Skill tree
151 skills in 10 branches, from jobsite safety to building automation. Each skill lists the courses and certifications that teach it.
Not sure where to start? Pick a career path → 17 roles, each with the skills it needs in learning order.
Branches
- Foundation & Safety 12 skills Where every HVAC career starts: jobsite safety habits, the physics of heat and pressure, trade math and the vocabulary of the industry. 4 sections
- Electrical & Controls 17 skills From shock prevention and Ohm's law to motors, thermostats and board-level troubleshooting: the electrical skills behind every service call. 7 sections
- Airflow & Ducts 13 skills Measuring, moving and delivering air: static pressure, total airflow, duct fabrication, sealing, insulation, blowers and balancing. 5 sections
- Refrigeration Circuit 22 skills The vapour-compression cycle and the hands-on work around it: piping, brazing, evacuation, charging, leak detection, recovery and the move to A2L refrigerants. 8 sections
- Heating 15 skills Gas, oil and electric heat: combustion, ignition, venting, gas piping, combustion analysis, carbon monoxide safety and furnace troubleshooting. 6 sections
- Cooling & Heat Pumps 16 skills Installing, commissioning and servicing residential air conditioners, heat pumps and ductless systems, from equipment placement to cold-climate and dual-fuel setups. 7 sections
- Building Science & IAQ 12 skills The house as a system: heat, air and moisture through the envelope, blower door testing, psychrometrics, ventilation, filtration, humidity control and energy auditing. 6 sections
- Design & Commissioning 12 skills Designing systems that work and proving they do: Manuals J, S, D and T, heat pump sizing, line sizing, commissioning, performance verification and modern diagnostics. 5 sections
- Commercial & BAS 15 skills Beyond the house: rooftop and chilled-water systems, commercial refrigeration, three-phase power and VFDs, and the DDC networks, controllers and programming of building automation. 6 sections Beyond residential
- Business & Leadership 17 skills Running the shop: customer communication, comfort sales, dispatch, department management, finance, people, teaching, inventory and the regulatory shifts reshaping the trade. 8 sections Beyond residential
Four tiers
Every skill is Foundation, Core, Advanced or Specialist. Most people learn them in that order; prerequisites are listed on each skill.
Courses are checked by a person
Our team matches courses to skills and a person approves every match. Providers can't pay to appear here.
Industry codes
Skills list the HVAC Excellence competency codes they line up with, so you can match them to what you study.