The following stories from the United States of America are an extract from the booklet 'Women in the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry."
STORY BY ERICA GALLANT 
As a young engineer, I rarely noticed heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment, and I certainly never considered the industry for its professional possibilities. However, for the past decade, my career has been dedicated to chillers – the massive, heavy-metal machines that tend to reside in the bowels of high-rise buildings and basement district-cooling facilities. As a thermal systems engineer at Trane in La Crosse, Wisconsin, my primary goal is to make cold water. I am fortunate enough to work for a company that places incredible emphasis on sustainability and environmental commitment, and today, we are making cold water more sensibly than ever.
My path to this role has not been without some unique encounters. When I was hired by Trane over a decade ago, I was among only a handful of women in a building of 400 employees. The odds were awkward but certainly did not intimidate me. As a female graduate student in mechanical engineering and during the time I spent in the automotive industry, I was accustomed to being part of the minority gender. It was commonplace for my work to be unduly questioned and routine for me to be mistaken for the administrative assistant instead of assumed to be the engineer. It was no surprise that my new colleagues were a bit uncertain about how my presence might change the dynamic of their comfortable, male-dominated cubicle culture.
The approach I took to thrive in such a setting was to demonstrate to my colleagues where I could succeed, not where I lacked skill or HVAC experience. Since throughout my education and early career I had been exposed to a range of laboratory testing functions, I felt relatively comfortable in Trane’s extensive test facility. I spent hours each day in the lab, asking questions and working with the laboratory technicians on all types of commercial HVAC equipment. The technicians became my most valuable source of HVAC training. Several of them recognized my genuine interest in learning their trade and my dedication to quality test data, and they were willing to go out of their way to bring me quickly up to speed on our products and on the basics of HVAC. It was these laboratory technicians who helped me build the tools and confidence I needed to interface more effectively with my engineering peers during my first several months on the job.
As I became more familiar with the industry and the products at Trane, I explored different engineering roles and tapped into the technical experts’ knowledge of our various components and subsystems. I became more versed in the mechanics, thermodynamics, and systems integration of our centrifugal chiller products. Eventually, I positioned myself to be part of the chiller new product development department, where I would work directly on meeting the challenges of more stringent worldwide efficiency standards and refrigerant phase-out directives for commercial chillers. In the past three years, Trane has successfully launched four new centrifugal chiller products that are designed for next-generation, low-global-warming-potential refrigerants. I have been able to participate in the design, modelling, testing, and building of three of these machines.
My day-to-day activities vary as chiller projects move from the conceptual stage to the product launch. During the early stages of a project, the majority of my time may be spent talking with marketing engineers to understand and define customer needs. A significant part of early development includes physics and mathematical modelling of components and systems to predict overall performance and function. I work directly with our drafting and design team to specify and develop the individual parts and features so that they meet the requirements for function, manufacturability, and cost and comply with regulations. The process continues with the construction and testing of a prototype, during which 100 per cent of my time may be spent in the fabrication shop and laboratory, helping to assemble the unit and monitoring chiller performance as it is exposed to a range of rigorous tests. The analysis of this data leads to engineering discussion and revisions before a final design can be released to the factory for production. The variety associated with my job keeps me engaged throughout the development process and seeing an environmentally friendly chiller leave the factory to be delivered to a job site provides a great sense of satisfaction.
My affiliation with the HVAC industry began merely because of available employment in a geographically suitable location. The passion that I have developed for designing HVAC equipment, however, is rooted in my desire to change the outlook for our global climate, even just one chiller at a time.
STORY BY LILIT GEVORKYAN
It has been a little over a year since I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering. Shortly after graduation, I was hired at Lennox International as a full-time test engineer for the Controls Team. I was excited about this new opportunity and about facing the challenges that were to come, but I was also a bit nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. As part of my educational background, I have experience working in a lab environment and, of course, working with teams to complete challenging projects involving critical thinking. But the refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) environment is something that I did not have any experience in; I didn’t know what goes on in the attic of a house or even think about the complications of the cooling and heating process - or the actual design involved in keeping food cool in a refrigerator. Not only that, but since my degree programme was predominantly male, I had a bit of an expectation that this would be the case in my career as well. It was definitely intimidating coming into a field where most people had years of experience.
I began learning about residential projects, trying to grasp the concept of the design of the indoor and outdoor units and how the systems communicated with each other. You can imagine that this was a lot of new information to take in, but with the help of my co-workers and training videos, I was beginning to understand the basic structure of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. With the resources that Lennox provided - whether training material, product manuals, visual lab equipment, physical units, or fellow co-workers - understanding and learning these new concepts were becoming
much easier.
The primary project I began working on involved refrigeration units that are placed in convenience stores and grocery stores. This was a new project being developed at Lennox with control boards incorporated into refrigeration systems. I studied the specification document for this design and gathered as much information as possible from teammates working on this project. I developed test cases regarding the system and began testing scenarios on trainer boards. The trainer boards 
helped me understand the algorithms and basic functionality, but it was still a bit challenging picturing the full functional system. After a few weeks, we received units to use for testing and I assembled the set-up in the lab with the units to be tested. Fast forward to a few months later, and I had the opportunity
to go to an actual field trial site to help set up this system for field testing. This experience gave me the chance to see how field technicians interact and work with each other, the challenges faced on site, and a whole other side of the business which I don’t partake in. I learned how the typical installation process is implemented. Not only did I discover the behind-the-scenes process of technicians, but I also became more aware of the work that I was putting into this project. Going inside a convenience store and grabbing a bottle of cold water or an energy drink, you don’t necessarily think about what is keeping your drink cold. I was able to imagine the impact that my work would be making on a bigger scale.
Throughout the past year at Lennox, I have learned that the fear of failure is something that can stand in between success and what you want to achieve. By dismissing the thought of failure, I have been able to interact with co-workers that can teach me certain skills and concepts, as well as helping me realize my full potential. I have learned to take full advantage of the resources offered and learn from people with different backgrounds who were more experienced in the field. While there is still a lot to learn about refrigeration and air conditioning systems, asking questions and seeking help when needed from others has been very beneficial. My personal approach to understanding the refrigeration system has been to take in valuable information and allow the visual equipment in the labs to provide a strong foundation for understanding the cooling cycle. Realizing that RAC systems are incorporated into elements of daily life (such as vehicles, dwellings, airplanes, hospitals, restaurants - the list goes on) makes the achievements in my work much more significant and relevant to the betterment of this world.
STORY BY KATHERINE HAMMACK
Background
I come from a family of engineers, so becoming an engineer was very natural. I learned as much as I could about the profession, taking internships during my summer breaks in college: one involved working for an electric utility company and the other, working as a test engineer at a shipyard.
After receiving my bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering, I started my career as a product manager working for United Technologies’ Carrier Air Conditioning corporation. I went on to get my master’s degree in business administration, with a focus on
marketing.
Much of my career has been spent communicating engineering concepts to non-engineers. After working in manufacturing for several years, I went back to the electric utilities industry, working on energy efficiency and the deregulation of the utility.
My next career move was into business consulting with Ernst & Young (EY). My focus was still energy efficiency, but it had evolved into a focus on sustainability and climate change. I was with EY when I received a call from the White House, asking me to join the Obama Administration.
I spent the last seven years as a presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed Assistant Secretary of the United States Army. My responsibilities were policy and oversight for all Army bases worldwide – with a focus on energy, environment, and infrastructure. With the change in the presidential Administration, I left the US Federal Government and returned to EY to focus on performance improvement.
My favourite work while in the Army was the development of the Net Zero programme. Providing guidance and direction, with great collaboration with pilot projects, has resulted in a road map for net-zero energy, net-zero water, and net-zero waste on Army bases. The Net Zero strategy is all about resiliency. When net zero is achieved, the base, buildings, and operations are more resilient. Resiliency is cost-effective, enabling better responses to climate change and enhancing the quality of life for all. Today’s technology enablers and thoughtful design strategies are changing our world. I found public service to be a humbling and awesome experience. I worked with phenomenally dedicated and thoughtful people, many of whom have spent their whole career working to ensure that men and women
of the US Military Services have the support they need so that they can focus on their missions.
I am currently back at Ernst & Young, focusing on resiliency and smart cities.
Early on in my career, I met like-minded individuals who were struggling to define “green” in the built environment. We went on to found a non-profit organization, the US Green Building Council (USGBC). We worked closely with talented innovators and developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification programme for high-performance green buildings. Now, over 25 years later, the organization is still working to improve the built environment by providing leadership and guidance. I continue to be involved as the USGBC works to develop resiliency certifications for the built
environment.
I joined the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) originally as a student member while in college. At Carrier Air Conditioning, involvement in ASHRAE was strongly encouraged. Job opportunities have taken me all over the US, but I have kept my ties with ASHRAE, where I am now on the Board of Directors as a Director-at-Large. “From personal experience, I have found that I needed to “prove myself” in every job I have had by working harder and more effectively than my male counterparts.”
Thoughts and Challenges
Engineering is not often considered a field for women; neither is military service. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics have long been considered more difficult fields of study. Women have not felt as welcomed in these fields as in other areas. From personal experience, I have found that I needed to “prove myself” in every job I have had by working harder and more effectively than my male counterparts. The engineering profession needs to be more welcoming, encouraging, and inclusive. It is diversity in thought and experience that makes projects better. Project leaders also need to consider that their clients want to see providers that reflect their diversity.
It is hard to point to any one person who mentored me during my career journey.
The women who were called into service during the labour shortages of World War II, when America’s aeronautics industry was in dire need, the women highlighted in the book and movie Hidden Figures: they demonstrated the curiosity and drive to make a difference.
Nelson Mandela has been quoted as saying: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear”.
The Bible (Luke 12:4n) says: “To whom much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him, they will ask the more.”
These are all things I live by and communicate to those I mentor. Take your curiosity and make something of it. Conquer your fear of making a difference. Take the God-given skills you have and put them to good use!
Personal
A general I once worked with in the Army called me an adrenaline junkie. I enjoy skydiving and scuba diving. With my two grown sons, I have been on a camel-back safari across the Australian Outback and hiked across Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. With my sons, we ventured into the high mountains of Tibet, climbed the Great Wall of China, and went on safari in South Africa.
I believe in working hard and playing hard. I believe that this is a great world full of amazing sights and amazing people. When we incorporate that diversity of thought, experience, gender, and race into our project teams, we always have better results!
I have returned to EY, the company I was with before I was in the US Army. I want to continue to work with teams and clients, to make the world a better place. To be a listener and encourager of those starting their careers. To know that our work makes a difference.
STORY BY SHEILA HAYTER 
My buildings industry career has truly been an exciting adventure filled with opportunities and success, as well as my fair share of disappointments. I cherish every one of these experiences, as they all provided valuable learning opportunities and helped me be better prepared for the next challenges ahead.
Throughout my career, which started when I was an undergraduate student in mechanical engineering during the 1980s, I have been driven to find a path where I feel I can give back, protect our energy and natural resources, and make the world a better place for all. Both my volunteer roles in ASHRAE and my career at the United States Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) help me meet these goals in two very different ways. ASHRAE is a global buildings industry organization with nearly 57,000 members and a presence in more than 130 countries. NREL is a research institution that focuses entirely on advancing energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. While NREL has me looking constantly to the future – working in the buildings industry to find opportunities to advance cutting-edge research and make our new energy future a reality – ASHRAE keeps me firmly planted in the now. My ASHRAE colleagues work with current realities in our profession every day, while my NREL colleagues work every day to dream up a better future for all of us.
My ASHRAE experiences have connected me with buildings industry professionals from around the world, people whose expertise and careers are as varied as the places they are from. This network helped me grow as a young professional as I learned how to be a better buildings engineer – helping me explore solutions which make building systems as efficient as possible and connecting me with boots-on-the-ground practitioners, equipment manufacturers and suppliers, researchers, policymakers in energy, and corporate decision makers. These experiences developed my appreciation for the important responsibility those of us in this industry have to create healthy, comfortable, and productive environments, and for the role refrigeration and air conditioning play in achieving this goal.
As my career progressed, my ASHRAE network evolved and expanded as well. It continuously provided me with friends and colleagues whom I contacted when I needed answers to technical questions, advice on steps forward to address problems I faced, and strategies for growing new technical or business opportunities. My volunteer ASHRAE roles evolved over time as well, providing me with increasingly greater management, team-building, and strategic leadership roles. Because of my ASHRAE involvement, I expanded my technical knowledge of refrigeration, air conditioning, and all aspects of energy use in buildings, as well as learning to become a leader in our industry.
Every day at NREL, I am surrounded by highly creative and inquisitive thinkers who are asking questions about what our energy future will be and finding answers to those questions. Working at NREL is a humbling experience, as I can easily let myself feel how hard it is to keep up with the pace of innovation that surrounds me. But working in this environment is also invigorating. It drives me to continuously seek ways that I can contribute to, and be a valuable part of, the teams that are working to understand the problems of tomorrow and finding solutions to those problems today.
I joined the NREL buildings research team only a few years after completing my undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. In essence, I have grown up at NREL just like I have grown up at ASHRAE. Early on, my NREL role was to be the “doer,’’ the person on the team who crunched the numbers and searched high and low for a piece of information. It was not long before I was also leading project work to develop new tools for identifying and evaluating opportunities for energy savings in buildings. In addition, I was leading project work to explore technical and non-technical solutions which encourage decision-makers to incorporate energy-efficiency and renewable-energy technologies into buildings systems. During the past nearly 10 years, I have been a line manager for a team of technical and clean-energy policy experts, as well as the partnership development manager overseeing the business development activities for a team of 80 people. So how do I contribute to supporting those incredibly creative and innovative colleagues with whom I work at NREL? My role as a manager has been to enable others to accomplish great things, and my role as a partnership development manager has been to facilitate the formation of relationships that lead to exploring new challenges with a range of stakeholders. All the while, I have continued to lead activities that connect experts from the Laboratory to stakeholders who benefit from their expertise. I have also continued to help those stakeholders define and implement strategic directions for addressing the challenges they face.
As I look back on my journey, I see that I have followed my desire to grow professionally and personally, that I have a passion to make the world a better place, and that I am willing to reflect when things go right or wrong in order to realize what I have learned and do better next time. All this has led to being selected by my peers in the buildings industry to become this year’s ASHRAE president. Through this journey, I have always felt a desire to give back and to show my appreciation to those around me who have helped me become who I am. I believe this is what will continue to be my motivation through the rest of my career as I work towards finding new ways to contribute to our new energy future and facing the challenges yet to come.
STORY BY JULIA KEEN
I have been working in the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC&R) industry since graduation from college. I pursued an education and career in the building design and construction industry because I had a passion for buildings. Following college, I took a job working as a consulting engineer designing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems in many different types of new buildings and renovations. I found this career exciting, challenging, and very rewarding.
It was not until I was a professional that I understood the impact that the career path I had selected had on peoples’ quality of life, welfare, and safety. People spend most of their lives inside the built environment, and they expect that they will not only be thermally comfortable but also safe. Air conditioning in buildings enables comfort even in the
harshest environments, some of which may otherwise be deemed uninhabitable. As a direct result of this comfort, people are more productive and satisfied. Providing comfort is very satisfying, but even more rewarding is the ability to provide environments that enhance welfare – surgical suites that maintain conditions (temperature and humidity) to promote better patient prognoses, refrigerated warehouses for food and medical storage, and so on.
Seven years into my career, I decided to move from the design side of the profession to an academic appointment at Kansas State University. This career choice allows me to still be engaged in the industry, but instead of doing design full-time, I have the opportunity to educate and influence the next generation of designers. In this role, I can communicate the importance of what they are studying to practice. I also have the chance to train professionals in the basics of HVAC&R through an ASHRAE professional development course. I find tremendous satisfaction in knowing that I can help promote and advance good design practices.
My career has been greatly influenced by my involvement in ASHRAE. The interaction and networking with HVAC&R professionals afforded to me by ASHRAE are invaluable. I have access to professional experts, allowing me to ask questions and collaborate, advancing my personal knowledge. To advance the HVAC&R industry, I can also share my skills: participating in the development of technical resources and leading efforts to create opportunities for distributing knowledge, such as partaking in research, lecturing, and writing articles.
STORY BY SARAH MASTON
After graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) with my bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering, I did not enter the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) field right away. It was after I had been in the workforce for a few years and was not exactly thrilled with my first job that I stumbled upon an ad for an HVAC engineer. I met with the owner of the small company, and we hit it off. I was a little concerned that I didn’t know much about the field, but he said that he would teach me all I needed to know. So, for the next year, I and another young engineer that had recently been hired went to work an hour early two days a week to learn HVAC principles. My boss was patient and an excellent teacher and the material we covered was directly related to the
work we were doing.
A few years later, I moved on to a larger mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection (MEPFP) engineering firm, again working as a design engineer, to try designing HVAC systems for different building types. After a few years at the larger firm, I felt stuck – like I wasn’t learning anything new.
One day, I was talking to the group leader for the firm’s commissioning group about what commissioning was all about. I was intrigued by the idea of working for the building owners and being on site to see the building being built. This was more exciting than sitting in my cubicle all day. Soon I switched groups and fell in love! I was fascinated as I watched the HVAC equipment installation and start-up. I started writing the sequences of operations and failure modes for the equipment tests. I met many people, from manufacturers’ representatives to mechanical contractors, and of course, owners. I enjoyed being a member of the team and helping to solve problems as they arose.
Commissioning is a process that is dependent on good documentation and clear communication - skills I excelled at. My group leader was a real mentor for me, introducing me to other decision makers along the way, and engaging our entire commissioning team in the marketing and business of commissioning. We were all project managers, managing our own budgets and forecasting new business. We each helped to write proposals and to interview for new projects.
This manager also introduced me to ASHRAE. The company encouraged its employees to be active at the local level, but my manager belonged to a technical committee (TC) that was responsible for editing chapters in the ASHRAE Handbook. So my first ASHRAE job was Handbook revision. After working on a chapter for over a year, I was invited to go to the winter meeting where the TC was going to vote on my revised chapter. I was so excited! I went to New York City for the conference and met members of the TC. I was giddy with anticipation and a tad nervous - what if they didn’t agree with my changes? What if they challenged some of my content? But I need not have worried. All the chapter revisers were asked to stand and be acknowledged, and then the chair said: “Let’s vote on the proposed revisions to these five chapters. All in favour?” All voting members answered “aye”, and it was over in two minutes. From there, though, I springboarded into involvement in the Building Commissioning TC, where I met many other commissioning practitioners from all over the world, and in the Conferences and Expositions Committee, where our team of volunteers created the technical programme for the biannual conferences. Being involved in ASHRAE has been a vital part of my career, allowing me to collaborate and network with people of different technical backgrounds and from every corner of the globe.
As things have turned out, my manager would be proud. Four years ago, I started my own commissioning firm. It’s only me, but I’m okay with that. I have many ongoing projects for our local hospital campus. I enjoy the projects and the people I work with. I enjoy working for myself and building my business, but also having the flexibility to be there for my children. I’m not on the school board anymore and my kids are playing high-school sports, so I am not coaching, but I do lead a Girl Scout troop, as I try to encourage another generation of girls to be whatever they want to be. I really do enjoy going to work every day.
STORY BY LAUREN ROBERTS 
My grandfather co-founded a business, cfm Distributors, in 1969, and my father followed in his footsteps, working in various capacities within our company until 2001, when he became president. When I was in college, I was studying for a business degree but working outside the industry. In 2004, I was asked to join the family business by cfm’s then controller. He planned to retire in a few years and thought I might want to learn how to do the job and potentially take over. I started as an accounting assistant and soon learned that I needed more interaction with people. Next, I moved to the marketing department and became a marketing assistant. I worked my way up to the post of Marketing Manager after a while, then moved up to Director of Marketing, then Vice-President of Marketing and Customer Experience, then Executive Vice-President, and then, in 2018, to President/Chief Executive Officer.
I am excited and passionate about my work and the overall industry because we are at a really exciting point in time: there is a huge generational change and there are tonnes of new technology advancements and great people to work with. With all that, there is never a dull moment and there is plenty to work on and change in our industry.
Throughout my career, I have experienced the best professional and personal growth by being involved in different committees through Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI), the board of directors for Women in HVACR, and other local industry associations. The ideas and best-practice sharing, the personal and professional growth, and the personal friendships that have come out of such involvement have made my career far better than it would have been at this point had I not been involved.
As a woman in the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVACR) industry, I have found it challenging. I have been fortunate enough to have several male sponsors who helped give me opportunities for growth and have given me a voice in meetings and activities to help me showcase my abilities. Also, being involved in the Women in HVACR organization has given me a network of other women at all levels of the supply chain with whom to share ideas and challenges and who have mentored me. I highly recommend that women in our industry join Women in HVACR to get the same kind of network and great support that has helped many women like me flourish in our industry.
