AHR Expo Show Management today announced the winners of the
2020 AHR Expo Innovation Awards competition. Hosted annually by the AHR Expo, products in 10 industry categories are recognized for their innovative contribution to HVACR. The winning products, technologies and systems from each award category will be formally recognized during the 2020 AHR Expo, Feb. 3-5 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fl. Additionally, one of the category winners will be recognized as the most inventive and original product and will receive the 2020 Product of the Year Award. The ceremony is open to all Show attendees and is slated for Tuesday, February 4 at 1:00 pm EST.
Winners are carefully reviewed and selected by a panel of third-party ASHRAE member judges who evaluate award entries based on their innovative design, creativity, application, value and potential market impact.
“We had more entries submitted for the 2020 Innovation Awards than we’ve ever had,” said Mark Stevens, AHR Expo Show Manager. “This speaks volumes to the advancement and outstanding innovation happening within the HVACR industry at the moment. As in previous years, the technologies vying for a category award more than exceeded our expectations. We would like to congratulate each of our winners, finalists and all entrants for their leadership in advancing the future of our industry. We look forward to seeing these inventive solutions in action on the Show floor in Orlando and to honor our winners in a special ceremony.”
2020 AHR Expo Innovation Award Winners and finalists selected within the categories of building automation, cooling, green building, heating, indoor air quality, plumbing, refrigeration, software, tools and instruments, and ventilation are:
REFRIGERATION
Winner: Danfoss (Booth 1501) - Danfoss CO2 Adaptive Liquid Management Solution
Innovation: The Danfoss CO2 Adaptive Liquid Management (CALM) solution combines Danfoss’ liquid ejector and adaptive liquid control case controller algorithm to fully utilize the evaporator surface in display cases and cold rooms. This technology provides, without equipment change, up to 10% greater energy efficiency in addition to the energy-saving inherent of CO2 refrigeration. The CALM solution works by pulling liquid refrigerant from the suction side and injects it into the evaporator of display cases and cold rooms. Danfoss’ CALM solution aims to assist customers in making the transition to climate-friendly refrigerants while saving energy, maintaining system reliability and ensuring food safety.
“CO2 Adaptive Liquid Management is the next generation in energy saving technology that provides up to a 10% energy savings, in any climate, and all year round,” said James K. Knudsen, North America Food Retail Segment Leader at Danfoss.
“Danfoss is committed to bringing innovation and next generation solutions to the market to help our customers and industry improve energy efficiency, reduce emissions and meet climate regulations,” said John Galyen, President, Danfoss North America. “Winning three awards this year is a testament to our investments and we look forward to working with our industry partners to deploy these solutions in the HVACR market.”
Finalists in this category include: Emerson (Booth 2101) - Copeland End-to-End Solution for Micro-Distributed Architectures; Fresh-Aire UV (Booth 5853) - Ice UV-LED Disinfection System for Ice-Machines; and Sporlan Division – Parker Hannifan (Booth 2525) - SCS-PB Superheat Control System for Pulse Width Valve with Bluetooth feature.
COOLING
Winner: Danfoss (Booth 1501) - Danfoss Interlaced Micro Channel Heat Exchanger (iMCHE)
Innovation: The Danfoss Interlaced Micro Channel Heat Exchanger (iMCHE) integrates multiple circuits into a single coil. It works using a shared air heat transfer area and controlling each one independently by a multi-circuits system. The iMCHE uses a whole air side heat transfer when operating under partial load conditions to maximize efficiency. Based on the results of a recent case study, the IEER increased 18% when using the iMCHE solution. The iMCHE provides a compact and cost-effective solution for dual-circuit rooftop units. While public concern for climate change continues to increase and higher energy standards are predicted, the iMCHE allows equipment to easily meet new standards with low cost impact.
“Our iMCHE Interlaced Microchannel Heat Exchanger is the newest addition in the already expansive Danfoss MCHE portfolio and supports our efforts to provide quality MCHE for condenser, evaporator, heat pump, radiator and reheat applications,” said Jeff Tucker, Business Development at Danfoss. “The iMCHE was developed specifically for two-circuit refrigerant systems and targets the global Roof Top product as well as an array of twocircuit designs. Using iMCHE affords system developers the opportunity to improve overall system efficiency by more than 20%. This is significant as new efficiency standards requiring approximately 15% efficiency increases will take effect starting in 2023.”
Finalists in this category include: Baltimore Aircoil Company (Booth 2321) - Nexus Modular Hybrid Cooler; Smardt Chiller Group Inc. (Booth 6643) - Smardt G-class 515B Low GWP Chiller; and Vertiv (Booth 2411) - Liebert VRC Rack Cooling System.
INDOOR AIR QUALITY
Winner: Fresh-Aire UV (Booth 5853) - Purity Low Profile LED 1” Polarized Filter / LED Disinfection System
Innovation: The Purity Low Profile LED 1” Polarized Filter/LED Disinfection System (PLPLED) by Fresh-Aire UV is the first 3-stage 1” polarized HVAC filtration system to incorporate Mini-LED technology. The PLP-LED offers high-efficiency filtration that captures 97% of particles down to 0.3 microns in size. The system also uses antimicrobial UV reactive media with an advanced photocatalytic coating for odor and VOC reduction. Fresh-Aire UV’s filter mitigates many IAQ issues as well as many other challenges faced by occupants and contractors through delivery of a cleaner, safer filter to handle and service.
“We couldn’t be more proud and more excited to be recognized with the 2020 AHR Innovation Award for IAQ,” said Aaron Engel, Vice President, Business Development at Fresh-Aire UV. “The award represents the HVACR industry’s most innovative products, systems, and technologies and we believe this perfectly represents the PLP-LED. Available in the most common filter sizes, the 3-stage 1” polarized HVAC filtration system delivers the effectiveness of an ultra-high-efficiency filter in a low-static pressure 1" design. With advanced antimicrobial UV reactive media and disinfecting LED array the PLP-LED represents the very best in filtration providing maximum particulate removal and surface disinfection while reducing airborne odors & VOCs.”
Finalists in this category include: AtmosAir Solutions (Booth 4207) - AtmosAir Denali 600 with AtmosSmart, IoT Enabled Active Air Monitoring and Air Purification System; RGF Environmental Group Inc. (Booth 4151) - HALO-LED Whole Home Indoor Air Purification System; and Sensirion, Inc. ( Booth 1473) - SCD40 CO2 and RH/T Sensor Component.
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