1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 QUOTES from the Episode “Instead of landlines everywhere, give every heat pump a cell phone and let it call home.” “We’re seeing close to 40% of heat pumps undercharged or leaking—no wonder callbacks are high.” “What gets measured gets managed.” — often attributed to Peter Drucker (fitting this data-driven shift) &amp;nbsp; Brendan Hermalyn (CEO/founder, Thalo Labs) traces a zig-zag path from NASA and defense to self-driving cars—then into HVAC. His through-line: high-reliability sensing and prognostics. Thalo’s product aims to “give every heat pump a cell phone,” using a small, non-invasive module that snaps inside VRFs/splits (and eventually larger plants), measures power and line temps, backhauls via cellular, and flags undercharge/leaks and power-quality issues before they become emergency calls. It’s equipment management, not a full BMS—lightweight to install, built for techs, and friendly to API integrations, texts, and weekly roll-ups. Brendan argues the market is ready: most commercial buildings still lack BMS, Wi-Fi is fragile for critical telemetry, and the economics of sensors/cloud have flipped. Thalo avoids tapping the refrigerant loop, prioritizes fast installs (often 10–30 minutes), QR/location tagging, and even a “buzz this unit” feature to find the right rooftop box. Early field data is sobering—he’s seeing ~40% of heat pumps undercharged and/or leaking—driving callbacks, compressor failures, and energy waste. The pitch to contractors: turn break-fix chaos into planned maintenance, white-label the savings report, and train new techs faster with data-driven cues. Oh, and the name? “Thalo” like the deep sky blue—an homage to adding tech to make the picture clearer. &amp;nbsp; Brendan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-hermalyn/ Thalo Labs: https://thalolabs.com/ &amp;nbsp; This episode was recorded in October 2025. &amp;nbsp; Building HVAC Science https://www.buildinghvacscience.com <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/38747020/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/04669a/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/item/38747020