ST. PAUL, Minn., and BOSTON — 3M, through its New Ventures business, announced that it has invested in 7AC Technologies Inc., a Woburn, Mass.-based developer of high-efficiency commercial HVAC systems that use liquid desiccant technology to remove humidity from the air. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

7AC Technologies’ liquid desiccant and plastic membrane plate based air conditioning system licenses key technology from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and is designed to be a drop-in replacement for existing rooftop unit systems used on commercial and industrial buildings.

“This investment by 3M New Ventures is a highly significant vote of confidence in our plastic plate liquid desiccant technology,” said Peter Vandermeulen, CEO and founder, 7AC Technologies. “Being able to leverage the material and manufacturing expertise of a global leader like 3M is an exciting strategic milestone for us. We already use a significant amount of 3M products in our designs. As we move into the commercialization and volume ramp phase of our development the addition of 3M to our growing list of partners will serve to strengthen our ability to bring liquid desiccant solutions to mainstream HVAC applications.”

Stefan Gabriel, president, 3M New Ventures, said, “7AC’s paradigm changing approach to ultra-efficient air conditioning is well positioned to succeed in the fast-growing green building technologies space. In addition, our investment offers 3M a pathway to an exciting new strategic direction that is poised to create substantial growth opportunities for both companies.”

Thomas Hamlin, technical director, 3M Purification Inc., added, “Conventional HVAC solutions are based on technology that is both energy intensive and offers limited prospects for energy efficiency improvements. 7AC’s technology incorporates a novel membrane-isolated plate design with integrated cooling. This solution provides the game changing development step necessary to move the HVAC industry to a new level of performance in terms of energy efficiency based on liquid desiccant dehumidification technology. We look forward to working with 7AC and applying 3M’s core competencies in support of taking the 7AC products to market.”

For more information, visit www.7actech.com.

Publication date: 7/23/2012