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The EMCOR Training Center in Phoenix, Arizona, recently celebrated its grand opening. The cutting-edge 11,000-square-foot facility includes four classrooms — one specifically for building controls — and is designed to accommodate up to 100 students per day. A spacious 6,000-square-foot lab features large-scale equipment such as centrifugal chillers, boilers, and pumps, providing students with hands-on experience with the commercial components and systems they will most likely encounter in the field.
The idea for the training center originated in 2017 when the leadership at Mesa Energy Services — also known as EMCOR Service Arizona — sought to expand their chiller business. Rich Happel, director of the EMCOR Training Center, explained, “We wanted to exponentially grow our applied business, but we couldn’t get there at the pace of other people’s training schedules.”
Happel identified two key issues that were hampering their ability to grow: the limited frequency of available training and the inconsistent quality of instruction.
NEW FACILITY: The new 11,000-square-foot training center includes four classrooms and is designed to accommodate up to 100 students per day. (Staff photo)
“The training was OK, but we felt we could match or even improve upon it — and we have,” he said. “Now, we provide training on every manufacturer’s centrifugal chiller, including Daikin, Carrier, Trane, and York.”
The original training center, which opened in 2018, was a 2,200-square-foot facility with a single classroom that could accommodate up to 16 students. The 900-square-foot lab housed some large equipment, but due to space limitations, components had to be rotated in and out as needed. Despite the limited space, the center has trained approximately 900 technicians since its opening.
“This year, 2025, we should be training an additional 600 students,” said Happel. “We’re leapfrogging year after year. Three years ago, we were at 26 classes; two years ago, we were at 45 classes; and this year, we have 65 classes. Our plan is to make our way upward of 150 classes in about two to three years.”
Union Partnerships
Initially established exclusively for EMCOR HVAC technicians, the training center has since partnered with other union-affiliated groups. Mesa Energy Services is 100% union, so the training center will only be used to teach union students.
“We’ve been dreaming about this for quite some time,” said Happel. “This year, for the first time ever, we have 10 classes split between the Mechanical Service Contractors of America (MSCA) and the United Association (UA). In fact, we just had our very first ever UA class, where four technicians from across the country were trained on the overhaul procedures of a Trane centrifugal chiller.”
To determine the classroom curriculum, Happel sends out a formal survey each year to EMCOR’s service organizations across the country, asking them to provide input on the training their technicians need for the next 12 months.
WORKER SHORTAGE: Director, Rich Happel, hopes the EMCOR Training Center will help alleviate the long-standing worker shortage in the HVAC industry. (Staff photo)
“That’s how we base the classes that we offer,” said Happel. “For example, last week we had a pump and motor class with 15 students. They all came here and took apart every pump in our lab, then put them back together with new parts. Most of them have never done it before.”
The training center also has a classroom dedicated specifically to building automation controls, while the lab space contains boilers, centrifugal chillers, and a trainer for the top four brands of VFDs. Happel noted that once the VFDs are plugged in, students will commission the drives. The instructor will then introduce faults, and the following morning, students will attempt to diagnose and fix them.
“We’re very well known for being hands-on,” said Happel. “Lecture-based classes are necessary, but these are technicians. They want to be out and about moving around, touching things, taking things apart, putting them back together. The foundation is really hands-on, which is why the lab space is as large as it is.”
Happel hopes that the new training center will help alleviate the labor shortage that has plagued the HVAC industry for years. “At one point, the shortage seemed endless, and I don’t know if we’re making a tremendous improvement yet, but we’re definitely seeing a greater interest in the training,” he said. “We’re hopeful that everything goes as planned with the new training center, so we can deliver to the industry what we’ve been receiving ourselves, and we can continue expanding opportunities over time.”