AOBAssociate Member Spotlight - Quality Air Services

Get to know our Associate members — companies who provide a variety of key services to our owner/manager members — and learn about their involvement with AOBA. 

Sasha Serpa, Quality Air Services

1. Introduce your company.

Quality Air Services has been serving the multi-family and commercial real estate industry since 1998. The vision, which the founders of QAS had, was a simple one...Quality Air Services was to become the expert solution in the restoration, maintenance, and replacement needs of the aging hydronic heating & cooling systems, often found in older properties.  

Over the past 20+ years, Quality Air Services has worked hard to position itself as the expert solution for anything and everything related to Fan Coil Units (FCUs) amongst other key building mechanical systems.

With unwavering integrity, persistence and an eagerness to take on the often forgotten hydronic accessories segment of the heating and cooling market, Quality Air Services has become an industry leader in a wide array of heating, cooling and ventilating related products and services.

2. What services does your company offer?

QAS replaces and/or services pretty much anything and everything related to fan coil unit systems, along with your more traditional HVAC systems. We have a large stock of various types of fan coil units ranging from the most typical 2-pipe vertical console units (i.e. convectors) to more rare and unique styles such as high static, overhead, 4-pipe FCU's. We offer a VERY unique pipe-freezing service which we utilize every day to allow our teams to replace isolation valves without requiring our clients to drain their buildings! We offer turn-key closed-loop riser pipe replacements which our clients oftentimes use in conjunction with larger scale fan coil unit replacement projects at their buildings. We also replace and service heat pumps, mini-split systems, furnaces, rooftop units, VAV boxes, and just about every type of HVAC system you may find installed on your property! 

3. What are some of the biggest misconceptions about your industry?

One of the most common misconceptions in our ever-evolving industry is the lead times of the equipment. MOST fan coil units are not kept in stock by local suppliers, and if they are, it is in very limited quantities. This can become a real problem if you have not identified a reliable source for the exact equipment your facility uses. Quality Air Services has a 30,000 sq. ft. warehouse right here in Rockville, MD that we stock with hard-to-find pieces of equipment and parts that we install and service!

Another common misconception is that to replace an old set of water isolation valves, the building engineer must drain the piping system, or at least that particular riser (if the riser valves even hold). This is usually not the case and 90% of the valves that QAS replaces are done so without any building system interruption or drain down. We have been freezing pipes since 1998 and we have not found a pipe that was too big to freeze!

4. What are you doing to help your clients at this point in time?

Aside from the “standard” day-to-day service calls, preventative maintenance work and larger scale equipment replacement and re-piping projects, QAS is also working diligently with our clients on several key initiatives, including: 

• BEPS strategic planning 
• Mechanical system PM’s and condition assessments with client centric budgeting and forecasting 
• UVC light systems - spec/install
• System life-cycle planning (surveys; budgets; best practices; current market conditions)
  
  

5. As an AOBA member, what have you done to build your client base and drive the success of your business? 

Quality Air Services has been an AOBA member since we opened our doors 20+ years ago. I have personally been engaged with AOBA since 2010. I was pushed in this direction by one of our founders, Ed Donahue, upon beginning my career in this industry, and I'm glad that I listened! I have used various avenues which AOBA has provided me over the years, to collaborate with a number of individuals who otherwise I may have never met or had the chance to work with!

I strongly recommend those members who are not more involved with this great organization, to reach out to one of us on the ALC (formerly ACT) or to one of AOBA's incredible staff and ask about how you can get involved to get the most out of your membership! I look forward to continuing to work with my fellow ALC members in adding value to AOBA and helping to provide opportunities for new shared experiences with our incredible membership, as we look to move forward!