More and more products on the market today are available to help contractors and end users make facilities go green. Below is a sampling, in alphabetical order by company, to illustrate products that not only are made to be kinder to the environment, but also can help a project out by gaining a few LEED points along the way.

PACKAGED HEAT PUMPS

The Carrier® WeatherMaster® packaged rooftop heat pumps with Puron® refrigerant are available in sizes from 3 to 8.5 tons, with ratings up to 15.8 SEER and 12.8 EER. The heat pumps exceed 2010 Energy Star® requirements by up to 16 percent, can help reduce operating costs, and many qualify for utility rebates. The heat pumps maintain a consistent footprint with past models, allowing for easy replacement. www.carrier.com

WATER-SOURCE HEAT PUMPS

The ClimateMaster Tranquility Large Vertical, or TLV, series water-source heat pump line can be installed in geothermal ground loop or ground water applications as well as water-loop, thermal energy transfer (boiler-tower) applications. The 7- through 25-ton heat pump line offers multiple cabinet configurations, uses EarthPure® HFC-410A refrigerant, and is eligible for additional LEED points because of its innovative, green technology design, says the company. Standard features include microprocessor controls and a TXV refrigerant metering device. Smaller (7- to 12.5-ton) TLVs are single-stage, single Copeland compressor units. Larger sizes (14- to 25-ton) offer twin Copeland compressors and two-stage operation. All units are designed to be field convertible to front or back return and top, front, or back discharge. www.climatemaster.com

GAS/ELECTRIC UNIT

The Goodman CPG 20-ton gas/electric unit is designed with a TuffTube™ tubular heat exchanger. The unit utilizes R-410A refrigerant. It complies with California NOx emissions standards, is Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI)-certified, and ETL-listed. The gas/electric unit can help a building with achieving LEED points, says the company. The unit contains a high-efficiency scroll compressor, copper tube-aluminum fin coils, built-in filter rack with standard 2-inch filters (convertible to 4-inch filters), and a high-capacity steel-cased filter drier. Features include high- and low-pressure switches, bottom utility entry, 24-V terminal strip, contactor with lugs, and a sloped drain pan. www.goodmanmfg.com

CONDENSING UNITS

The HTS ½- to 6-hp air-cooled condensing units with HyperCore™ microchannel coil technology from Heatcraft Refrigeration Products feature HyperCore™ microchannel coil technology and optional variable-speed EC motors to provide system performance and help qualify for LEED® points. Designed to reduce energy usage, provide stable head pressure, and improve compressor durability, the units use up to 40 percent less refrigerant than comparable systems, claims the manufacturer. A factory-installed Smart Defrost Kit™ is also available. www.heatcraftrpd.com

COMBUSTION EFFICIENCY PANEL

The Honeywell Delphi combustion efficiency panel is a single, pre-wired combustion panel that integrates flame safeguard control, fuel air ratio control, O2 trim, variable-frequency drive (VFD) and proportional integral derivative (PID) controls. Delphi improves burner efficiency, enhances safety, and reduces installation costs. The accurate, fast-responding O2 sensor continuously corrects and optimizes the fuel-air ratio. It also compensates for variable combustion air, trims the damper - or the variable-frequency drive - and the boiler to the most efficient and effective fuel-air ratio. The panel has the potential to contribute points toward LEED certification in two of the three LEED environmental categories; Energy and Atmosphere, and Indoor Environmental Quality. www.customer.honeywell.com

VAV DIFFUSER

The Comfort System™ VAV diffuser from Jackson Systems is used to vary the supply air volume from the company’s newly revised Z-2000-T™ wall-mounted thermostat. The diffuser is designed to maintain draft free discharge air along the ceiling providing a sustained discharge velocity throughout the volume range. Each of the VAV diffuser and Z-2000-T assembly provides individual set points for both heating and cooling for individual areas throughout a building. Using VAV diffuser and Z-2000-T assembly can help a building earn LEED points for new construction, commercial interiors, schools, existing buildings, and operations and maintenance in LEED building rating system areas such as IEQ Credit 6.2: Controllability of Systems-Thermal Comfort, IEQ Credit 7.1: Thermal Comfort - Design, EA Credit 5: Measurement and Verification. www.jacksonsystems.com

ROOFTOP UNITS

Designed to help projects qualify for the most LEED® points, Lennox’s 3- to 50-ton Energence™ rooftop unit line offers up to 17.0 SEER. The unit features the Prodigy™ control system to provide verification that the unit is operating the way it should, and the SmartWire™ system for faster, more accurate setup. Designed to reduce startup issues up to 60 percent and offer the lowest total cost of ownership in its class, the Energence line exceeds American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers 90.1-2010 minimum standards by up to 31 percent and surpasses Consortium for Energy Efficiency’s (CEE’s) 2010 Tier 2 levels for energy rebates. www.lennoxcommercial.com

THROUGH-THE-WALL UNITS

The Magic-Pak™ MGE4 gas heating/electric cooling packaged through-the-wall unit by Allied Air Enterprises offers up to 10.6 EER cooling efficiency. According to the company, the LEED-eligible unit is a completely self-contained heating and cooling package that uses R-410a refrigerant. Features include a high-efficiency compressor, copper tubing with enhanced fin coil, and a multispeed motor for wide airflow range. An aluminized steel heat exchanger is standard; a 409 stainless steel heat exchanger is optional. The unit is available in cooling capacities of 1-3 tons and heating capacities of 36,000-60,000 Btuh. www.magic-pak.com

SCREW CHILLER

The McQuay International Pathfinder air-cooled screw chiller’s capacities range from 150 to 530 tons. It operates using R-134a, which has no ozone depletion potential and no phaseout schedule. The chiller helps owners qualify for LEED® Green Building Rating System certification through optimizing system efficiency (EA Credit 1 worth up to 19 possible points) and enhanced refrigerant management (EA Credit 4 worth 2 points). Optional variable-frequency drives are available to optimize part-load efficiency even more - up to 19.4 EER for the Premium efficiency model with VFD. www.mcquay.com

HEAT PUMP

The Multistack Heat Pump with Virtual Moveable End Cap (VME) eliminates the need for a separate hydronic heating and cooling system; the same array of modular machines can be used to do both jobs, says the company. The key to VME is the control system that will automatically open and close isolation valves as required to match the simultaneous heating and cooling output of the modular array to just what a building load requires. By eliminating a dedicated boiler, the required equipment installation footprint is dramatically smaller and positions one to look at LEED points for Emission Reduction Reporting. The VME systems are available from 10 tons to 1,000 tons and can provide up to a 75 percent reduction in CO2 emissions. www.multistack.com

CHILLER REFRIGERANT PURGER

The OAM-Purger (oil-acid-moisture purger) regains chiller capacity. It quickly cleans the chiller’s refrigerant charge to only a trace level of oil and quickly restores a chiller to peak operating efficiency. The purger substantially reduces energy consumption, saving the owner thousands of dollars in operating cost, says the company. According to the manufacturer, the product is applicable (and some installs have received) LEED points, Green Buildings points, and utility rebates, and energy managers are taking advantage of energy saving tax credits for HVACR energy-saving improvements. www.redicontrols.com

FAN INLET AIR, TEMPERATURE MEASURING STATION

The Ruskin Model EFAMS electronic fan inlet air and temperature measuring station is an electronic thermal dispersion-type measuring device that provides accurate and repeatable flow measurement at the fan inlet without sacrificing fan performance, says the company. The patented surface mount design conforms to the shape of the inlet bell, providing a low-profile installation. Thermal dispersion sensors are used to calculate flow up to 10,000 fpm. According to the manufacturer, the EFAMS is an excellent way to help satisfy LEED requirements that include airflow measurement as a part of the system. www.ruskin.com

Publication date: 10/11/2010