The manufacturing stars of The NEWS’ 2008 fifth annual Dealer Design Awards outshine the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Honored in 13 separate categories for excellence in design and application, 99 company brands competed to earn a top place not only in the contest, but also in the local contractor’s stockroom.

Celebrating its fifth anniversary, the competition reached international status with the 140 products entered hailing from the United States, Canada, and overseas destinations, such as Israel. The best candidates to judge product applications and contractor benefits are none other than HVAC contractors. All winning products were selected by some of the 35 contractor judges who collectively paid specific attention to making the contractor’s job easier.

In addition to great products, international flair, and contractor judges, this year’s Dealer Design Program yielded 40 gold, silver, and bronze awards and 16 honorable mentions.

“We received a record number of quality entries in this year’s Dealer Design Awards program. The contractors are the people who make the difference in the event - the only HVACR awards program that is judged by people in the HVAC trenches,” said Mike Murphy, editor-in-chief of The NEWS.

“I want to thank the manufacturers that entered their products and services in this unique and prestigious competition. It is amazing to see how narrow the margins of victory are for some of the categories. There are a lot of innovative new products in the industry.”

To take a walk down the 2008 Dealer Design Awards’ Walk of Fame and find out more about this year’s winning products, see the feature articles in this issue.

2008 Gold Winners: The Final Cut

American Standard Heating & Air Conditioning
American Standard AccuLink® with Telephone Access Module

Arzel® Zoning Technology Inc.
CoolMizer™

ATV
RGON Art Radiator

Copeland Brand Products by Emerson Climate Technologies
Copeland PerformanceAlert™

Copeland Scroll by Emerson Climate Technologies
Copeland Scroll Digital™ Compressor for R-410A applications

Emerson Network Power
Liebert DS™ Upflow

FastEST Inc.
On-Screen Digitizer

GLV International Ltd.
Square Flexible Air Ducts

Honeywell
TrueSTEAM Humidification System

Hoshizaki America Inc.
DT-400BAH-OS

LG Electronics USA
LG Art Cool Inverter Series

Munters Corp.
DryCool Mini

Ridgid
SeeSnake® micro Inspection Camera

testo Inc.
testo 327

Thermodynamic Process Control
TPC-FI SoloNet Hydronic Mechanical Room Control

Trane Inc.
Trane Charge Assist™

Victaulic
Style 107 Rigid Coupling

Publication date: 07/14/2008