20 years younger. The next 20 years are going to be really big for ICS.”

 

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