Meeting/Event Information

Lisa Meline, PE

Ms. Meline is principal engineer and owner of Meline Engineering Corporation located in Sacramento, California.  She has over 30 years of mechanical engineering experience in the construction industry. 
Ms. Meline is a licensed professional engineer in California and several other states.  She is a Past Chair and a current voting member of ASHRAE TC6.8, Geothermal Heat Pump and Energy Recovery Applications, Past Chair of IGSHPA’s Standards Committee, and serves on the Technical Committee for ANSI/CSA/IGSHPA C448.  Ms. Meline was also one of the three ASHRAE speakers invited by NYSERDA to develop and present 
ASHRAE/NYSERDA Community Heat Pump Systems Webinar Series, a series of 17 Webinars offered October 13, 2021 through May 25, 2022.
She is currently working on a 2-year project with CSA to create three new on-line and in-person training courses:  GSHP System Commercial Design, GSHP System Residential Design, and GSHP System Verification and Inspection.
Ms. Meline is an ASME Fellow and one of the founding members of the California Geothermal Heat Pump Association. 

Patrick Pico

Patrick Pico is a second-generation Sheet Metal Worker with over 35 years of experience in the sheet metal and HVAC industry. He studied Computer Science at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, from 1984 to 1988. Following college, Mr. Pico completed his sheet metal apprenticeship with SMW Local 104 in San Jose, California, graduating in 1995. 

As an apprentice, he represented Local 104 in four regional apprenticeship contests and two national competitions. He began his career as a shop fabrication sheet metal worker, specializing in industrial and architectural sheet metal, as well as general HVAC fitting fabrication. He later transitioned into the Testing, Adjusting, and Balancing (TAB) discipline of the HVAC industry, where he worked as a field foreman. 

Mr. Pico has been actively involved as an educator for more than 25 years, teaching at Local 104 training centers and contributing nationally to the International Training Institute (ITI) and the National Energy Management Institute (NEMI). His roles have included certification judge, proctor, instructor, and subject matter expert for multiple ITI-published textbooks. 

He played a key role in the creation of the Testing, Adjusting, and Balancing Bureau (TABB) in the early 2000s and later helped develop the NEMIC Mechanical Acceptance Testing certification program for technicians and employers in 2013. Mr. Pico holds numerous industry certifications, including Certified TABB Technician and Supervisor, multiple Fire/Life Safety certifications, Mechanical Acceptance Testing, sound and vibration testing, Indoor Air Quality, and OSHA Authorized Instructor credentials. In recognition of his significant contributions to the HVAC industry, Mr. Pico was inducted into the TABB Hall of Fame in 2018. 

The event will begin with a short presentation providing an overview of available training programs offered at the SMACNA training facility, including Title 24 and TAB. This will be followed by a guided facility tour highlighting key spaces such as the weld shop, technology room, and other training areas. Following the tour, attendees will participate in a technical presentation on Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) systems.

Technical Presentation Summary

Ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems using groundwater pre-1940s in the US and Europe evolved to include closed loop applications as a result of the 1970s energy crisis.  By 1999 there was a proliferation of GSHP system installations in the US and Canada, often in rural areas.  These systems offer one of the most efficient and sustainable paths toward building decarbonization, yet they remain a less prominent solution in the heat pump landscape, especially in California.  Ms. Meline will briefly review the history of this technology then share the current hurdles to acceptance of this technology in California, the latest advancements and best practices in drilling technologies and present developments in ASHRAE and other state, provincial, and national industry organizations.  She will conclude with some thoughtful reflection on what the future may hold for GSHPs.