PALO ALTO, Calif. - Frost & Sullivan has selected Taco Inc. as the recipient of the 2006 Market Leadership of the Year Award for the North American HVAC circulator pumps market.

Each year Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that has exhibited excellence in all areas of the market leadership process, including the identification of market challenges, drivers, and restraints, as well as strategy development and methods of addressing these market dynamics.

"Customers have repeatedly recognized the company for its excellence in providing robust products and services that are a hallmark of innovation," said Frost & Sullivan research analyst Arun Kumar J. "The company's focus to provide pumps that satisfy the needs of the customer has enabled it to position itself as the market leader within the HVAC space."

Taco has been aggressive in the development of new products, notes Frost & Sullivan. For example, its LoadMatch® system helps HVAC contractors to design efficient systems that not only provide significant energy savings but also help qualify for Leadership In Energy And Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The company's wide range of circulator pumps is used for hydronic heating and cooling as well as radiant heating. Products include a variety of end suction pumps, vertical inline pumps, horizontal split case pumps, and inline circulators. Taco's pump selection wizard tool on the company Website helps customers to arrive at the right choice. Taco also provides a range of electronic controls that synchronize the performance of its circulator pumps.

"HVAC contractors have widely appreciated Taco for its innovative design tools that enable the selection of the most suitable system from a wide variety of Taco products," explained Kumar. "The Taco Design Suite software is one such example that has been acknowledged for its ability to help designers to make profit-impacting decisions and enable a quick return on investment (ROI) while maximizing the system performance."

Publication date: 05/01/2006