HVAC News, November 2019

The Eurovent Association has released the fourth edition of the widely-applied Eurovent Recommendation 4/21 – ‘Energy Efficiency Evaluation of air filters for general ventilation purposes’. The updated guidelines set out a new method for the determination of the annual energy consumption for filters operating at an airflow rate other than nominal. Eurovent 4/21 was first published in 2014 and has since gone through several revisions and editions. The aim of this guideline is t...

Filtration Group- HVAC announces the launch of the Enduro-Pleat® X3, a line of tough pleated MERV 13 filters that save time and money. This new product stands up to the most demanding of HVAC applications while performing at a MERV 13 filtration efficiency, which is required for LEED certification and other specific industries. The new AEROSTAR® Enduro-Pleat X3 was engineered as the result of a specific end-user with a serious challenge. Filtration Group was contacted when standard MERV...

Johnson Controls announced that it closed an agreement to purchase the EasyIO Building and Energy Management System (BEMS) product line. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, EasyIO has operations in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. The acquisition will create significant growth opportunities as Johnson Controls leverages the EasyIO products and team in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and APAC building automation markets, as well as the global HVAC and refrigeration markets. Building Au...

Teenage students at Greenfield-Central High School in Indiana are learning about the installation, operation and maintenance of air-handling systems. The career and technical education class is giving them a head start toward a decent-paying career in HVAC, including the opportunity to earn multiple certifications. “You’ll get a job if someone else doesn’t have the certifications you do, so [there are] more job opportunities,” one student told the Greenfield Daily Report...

Could lack of ventilation impact the performance of students in the classroom? A study of ventilation and other HVAC issues in California classrooms raises the issue. According to the study by the University of California-Davis and the Berkeley National Laboratory, nearly 85 percent of HVAC systems recently installed in California K-12 schools do not provide adequate ventilation. Nearly 85 percent of HVAC systems recently installed in California K-12 schools do not provide adequate ventilation...

The HVAC market in Europe is expected to show sustained growth in the upcoming years, but with variation among product segments. The decarbonisation strategies in Europe stimulate a strong demand for energy-efficient heating and cooling solutions. The heat pump market in particular has done exceptionally well, with double-digit growth for several years in a row. That’s the outlook from Eurovent, Europe’s Industry Association for Indoor Climate (HVAC), Process Cooling, and Food Cold...

As outcome of the two-year Special Project ‘Evaporative Cooling 2030’, the Eurovent Association has published a set of documents including a new Eurovent Recommendation and a dedicated flyer, providing a clear overview of what the evaporative cooling industry saves in terms of CO2 emissions today and what it can save tomorrow. These documents are complemented by the first-ever European evaporative cooling industry monograph providing a clear indication on its size and scope. Euroven...

Danfoss has entered into collaboration with Microsoft to bring domain expertise in Refrigeration and HVAC to the cloud. Through this collaboration customers will benefit from long-standing industry knowledge on a new platform powered by Microsoft Azure. The new cloud services will enable major savings, operational efficiency and can further increase sales effectiveness for Refrigeration and HVAC system owners and professionals. Accelerating digitalization with cloud-based services Danfoss ext...

There is a gap between how buildings are designed and how they operate. For one thing, designers may not be focused on operability during the design process. Secondly, technology is playing a greater role in more complex buildings today, but it may not perform to expectations. These were among the observations by Darryl K. Boyce, P.Eng. ASHRAE’s 2019-2020 President, at a luncheon address at the 2019 Annual Conference. Importance of data security “Technology is not evil,” Boy...

Record hot temperatures in Europe last summer contrasted sharply with the region’s traditional aversion to air conditioning. Unlike the United States, where some 90% of homes are air conditioned, only around 5% of European buildings are equipped for the hottest temperatures. I can’t help but think that days and days of summer temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) must have motivated some building owners to reconsider the issue. Increasing Opportunity For Th...

Interfacing with customers is a fundamental skill in the HVAC market, whether it is the person answering the phone at a small business, a technician visiting a homeowner’s residence, or an engineer working on a large system at a customer site. How well employees interact and communicate with customers helps determine the success (or failure) of any HVAC organization. One important skill is the ability to “think on your feet.” A survey by the commercial subsidiary of Royal Acad...

Backed by the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO), GCC Standardization Organization (GSO), and Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE), HVAC R Expo Saudi is ready to open its doors in Riyadh for the first time from 28 to 30 January 2019 at the Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center (RICEC). The largest dedicated HVAC R event in the Kingdom returns with 35% more floor space than last year, and is expected to attract over 7000 visitors to its Riyadh debut. Now in...

HVAC R Expo, the Middle East’s platform for connecting the global heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC R) industry, will return for a second edition at Dubai World Trade Centre from 25 – 28 November, announce event organizers, dmg events. There are growing opportunities for HVAC R stakeholders in the Middle East market, in fact GCC investments in HVAC R systems over the next decade is estimated to exceed $68bn, according to a recent report published by HVAC...

AAON, Inc., a manufacturer of heating and cooling products, officially opened the Norman Asbjornson Innovation Center (NAIC) Research and Development Laboratory. The Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma, Matt Pinnell, the President and CEO of the Tulsa Regional Chamber, Mike Neal, and other local dignitaries attended the ribbon cutting ceremony. The 65-foot tall 134,000 square foot facility features ten test chambers that continue to solidify AAON as the technological pioneer in high performance HVA...

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) has submitted public comments to the Department of Energy, opposing mandates to replace non-condensing furnaces with condensing furnaces. The Department of Energy sought out input on imposing energy conservation standards that would make atmospherically vented (non-condensing) gas products, such as furnaces and water heaters unavailable, and asked for comments on the impact that a mandated switch to non-condensing products would have on consume...

The Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) hosted a roundtable discussion between officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and ACCA members, to discuss the refrigerant reclamation industry. The roundtable discussion focused on educating policy makers about refrigerant reclamation issues and was not related to any pending regulations or rulemakings. ACCA has an excellent working relationship with officials from the EPA’s Stratospheric Protection Division and regular...

Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) released the following statement from Barton James, ACCA President and CEO, regarding the confirmation of the Honorable Eugene Scalia to serve as the Secretary of Labor: “ACCA is pleased that the Senate confirmed Mr. Scalia to serve as the new Secretary of Labor. The Department of Labor plays a pivotal role, helping address the workforce challenges that contractors are facing. ACCA is thankful for the Senate's swift action to confirm him and...

Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) releases a new version of their operating procedures for, Standards Development of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America Educational Institute. These procedures are out for public review with a comment deadline of October 14, 2019. ACCA, an ANSI member and Accredited Standards Developer (ASD), has submitted revisions to its currently accredited operating procedures for documenting consensus on ACCA-sponsored American National Standards, under...

Trane, a global provider of indoor comfort systems and services and a business of Ingersoll Rand, announced that it has acquired Arctic Chiller Group, a Canadian-based HVAC manufacturer, specializing in high efficiency air- and water-cooled magnetic bearing, modular, and process chillers for commercial HVAC and process cooling applications. “We are pleased to incorporate Arctic Chiller Group solutions into our leading portfolio of energy efficient systems and services,” said Donny S...

Registration is open for the 2020 ASHRAE Winter Conference, to be held February 1-5 at the Hilton Orlando. Registration for the conference provides entry to the co-sponsored AHR Expo, held February 3-5 at the Orange County Convention Center. The ASHRAE Winter Conference features eight conference tracks, tours, social events and a keynote speech from retired NFL referee Ed Hochuli. The conference presents the latest topics in the HVAC&R industry through a technical program featuring more than...

Two Goodman brand products were recognized for excellence in product design in the 16th annual Dealer Design Awards (DDA) Program sponsored by The Air Conditioning Heating & Refrigeration News (The NEWS) magazine. A panel of independent contractors acted as judges in the contest. The AlumaFin7 evaporator coil design won the Gold DDA for HVAC Residential Equipment, while ComfortBridge technology received a Bronze in the highly competitive Residential Controls category. A system with ComfortB...

ASHRAE has announced a call for abstracts for the 2020 Building Performance Analysis Conference and SimBuild, to be held Aug. 12-14, 2020, at the Westin River North in Chicago. Co-organized by ASHRAE and IBPSA-USA, the theme of the conference, "Integrated Building Design and Analysis to Achieve Zero Carbon,” focuses on improving the decision making process through the application of simulation and modeling over the entire building life cycle. “This conference brings together the bui...

ASHRAE announced a call for papers for the Fourth International Conference on Efficient Building Design to be held Oct. 1-2, 2020, at the American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon. “Efficient building design is important to the overall performance of buildings,” says Nesreen Ghaddar, conference chair. “This conference not only offers presentations on latest findings relevant to hot humid climates in the gulf region, it will address the impact of low-energy design on occupa...

The newly published HVAC Applications volume comprised of 65 chapters covering a broad range of facilities and topics was written to help engineers design and use equipment and systems described in other Handbook volumes. Main sections cover comfort, industrial, energy-related and general applications, as well as building operations and management. The 2019 edition includes three new chapters: Indoor Swimming Pools (Chapter 6) Indoor Airflow Modeling (Chapter 59) Occupant-Centric Sensing an...

ASHRAE is celebrating the important role refrigeration and air conditioning play globally across many aspects of modern life on World Refrigeration Day, June 26. World Refrigeration Day was established in 2018 to serve as a means of raising awareness and understanding to the general public of the significant role that refrigeration and refrigerants play in modern life and society. Development Of Refrigeration Technologies Industry associations and societies from across Europe will participate...

A new publication is now available from industry leading organizations to demonstrate to contractors and designers that zero energy office buildings are attainable.  Advanced Energy Design Guide Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small to Medium Office Buildings - Achieving Zero Energy provides direction for designing and constructing zero energy office buildings in all climate zones. The guide was developed by ASHRAE, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating Engineering...

Rheem, a global water heating and HVAC manufacturer, is pleased to announce early success in the Home Energy Solutions – Income Eligible program in partnership with United Illuminating (UI), a subsidiary of AVANGRID Inc., and EnergyHub. As part of an innovative grid management strategy, UI is using EnergyHub’s Mercury distributed energy resource management system (DERMS) to aggregate, monitor, and leverage customer-deployed Rheem intelligent heat pump water heaters for demand respon...

ASHRAE has announced a call for papers for the IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) 2020 conference, September 14 - 16, 2020, in Athens, Greece. Organized by ASHRAE and the Air Infiltration and Ventilation Centre (AIVC), the theme of the conference, ‘Indoor Environmental Quality Performance Approaches’, focuses on the metrics, systems, sensors and norms necessary to implement performance approaches. Indoor Air Quality “Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) has been the core of ASHRAE’S IAQ ser...

ASHRAE and the International District Energy Association (IDEA) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) formalizing the organizations’ relationship. MoU agreement between ASHRAE and IDEA The MoU was signed by ASHRAE President Sheila Hayter and IDEA CEO/President Robert Thornton on May 22 The MoU was signed by 2018-2019 ASHRAE President Sheila J. Hayter, P.E. and IDEA President and CEO Robert Thornton on May 22. The agreement defines parameters on how the two organizations wi...

ASHRAE and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) formalizing the organizations’ relationship. ASHRAE and DOE sign MoU The MoU was signed by 2018-2019 ASHRAE President Sheila J. Hayter, P.E. and DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Daniel R. Simmons, on May 22. The agreement defines parameters on how ASHRAE and the DOE will collaborate more close...