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The 2019 AHR Expo returned to Atlanta for the first time in almost 20 years with a total of 45,078 in attendance with 1,509 from Canada. A total of 1,824 companies displayed and demonstrated HVAC/R products. About a third of those exhibitors came from outside the U.S. including many from Canada.
The show ran from Jan. 14-16 at the Georgia World Congress Centre. “The HVACR industry is in a very exciting position at the moment and that energy was evident on the Show floor this year,” said Mark Stevens, show manager.
From the thousands of products on display, innovation award winners were chosen by a panel of expert judges in 10 categories and one of those was named Product of the Year. This year’s top award went to enVerid Systems for their HVAC Load Reduction (HLR) module 1000E-M.
This unit is a “smart scrubber” that actively and automatically manages HVAC cooling and heating load and indoor air quality (IAQ). Rather than continuously replacing indoor air with outside air to expel indoor-generated contaminants and manage IAQ, the HLR module cleans the indoor air using reusable sorbents, minimizing the amount of outdoor air required to maintain IAQ, thus reducing the load on the HVAC system.
“Being named Product of the Year is an enormous honour and extremely gratifying to our entire team,” said Dr. Udi Meirav, founder and president of enVerid Systems, based in Boston. “But even more importantly, it is a recognition of the transformative potential of HLR technology for the entire industry.”
The ten innovation award winners included:
- Building automation:
- Company: Automated Logic Corporation
- Innovation: Optiflex Virtual Integrator
- Cooling:
- Company: Johnson Controls
- Innovation: York YZ Magnetic Bearing Centrifugal Chiller
- Green Building:
- Company: enVerid Systems
- Innovation: HVAC Load Reduction (HLR) Module 1000E-M
- Heating:
- Company: Regal
- Innovation: Genteq Ensite Motor
- IAQ:
- Company: CPS Products Inc.
- Innovation: IAQ Smartair
- Plumbing:
- Company: Anvil International
- Innovation: AnvilPress Copper, copper press fittings and coupling systems
- Refrigeration:
- Company: Emerson
- Innovation: Copeland Scroll Fractional-Horsepower, low-temperature compressors
- Software:
- Company: Taco Comfort Solutions
- Innovation: Taco Tags featuring eLink
- Tools and Instruments:
- Company: Dwyer Instruments, Inc.
- Innovation: the Wireless Hydronic Balancing Kit, series 490W
- Ventilation:
- Company: Energy Wall, LLC
- Innovation: The Energy Wall Universal ERV (U-ERV)
As in the past, there were numerous seminars. Topics included alternative refrigerants, increasing interest in the HVAC/R industry, whole-building systems operations, and building automation control (BAC).
A session titled “Smart home: best opportunities research” looked at recent research that pinpoints the best course moving forward for smart home technology. Another seminar of interest was “Green cooling: policy impact on natural refrigerants”. It looked at how government environmental policy is driving markets to replace high global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants.
The event draws people from around the world. “I’ve attended the AHR Expo for the past 10 years. As an OEM product development engineer, I find it’s a convenient place to meet all of our suppliers in one place. I’m also able to stay up-to-date on the latest technological developments and source new components for my designs. I can meet up with any customers or potential customers to discuss the heat pumps we manufacture,” said Dan Rheault, product development engineer for Maritime Geothermal Ltd., Petitcodiac, N.B.
The next AHR Expo will take place Feb. 3-5, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. For more information, please visit www.ahrexpo.com.