Chris Wright

Chris started working for Jackson & Blanc in 1986 as a parts driver and joined Local 230 as a technician. While at the company, he performed unit installation and sheet metal work. In 1994 he joined Local 206 and started working for Southland Industries as a Testing and Balancing (TAB) Technician and sheet metal HVAC installer. He was accepted into the apprenticeship in 1997 and graduated in 2001. In 2002, Chris was hired by University Mechanical where he still works today as a General Foreperson overseeing new projects.

In 2014, Chris accepted an evening position with the JATC teaching the TAB Upgrade Class. He enjoys sharing his knowledge and real-world experience in the TAB field with the students. He feels it is important to bring an understanding of how and why certain things are done in HVAC installation.

Chris has served as a Local 206 Trustee, E-board member, Recording Secretary, and currently serves as President.

The most memorable project in Chris’s career was the UCSD Jacobs Medical Center. The building is a ten story, 509,500 sq ft medical facility with 245 beds, OR suites, labor and delivery, pathology lab, and cardiac center. The project had a $97 million mechanical budget including the new central plant. This included 14 AHU units, 34 exhaust fans, 1,800 vav boxes, 1,100 reheat coils and over 2,000 fire smoke dampers. OSHPD (Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development) had requirements for all room pressures in critical and non-critical spaces. Chris spent almost two years on this project. The final TAB report was over 2,000 pages. To Chris’s amazement, JCAHO (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) certified the entire facility in seven days for occupancy.

In his spare time, Chris enjoys camping, off-roading in local deserts with his family and friends, NASCAR racing, and cruising the boardwalk on his bike.