Efficiency - Editor's Note

A 93-year old woman in Glasgow, Ky., lost her husband last November after 73 years of marriage. Thousands of miles away, a disabled veteran in Rancho Cordova, Calif., suffers from asthma. Both were in dire need of a new HVAC unit, and neither could afford it. They are two of the 210 recipients of new HVAC units in the Lennox International “Feel the Love” campaign for 2020, which honors residents and families facing physical, mental or social disabilities, financial challenges, or th...

The cannabis industry offers unique challenges to the HVAC market, including the need to create an optimum indoor grow room environment that perfectly balances variables such as temperature, humidity and airflow at each stage of a plant’s growth cycle. The consequence of a system failure could be the catastrophic financial loss of an entire crop. Despite these weighty challenges, there is opportunity aplenty for HVAC installers in the emerging cannabis industry. Legalized cannabis is expa...

Is wall paint a feasible element in an HVAC system? That’s the supposition that underpins Thermic heat-generating paint, which is applied like conventional paint but then can heat up a room when it is connected to a safe level of 24 volts of electricity. The paint is a water-based, solvent-free and low-pollutant dispersion that provides a wafer-thin carbon specialty coating (about 0.4 mm), which can be connected to a low-current circuit to provide radiant heat. In effect, the product allo...

Closed and cramped environments are especially problematic to the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. A ‘smart’ glass-paneled bus stop shelter, developed in Korea, embodies new approaches to making such spaces safe, including elements of HVAC. Smart shelters The smart shelters are closed-in glass cubes that serve as bus stops in the Seongdong district in northeastern Seoul, South Korea. The local district office collaborated with LG Electronics to develop the futu...

Carrier launched its BluEdge tiered service program after hearing from customers looking for a streamlined experience and a reliable, invested partner throughout the equipment’s lifespan. Carrier conducted a customer survey before launching BluEdge, and the common theme was a need for Carrier to articulate more clearly its value proposition and to simplify its service offering. Carrier launched BluEdge at the end of June in three businesses within the company, including the North America...

As schools work to reopen safely in the midst of a global pandemic, HVAC is at the center of the mission. Adequate ventilation and effective air filtration are critical elements to ensure safe indoor air quality for educational institutions. Many schools are housed in older buildings that may not have been adequately maintained. Transforming them to address the new challenges of minimizing exposure to the novel coronavirus is that much more difficult. In fact, a recent study by the U.S. Governm...

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the power provider in the United States, is offering incentives to businesses and schools to install UV-C germicidal lights to fight germs in indoor air. Customers that buy from TVA’s Preferred Partners Network can receive a $30-per-ton incentive toward adoption of approved UV-C technologies, which remove viruses and bacteria from indoor air. “Schools and businesses realize they need solutions to purify indoor air, and we want to help them insta...

The Wyss Institute at Harvard University has developed an evaporative cooling system that uses a specially coated ceramic to cool air without adding humidity. Researchers say the approach can yield more affordable and environmentally friendly air conditioning systems for the future. ‘cold-SNAP’ system The ‘cold-SNAP’ system uses a water-repellent nano-scale surface coating that is applied selectively to surfaces of a 3D-printed ceramic heat exchange. The result is much...

As the Internet of Things (IoT) has evolved, the need has become obvious for stronger unity among brands and ecosystems to enable products within smart environments to work together more easily. Working to serve that need is the Zigbee Alliance, which seeks to promote collaboration in the Internet of Things by creating, evolving, and promoting universal open standards that enable all objects to connect and interact. Their effort took off when Amazon, Apple, Google and the Zigbee Alliance announ...

Panasonic has conducted research that verifies that hydroxyl radicals contained in water can inhibit the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). The nano-sized electrostatic atomized water particles are generated by applying high voltage to moisture in the air. The patented technology - brand-named 'nanoe X' - is already used for air and surface purification in Panasonic’s air conditioning systems. The research suggests that the technology might be useful in fighting the coronavirus that causes C...

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is moving forward with rulemaking that sets limits and deadlines to decrease the use of refrigerants with global warming potential (GWP) in the commercial refrigeration market and in the residential and commercial stationary air conditioning equipment markets. California regulations are widely expected to influence the direction of other states seeking to regulate GWP of refrigerants. Declining to delay planned deadlines because of the novel coronavirus...

A University of Oregon study has found viral RNA from SARS-CoV-2 in the air handling units (AHUs) of a healthcare facility, thus raising new questions about the possible role of HVAC systems in spreading the novel coronavirus. The study collected 56 samples from three different air handling units at the Oregon Health and Science University hospital in Portland, Ore., on four days in May and June 2020. Three areas along the path of airflow were sampled, including pre-filters, finals filters, and...

Lower prices in the oil and gas industry have led to job losses as the sector has contracted recently, and that was even before the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked additional havoc on the national and world economies. The COVID-19 crisis is accelerating what was already shaping up to be one of the oil industry’s most challenging years. More than a dozen oil companies have declared bankruptcy so far in the United States alone, and widespread industry layoffs are expected to continue. Oil field...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published guidance for businesses seeking to return to work during the coronavirus pandemic. Guidelines include instructions for businesses to ‘improve central air filtration to MERV-13 or the highest [standard] compatible with the filter rack, and to seal edges of the filter to limit bypass.’ MERV stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value. A MERV-13 rating means a filter is able to catch 90% of particles in the 3-10 micro...

HVAC systems should operate to ensure the comfort of individuals, not based on the temperature in a room. That’s the thinking behind a system devised by researchers that uses thermal cameras to measure the temperatures of faces in a room and adjusts operation of the HVAC system accordingly. Among other things, the scheme shifts the focus away from facilities and toward occupants, who reflect a truer measure of system effectiveness. Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed...

HVAC systems are the most common home repair, representing 19 percent of service incidents facing homeowners. More than half of homeowners (53%) have faced a home repair emergency of some kind in the past 12 months. Furthermore, about a third of homeowners have US$ 500 or less set aside to pay for emergency home repairs, with some 17 percent having no money at all set aside for emergency home repair work. 10th Edition of the Biannual State of the Home Survey These are among the results of the...

A new cloud-based solution enables HVAC professionals to access VRF systems remotely to diagnose service issues and lessen the time and costs of providing service. CoolAutomation’s Remote HVAC Service Solution enables HVAC service providers to remotely troubleshoot issues by analyzing real-time and historic data trends and analysis. They receive automatic error and anomaly notifications in their office or on their mobile phones. “The remote service solution provides the tools that H...

Newer buildings tend to be designed to be ‘green’, but what about older existing buildings, which still represent the largest share of environmental impact? There is more work to be done in the retrofit sector; and improving environmental performance of older buildings often involves ‘deep retrofits’ that are costly and impact multiple factors inside a building. In the COVID-19 era, there is also growing concern about needs such as circulating outside air, increasing hum...

The American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act of 2019 would provide an orderly national framework to guide replacement of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) over the next several years in the United States, with newer refrigerants that have less negative impact on the environment. HFCs are potent greenhouse gases with very high global warming potential. The future of the HVAC industry is tied to the manufacture of next-generation refrigerants and their adoption. Versions of the AIM Act – Sen...

A fuel called “Bioheat” is made by blending biodiesel made from organic and recycled products with ultra-low sulfur heating oil. The feedstocks used to make biodiesel include vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled restaurant grease. About half the biodiesel produced in the United States is made from soybean oil. Blends are designated in percentages – a 5% blend of biodiesel with heating oil is B5, a 10% blend is B10, and a 20% blend is B20. Blends up to 5% are called &ldquo...

Machine learning provides a tool to lower energy costs in a building, and Honeywell has launched a platform that incorporates the newer technology. Combining self-learning algorithms with building automation, Honeywell Forge Energy Optimization is a cloud-based system that analyzes a building’s energy consumption pattern and adjusts its settings. “We can help building portfolio owners fine-tune their energy expenditures to drive efficiencies and create more sustainable practices,&rd...

Mobile systems are growing in popularity across the HVAC market, driven by convenience and changing demographics of the workforce. For younger employees, smart phones are almost an extension of their hands. As they enter the HVAC workforce, they are eager to embrace mobile systems. However, the simplicity of mobile systems is also attractive to older workers, who may be less inclined to use a complex desktop computer system. In the case of mobile systems, “limitation leads to creativity,&...

When a visionary industrial designer turns his attention to the HVAC industry, it’s probably wise to take note. Recently, technology entrepreneur and philanthropist, Elon Musk expressed his vision for residential HVAC, based in part on a new heat pump his engineers designed for the Tesla Model Y electric compact sport utility vehicle. Efficient, quiet home HVAC system According to several reports, Musk seeks to build an efficient and quiet HVAC system for the home, piggybacking on the te...

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, the ultraviolet irradiation industry has seen an unprecedented surge in demand for germicidal solutions. UV-C light is a short-wavelength, ultraviolet light that kills germs by inactivating a microorganism’s DNA. Germicidal UV-C energy is just one of three proven methods identified by ASHRAE of controlling airborne infection. The other two are ventilation and particle filtration. The pandemic has left no doubt that the 254 nm germicidal wavelength can...

Google’s Nest smart thermostat is testing a new capability that will alert homeowners of problems with the operation of their HVAC systems based on artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that analyze system performance. The technology will empower Nest Learning thermostats to provide ‘early warning’ of HVAC problems and even direct homeowners to a repair company. The new capability will involve measuring factors such as how long it takes to heat or cool a room. If the requir...

The need to achieve energy efficiency and improve performance propels a lot of business in the HVAC industry. When installing systems, building owners often strive to comply with the latest voluntary standards. However, some cities are taking the lead to make building performance standards mandatory, thus providing additional incentive for customers to invest in new, more efficient and climate-friendly HVAC technologies. Building Energy Performance Standard NYC has deployed its Carbon Mobiliza...

HVAC industry employees are included among “Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers During the COVID-19 Response” as designated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The guidance memorandum states: “If you work in a critical infrastructure industry, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security … you have a special responsibility to maintain your normal work schedule.” The edict comes from the DHS Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agen...

COVID-19 is a human tragedy for thousands and is having a profound impact on the world economy, including the HVAC market. Many businesses are scrambling to survive even as they address the intense human element of the crisis. A survey by the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) gathered insights on the effect the coronavirus pandemic is having on the HVAC industry. More than 70% of survey respondents expect the medical implications of the pandemic to last up to three months. (The sur...

HARDI, an organization of wholesale distributors in the HVACR market, is curating and publishing videos on various aspects of the industry. Heating, Air-Conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) has launched HARDI Hub, a platform with educational and informative videos that allow viewers to learn something new. As the Hub evolves, the hope is to see an increased contribution of content from members, allowing them to be able to teach their peers information they are the e...

Annexair unveiled a new line of more sustainable and eco-friendly HVAC systems during AHR Expo in Orlando. The company displayed the new units, made from biosourced engineered composite panels, in a parking lot that was a short drive from the Orange County Convention Center. Composites are 50 to 60% lighter and five times stronger than metal. The engineered composite panels have reinforced glass fiber. Annexair combines the composite panels with green foam insulation made from recycled water bo...