At its 28th annual breakfast for trade media at the AHR Expo on Tuesday, January 23, Danfoss focused on HVAC/R solutions for creating sustainable buildings – commercial buildings, data centers, and supermarkets through energy efficiency, decarbonization, and water neutrality.
The nearly 60 attendees had the opportunity to hear from Danfoss subject matter experts as well as industry partners on how Danfoss solutions are helping future-proof buildings to achieve greater energy efficiency, carbon reduction, and performance for both the short and long term.
2023 accomplishments
The program began with a business update from Rick Sporrer, president of Danfoss North America.
He summarized the company’s 2023 accomplishments, which included expanding product offerings of Danfoss’ high capacity, oil-free, ultra energy efficient Turbocor compressors, opening an innovation center focused on creating energy-efficient solutions for the retail market, and further developing its capabilities with low GWP refrigerants.
2024 outlook
Growth in several key commercial HVAC applications: data centers, chillers, RTUs, and CO2
The industry outlook for 2024 is bright, as Danfoss continues to work toward its own goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2030, as well as helping its customers achieve their own decarbonization goals.
“We are observing strong growth in several key commercial HVAC applications: data centers, chillers, RTUs, and CO2,” said Sporrer. “These are all areas where Danfoss has extensive experience, the broadest portfolio, and we are positioned to lead the industry in the green transition.“
heat pumps
The discussion then turned to heat pumps, with Brian Dail, application engineer manager at Danfoss, speaking about the important role heat pumps play in helping to decarbonize buildings.
Acknowledging the challenges in implementing heat pumps, he discussed how Danfoss technologies, such as its scroll compressors, oil-free and magnetic-bearing Turbocor compressors, variable-speed drives, and heat exchangers, are enabling heat pumps to be more effective in colder climates and utilize low-GWP refrigerants.
IAQ
He also highlighted trends in heat pumps from the equipment manufacturer's point of view
Sam Neale, business unit leader for IAQ at Jetson by Modine, presented a case study on how Modine used the Danfoss DSH compressor to help a university lower carbon emissions and achieve energy savings.
He also highlighted trends in heat pumps from the equipment manufacturer's point of view.
data center cooling solutions
Next came a presentation by Michael Strouboulis, director of business development for data centers at Danfoss, on emerging data center cooling solutions, such as liquid cooling and free cooling, and how these innovations are helping data centers lower their environmental impact while still achieving their uptime requirements.
Ben Townsend, global head of data center sustainability at Google, then shared his thoughts on the 24/7 needs of data centers, reliable energy and cooling, and the nexus of water, energy, and carbon in data center operations, noting Google’s commitment to developing net zero data centers.
artificial intelligence and energy efficiency
Danfoss will work with Google to implement sustainable cooling systems for data centers and design systems
As part of the press conference, Danfoss and Google announced a strategic partnership on artificial intelligence and energy efficiency that will help Google decarbonize its data centers.
Danfoss will use Google Cloud’s generative AI capabilities to optimize the customer experience, streamline internal work processes, and improve productivity across the organization, and Danfoss will work with Google to implement sustainable cooling systems for data centers and design systems that reuse the excess heat produced by data centers.
Reduce carbon emissions
“As part of our ESGs, Danfoss is committed to helping our customers reduce their carbon emissions and energy use,” said Sporrer.
“This partnership is an important step in helping to create sustainable data centers, using technologies that are available today to build a better tomorrow.”
connectivity solutions, innovation awards
The morning wrapped up with a presentation from Michael Kellerman, director of EC&S business development at Danfoss, on connectivity solutions for buildings, such as Danfoss’ newest IoT solution, Alsmart, and how they are helping buildings optimize their energy use and ultimately reduce energy consumption and operating expenses.
Another highlight for Danfoss at the AHR Expo was winning its 35th Innovation Award. The new DSG compressor, which features an innovative design to enable a smooth transition to low-pressure, low-GWP refrigerants, won the award in the Cooling category.