CHICAGO — Intertek has expanded investments in new testing capabilities and capacity in North America to enhance its breadth of services in support of the refrigeration industry. With total investments of more than $20 million over the past three years, Intertek offers a broad range of laboratory testing services, providing a single source for manufacturers bringing new products to market.

Intertek noted that refrigeration products are facing a changing regulatory landscape with increased demands for energy efficiency, as well as efforts to transition to low-global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants to reduce negative environmental impact.

The company has developed a global network of engineers in order to keep pace with the regulatory changes impacting commercial refrigeration, residential refrigeration, walk-in, display case, vending, and ice machine products. Expansions in North American capacity allow Intertek to better partner with manufacturers as they face potential redesign, retesting, and compliance challenges.

Recent investments in equipment, personnel, and accreditation for refrigeration certification and performance testing have enhanced Intertek’s services in labs across the United Sates and Canada. New capabilities include refrigerant testing for chemical and material compatibility, testing equipment to -15°F, and walk-in cooler and freezer facility expansions to support simultaneous testing. These investments broaden the scope of services available to manufacturers and help improve how quickly new products can move through development and testing, allowing customers to launch new products to market faster.

Intertek’s network of facilities now maintains accredited test lab status for U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Star®, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), California Energy Commission (CEC), ASHRAE, Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), Association of Home Appliances Manufacturers (AHAM), Saudi Standards, Quality and Metrology Organization (SASO), CB Scheme, ASTM, and National Science Foundation (NSF) requirements for refrigeration products.

“Intertek is committed to expanding our services and laboratory capabilities to support manufacturers’ need to quickly launch new products and respond to changing market requirements,” said Nimer Al-Hafi, president of the Products business unit at Intertek. “We are proud to offer customers the fastest and most responsive testing experience when developing these groundbreaking refrigeration products.”

The expanded capabilities offer refrigeration manufacturers not only product safety, sanitation, and ETL certification, but also the Conformance European (CE) Mark or equivalent marks for global markets and a broad range of performance testing capabilities.

For more information, visit www.intertek.com.

Publication date: 2/9/2015

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