As part of a renovation plan, Florida State College at Jacksonville researched a number of upgrade scenarios for its chiller plant. Initial recommendations for a conventional chiller failed to meet budget and energy-savings requirements. During the re-evaluation process, the college team visited Flagler College to see a chiller actually using the compressors.
Winners of the The NEWS’ eighth annual Dealer Design Awards’ HVAC Commercial Equipment category have brought new ideas to the commercial market that should help contractors meet the commercial challenges they face.
The NEWS is not the only one celebrating an anniversary this year. Fifty years ago in western Michigan, Seaman’s Air Conditioning-Refrigeration was born in humble beginnings and now is recognized as a fine commercial HVAC company. And the company celebrated with a Red Cross blood drive.
At the AHR Expo, a large number of the attendees were contractors - and, a lot of them were looking for chillers. McQuay was among those exhibitors with new products. The NEWS worked with McQuay to draw a select group of contractors into the booth to perform a product tour and review, and videotape the proceedings.
A holistic approach to designing, installing, and operating central plants ensures reduced energy and operational costs, according to many involved in major building projects. One company picked up on this theme by announcing a new offering to help reduce energy consumption in central chilled water plants in buildings by up to 60 percent.
Source: Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). Industry figures are estimates that are derived from the best available figures supplied by a sample of AHRI member companies.
The NEWS’ annual Cooling Showcase has traditionally introduced the latest air conditioning units available for the upcoming summer season. The intent is to help contractors prepare for this busy period by doing the research that will help them to distinguish between brands. In this issue, we focus on the commercial side of the air conditioning industry.
When the weather is warm outside, it’s imperative to make sure that your building’s mechanical cooling systems are working at maximum efficiency. Since budgets are still tight, nobody wants high energy costs or, worse, an equipment failure. The best way to avoid these bad scenarios is to perform a cooling system tuneup.
Here are additional new products that The NEWS’ editorial staff found at the AHR Expo. Due to an internal error, these products were not included in The NEWS’ AHR Expo Post-Show Issue.
When Southern California was blasted by record-breaking heat, the tenants of an LAX Airport Center office building were fortunate that the cooling tower that works in conjunction with the building’s chillers had just been replaced. So, rather than having to endure the sweltering heat, the tenants remained cool and comfortable.