2005 AHR Expo Innovation award winners

The winners of the third annual AHR (Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration) Expo Innovation awards will be honoured during a ceremony during the 2005 AHR Expo in Orlando, Florida, on February 8, 2005. The product entries were judged for innovation, application, value to user and market impact. Eighty-four entries were received and the winning products were selected by a panel of ASHRAE members. The winners in the 8 different categories are. - Invisible Service Technicians LLC in the building automation category for their IST monitor, which is a remote monitoring and diagnosis device and service for residential and light commercial heating and cooling systems. It combines advanced microprocessor, sensor and Internet technologies to provide contractors with enough data to remotely analyse and diagnose a customer's system. - Copeland Corporation /Emerson Climate Technologies in the cooling category for their Next Generation Copeland ScrollTM, which has 20 major design improvements, including larger shaft-bearing systems, improved protection and standardized parts for improved quality and reliability. With up to 7% higher efficiencies, the product should help manufacturers deliver 13 SEER. - Trs Systems Inc. in the heating category for their RC2100 Wireless Hydronic Controller, which combines wireless space/outdoor temperature sensors, a wireless energy management interface and an intelligent sensor reading control algorithm in one product. Wireless sensors allow the system to be installed in retrofit hydronic heating systems in commercial or multi-tenant buildings. - Munters Corporation in the indoor air quality category for their product H2O LiquidAire, which is a desiccant-based makeup air system for commercial systems. The unit treats humid outdoor air. Water collected from the cooling coil is filtered and purified into 284 to 13 250 litres of drinking water per day. This is especially helpful in tropical climates with poor drinking water quality. - Danfoss Inc. in the refrigeration category for the ICV Control Valve, which comes in pilot-operated and digital motorized versions for industrial refrigeration suction pressure, hot gas defrost, compressor liquid injection or direct expansion applications at pressures up to 5000 kPa. Features include a replaceable function module and less weight than an iron valve with one-quarter of the leak potential. - Wrightsoft Corporation in the software category for their product Right-Radiant PlusTM, which integrates design, analysis, drawing and parts list preparation for radiant heating and snowmelt systems. The software engine instantly lays out loops using designer geometry preferences and adjusts loop thermal parameters for flow and temperature to match. - Goodway Technologies Corp. in the tools category for the CTV-1500 Cooling Tower Vacuum, which removes slime, algae and other contaminants from the sides and floor of a cooling tower basin without needing to drain the basin. The product saves on water, chemicals, labour, time, and worker compensation risks. - Hardcast, Carlisle Coatings and Waterproffing Inc. in the ventilation category for their Flex-Grip 550, which is a spray-applied duct sealant used to seal transverse and longitudinal duct joints, duct run outs and fittings. The water-based sealant is applied with a pumping system that sprays product on the substrate. The product eliminates sealing ductwork manually with labour-intensive bucket and brush applications.