SENSIGREEN MECHANICAL INDOOR AIR QUALITY AT ITS BEST
SOUTHERN TATLER 2017: MAY/JUNE ISSUE: LOCAL FEATURE
LOCAL FOCUS SENSIGREEN
W
e East Alabamians live in the real south. We live in close proximity to the beautiful Gulf of Mexico and several degrees closer to the equator than our northern neighbors. We also enjoy humidity levels that rival the most tropical of environments. This means our land is beautiful and our summers are fun, but it also means that the months of March through November are hot! And how do we remedy the sweltering heat of our homes here in sweet home Alabama? We turn to the trusty air conditioneror is it so trusty?
SENSIGREEN - COOL THINGS ABOUT SUMMER We’ve all experienced the panic of waking up in the middle of a summer night- pillow soaked in sweat and the air so thick we can hardly breathe. Morning can’t come quick enough, because that’s when the repairman can be called.
Many of us foster a love-hate relationship with our HVAC repairman. Sure, he rings the doorbell, stomps inside, and makes a few (much needed) adjustments, but he sometimes leaves us uneasy. “Who is this guy I let into my house, and how on earth can what he just did cost so much money?” we ask. We’ll do anything to restore our home to its former comfort, however, so we settle, and we’re probably not as selective as we should be. Well, Southern Tatler is here to tell to you that there’s a better HVAC service provider with its home-base in Opelika. Sensigreen Mechanical is owned and operated by Justin Quinn, an “Auburn gentleman in” every sense of the phrase, who cares deeply about providing quality service and operating his business with honesty and integrity. We jumped at the chance to chat with him about the growth of his company in recent years and some of the exciting plans Sensigreen has for 2017.
“We want to take care of others like they’ve taken care of us”
JUSTIN QUINN Justin Quinn was born and raised in Philadelphia. He moved to South Carolina in the mid nineties and graduated from Presbyterian College in 1999 with a degree in political science. In 2001, Justin moved to Atlanta and began building custom homes. Justin gained an appreciation for building science and realized that there is more to creating a quality home environment for the American family than one might initially think. He realized that families value far more than cosmetic details and aesthetic appeal when building their homes. They care most about the health of their loved ones, and that means that energy efficiency and indoor air quality are not areas where compromise is an option.
Justin enjoyed great success in his homebuilding company and established for himself stellar repute in his industry, but in 2011, the suffering housing market challenged him to take another career route. A former roommate urged Justin to move to Auburn that year to work with him at a local business which specialized in sprayfoam insulation. That business was called Sensigreen. Justin joined the team and soon realized that his extensive experience in homebuilding had equipped him to better meet the needs of his customers. As Justin explains it, his knowledge of how all the systems in a home worked together allowed him to better understand (and in turn, explain) customer’s options and the benefits
WHAT IS SENSIGREEN UP TO NOW? Today most of Justin’s work is concentrated on working alongside local homebuilders to provide HVAC to new residential properties. He credits his employees with much of his recent success:
and consequences of those options when it came to insulating their homes. Early on, Justin also saw the potential value in adding heating, ventilation, and air conditioning services to the Sensigreen menu. He decided to get his training at the Alabama Power HVAC Training Center. Before long, East Alabama had an awesome new HVAC service provider, and technicians began heading out to the homes of happy patrons on a daily basis. In 2014, Sensigreen’s owners asked Justin if he’d like to buy the business. Justin was confident that taking the opportunity was a wise decision, and he missed the perks of owning his own company. By the summer of 2014, Justin was officially Sensigreen’s new President and CEO. He immediately set out to improve upon the already wonderful reputation that Sensigreen had secured. Before long, he had more customers than he could have imagined, and he showed no signs of slowing down.
“Our guys do a great job at the new properties installing units and meeting the needs of those builders, and they also do a lot of really great routine service work. People often call the office to tell us how happy they are- not only with the work we have done to help them make their homes more comfortable, but also with the great conversations they’ve had with our Sensigreen technicians. Our goal is to maintain good relationships with the people in our community, and we know that happens when we are patient, knowledgeable, and willing to help.” Currently, Sensigreen works with twenty-four different area builders and visits four-hundred customers seeking routine maintenance each season. Justin has hired a few extra employees since purchasing Sensigreen in 2014, simply because the demand for excellent customer service is very high these days, and he believes his company has what it takes to meet that need. Also exciting is that Sensigreen recently expanded its offerings to include plumbing services, so it will soon be called “Sensigreen Mechanical,” rather than Sensigreen Heating and Air. Justin purchased a beautiful new 8,500 square foot office this past January to accommodate this rapid growth. Justin says he doesn’t have any immediate plans for further expansion, but he never knows where life will take him.
“
People often call the office to tell us how happy they are - not only with the work we have done to help them make their homes more comfortable, but also with the GREAT CONVERSATIONS they’ve had with our Sensigreen technicians. Our goal is to maintain with the people in our community, and we know that happens when we are patient, knowledgeable, and willing to help."
good relationships
Sensigreen has grown its Comfort Care Maintenance program as well, which allows customers to sign up for twice yearly maintenance checks. Other perks of the program include 24hour emergency service, priority service during the busy season, a 10 percent discount on parts, a 10 percent discount on flat rate repairs, inflation protection, and a free energy efficiency consultation. We asked one Sensigreen customer to tell us about her experiences with the company. We asked her one question: “what makes them so different?” She replied, “I can honestly say that the group of men who work for Sensigreen are the politest and most hardworking gentlemen I have ever encountered. They always arrive at my home with a great attitude, and they’re never late. That is something that, in my opinion, is hard to come by in their industry. They are also extremely respectful of myself and of my home. I feel completely comfortable calling them to
“I can honestly say that the group of men who work for Sensigreen are the politest and most hardworking gentlemen I
have ever encountered.
come out my air conditioner or furnace, and I know that I won’t have any more issue once they leave.” Reviews like this are the norm for folks at Sensgreen, and that’s something Justin takes great pride in. “Looking back,” Justin said, “the growth we have experienced has been tremendous, and I have been blessed by the trust this community and others in Alabama have given me. At the end of the day, all we really have is integrity. That’s what matters the most to me and I want people to know that.”
MAKING AN IMPACT Justin also credits his success, in part, to Auburn’s metamorphosis as of late. He cited the city’s excellent infrastructure, the support of the University, and the city’s public schools as key drivers for its prosperity. Over the years Justin has also observed that Auburnites and Opelikans are genuine community builders, that is, they are givers, not takers: “We want to take care of others like they’ve taken care of us.” Justin and his team currently support Big House, the Jason Dufner Foundation, Wine, Women, and Shoes, the Sportsplex Tri for Kids, Auburn City Schools PTO, and other worthy organizations. Justin is also a recent graduate of Leadership Lee County. Although Sensigreen is very invested in Auburn and Opelika, these aren’t the only cities where Justin and his team enjoy wonderful folks and awesome closely knit communities. Sensigreen also serves Prattville, Phenix City, Dothan, Pike Road, Montgomery, Columbus, and Birmingham. “We do travel a lot, but it is really nice to be able to serve a broad group of Alabamians and Georgians like that,” Justin said. ”We love going out to meet new people, too.”
SHIFTING FOCUS: LILY QUINN’S CDH STORY With the recent changes Sensigreen has experienced in 2017 has come a desire in Justin to do more for those causes he holds so dear. As we continued our conversation with him, he shared with us a beautiful story about his daughter, Lily, now a third grader at Wrights Mill Road Elementary School in Auburn. Justin and his wife, Jessica welcomed Lily in December of 2007. She was born with condition called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, or CDH. Lily had been diagnosed with the condition at 28-weeks gestation, and in the time leading up to her birth, her parents were faced with a troubling reality- that she may not live for more than a few days. The statistics were terrifying, but Justin and Jessica stayed positive, and their baby girl fought hard. After Lily’s initial diagnosis in utero, the Quinns made the decision to move Jessica and their oldest daughter, Katie, in with Justin’s parents. This was so that that they could be close to a world-renowned children’s hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in anticipation of Lily’s birth. Jessica delivered Lily at the Hospital of the University of Pennyslvania before
WE WANT TO TAKE CARE OF OTHERS LIKE THEY’VE TAKEN CARE OF US.”
pediatric experts from CHOP began treating her condition. Just after she was born at 10:48 a.m., Lily’s began experiencing extreme difficulty breathing, so much so that she turned blue. She was moved to the neonatal intensive care unit where doctors stabilized her, but it seemed that her survival still hung in the balance. Justin and Jessica were shocked when they saw their tiny daughter being treated with so many scary looking machines, and their uncertainty was unsettling, but on Lily’s fourth day of life, pediatric surgeon Dr. Alan W. Flake let Justin and and Jessica know that he he believed he could repair her hernia. This was unexpected, as Justin and Jessica had been told in the time leading up to Lily’s birth that reparative surgery would not be an option for, at the very least, several weeks. Lily’s diaphragmatic hernia was repaired on December 21, 2017. Her healing began immediately, and every day after that she improved dramatically. Miraculously, Lily experienced no setbacks, and what was supposed to be a four to sixth month stay in the hospital turned to only five weeks. Lily came home with no equipment or machinery- not even a feeding tube. Lily’s healing was and is the greatest miracle of Justin and Jessica’s lives. Thanks to their awesome friends, Justin was able to work in Atlanta while Jessica, Katie, and baby Lily (still awaiting birth, at the time) lived near the hospital. The Quinns were blessed by the generosity of friends who paid for Justin’s weekly commute to and from Pennsylvania while he continued working. “I never even purchased a meal,” he said. “We were absolutely blown away by the kindness of our friends and family during that time” When the Quinns brought Lily home, Justin was smacked with a medical bill which, in total, was almost $500,000. Insurance had covered only half of the costs related to Lily’s birth due to the Quinns being out of network. As young parents without those financial means, Justin and Jessica were not sure where to turn. A second miracle came their way when a family awarded them a grant which paid almost the entire bill. Justin and Jessica were more than grateful. They were astounded.
SOUTHERN
THE SENSIGREEN CDH FOUNDATION This year marks Lily’s tenth birthday, and aside from some asthma symptoms, she is happy and healthy. In 2016, Justin and Jessica began thinking about what they could do to help other families who have received the CDH diagnosis, and asked themselves, “how can Sensigreen be a part of the plan?” The Quinns approached local attorney and Hudson Family Foundation founder Kim Hudson and the Machen McChesney accounting firm to help them develop their ideas and set their plans in motion. The Quinns plan to educate their friends and neighbors about Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia through the Sensigreen CDH Foundation. They also hope to provide Alabama families facing CDH with financial assistance: “We want other families in situations like ours to have the help that we did.” Justin still remembers how stressful those months were for his family, and he recognizes that no parents should have to face that alone. “I also hope that we can inspire the medical community to work hard to find the cause of CDH, and of course it would be wonderful if they could find a way to prevent this devastating birth defect.” Justin admits that the Sensigreen CDH Foundation is in its beginnings, so they still need to rally a lot of support, but he is confident that the East Alabama community will respond. Justin asked that we share a few facts and statistics about CDH with our readers in hope of spreading awareness: •
CDH occurs in 1 of every 2500 births.
• CDH’s cause is not yet known. What experts do know, however, is that the diaphragm is formed during the first trimester of pregnancy and controls the ability of the lungs to inhale and exhale. CDH occurs when the diaphragm fails to form or close totally. This opening allow abdominal organs into the chest cavity, inhibiting lung growth. • The mortality rate for infant born with CDH is 50%. Early diagnosis in utero is vital. • Babies who are born with CDH and survive are often not as fortunate as Lily was. Many of these children endure lengthy hospital stays, feeding
TAT L E R
“
issues, asthma, and other problems. • CDH occurs as frequently as does Spina Bifida and Cystic Fibrosis, yet little research is being done to understand its causes or to prevent it. Justin says our readers can help by spreading the word about CDH and keeping an eye out for upcoming Sensigreen CDH Foundation fundraisers. There will be a Chipotle Night on June 6th at Tiger Town to raise money for the foundation. Sensigreen customers can add a donation to their annual Comfort Care Maintenance Contract if they’d like to contribute financially, or if they are commercial clients, they can become business partners and sponsor the Sensigreen CDH Foundation’s marketing and fundraising initiatives at various levels. “We want people to reach out to us if they know of a family who has received the CDH diagnosis. We want to do all that we can because so much was done for us,” Justin said.
WE WANT TO DO ALL THAT WE CAN BECAUSE SO MUCH WAS DONE FOR US
for more information on Sensigreen or Sensigreen CDH Foundation visit: www.sensigreen.com or call: 334.528-0765
M AY/ J UNE
2017
Southern Tatler “The essence of Southern Society”
your CITY, your MAGAZINE e: customer.relations@southerntatler.com l phone: 334.329.1780