Right-Suite Commercial assists the HVAC professionals of tomorrow, today!
Recently Wrightsoft has been interviewing several schools and universities that teach HVAC, to better understand the preparedness of future HVAC professionals. From our research, a recent interview stood out from the rest by offering a slightly different approach within their teaching style.

Timothy G. Wentz, P.E. is a professor within the Construction Management Department at the University of Nebraska. After 19 years in the commercial HVAC industry, Professor. Wentz incorporates real world experience within an applications-based course, providing his students with lessons taught in an interactive environment. For his work in education, he has received several awards. Among these include, the E.K. Campbell Award of Merit for outstanding service and achievement in teaching, sponsored by ASHRAE, and the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA) has awarded Professor Wentz the “Educator of the Year” award on two separate occasions.

So what makes his teaching style different from the rest? Professor Wentz bases the entire semester around an existing building as the class project. Students are then able to see a project through to completion, which is very rewarding and beneficial for their future careers in HVAC. “Typically I have the owners of the building come in to meet with the students to determine their needs and thoughts for the building,” stated Professor Wentz. After understanding all the requirements, budget considerations, and any other necessary details provided by the building owners, the students have full control as to how they plan to approach the project. “Throughout the semester we study all facets of mechanical systems: HVAC/R, fire sprinkler, temperature control, plumbing, etc. Then the students learn how to apply this knowledge toward the semester project.” After teaching his students the fundamentals and how to perform load calculations by hand, Professor Wentz then shows them how to do the same calculations on the computer by using Right-Suite Commercial. The industry's first commercial automated HVAC system design program, RSC is unique in that it integrates 5 commercial design, specification and sales functions into one fully integrated package.

Professor Wentz's popular class has since become cross-listed with the architecture portion of the college. “I divide the class into four person teams at the beginning of the semester, 2 construction management students and 2 architecture students. Then they have to come to a conclusion as to how to meet the owners’ needs. Based on those recommendations the teams will have to create and present to the owner, a proposal that will most efficiently heat and cool the building.” Throughout this process many questions will arise within the areas of technology, cost, esthetics, and energy conservation, which is a requirement for the assignment. “It really helps to have a wide diversity of thought, with the engineering college and the architecture college sitting in the same room trying to solve the same problems.” Professor Wentz further explained, “that’s where Right-Suite is so convenient for the students, they can make a decision about a wall section, plug in the information and get an instant answer. It helps the construction management students make management decisions, or architecture students make design decisions.”

According to Professor Wentz, the students can benefit by using Right-Suite in a couple of different ways. “First of all, it’s a very popular program within the industry that students will now be fluent in using. Secondly, students learn how to use these types of programs in the right context. It’s not a fancy calculator; Right-Suite Commercial is a management tool. It allows them to make very good decisions that would normally be very difficult to make. Computer programs can be a part of the critical thinking process, which is how we believe Right-Suite contributes to our classes.”

Upon completion of this program, the students will receive a Bachelor of Science degree, but the experience from the class gives them so much more. In past years, recommendations made by the students have been incorporated into the owner’s actual development plans. Each year this class is taught to over 100 students, and for the past 10 years, the University of Nebraska has had full placement for these students. With a thorough understanding of the field, each student after graduating goes into management level positions throughout the HVAC industry. Considering all of this, it is understandable why Professor Wentz has received such accolades for his teaching and why we thought this program was so exceptional. Keep up the good work, Tim!