ebm-papst Fans, Blowers and Technology

by Mark Pierce, Senior Director, Sales

Every January, thousands of HVAC/R manufacturers, engineers, contractors, installation and maintenance pros converge on a major U.S. city for the annual Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration (AHR) Expo.

Earlier this fall, we headed south to attend AHR Mexico, the Latin American version of this HVAC/R extravaganza. From September 23-25, more than 10,000 attendees and 250+ exhibitors (the largest number to date) came together in Mexico City.  As the 10^th largest city in the world – with a metropolitan hub of more than 21 million – the show drew throngs to its Industrial Exposition Center. A wide variety of global and local Mexican companies, representing the HVACR industry, were in attendance this year.  New product presentations and over 30 educational seminars were offered by the Mexico City Chapter of ASHRAE.

Mexico is an important market for us, and we take every opportunity to engage with our local customers. As in the rest of the world, policies that drive environmentally sound products and practices are gradually making their way to Mexico and all of Latin America; many companies at the show displayed their 'green' products.

The air conditioning and refrigeration industries are facing increased efficiency requirements as well as changes to how refrigerants are formulated. Global pressure for sustainability is pushing manufacturers to move to natural refrigerants like CO₂, hydrocarbons or ammonia.

New Department of Energy environmental regulations are driving U.S. manufacturers of HVACR equipment to comply by 2015. While these U.S. regulations don't yet affect Mexico's domestic HVACR products, they will affect Mexican exports to the U.S.

The bottom line? The technologically advanced design and performance modifications that HVACR manufacturers are making to components such as compressors, fans and valves – in both Mexico and the U.S. – will help them remain competitive with environmentally-savvy customers who demand performance, compliance and energy efficiency. 

We look forward to seeing you next year at AHR Mexico 2015  in Guadalajara! Until then, we hope to see you at the 2015 AHR Expo, January 26-28 at McCormick Place in Chicago – ebm-papst Booth 2110.

About Mark Pierce
ebm-papst Inc. Senior Director of Sales Mark Pierce thinks like a customer because he’s worn that hat. Before joining ebm-papst in 2000, he served as a purchasing/operations manager for an international refrigeration compressor manufacturer. With a B.A. in business administration from Mercer University in Atlanta, Mark enjoys working with ebm-papst customers to solve their thermal challenges and provide solutions for their applications. In his free time, Mark and his wife keep busy with their four children’s many activities.

By Joe Landrette, Market Manager - Ventilation

I love learning about emerging technologies. Weekends, you’ll find me, coffee in hand, reading about electronics, science or physics on my tablet device or smart phone. My son will soon enter kindergarten, and I want technology to play a positive role in how he learns. 

Among the stories about teachers posting homework online, the latest tablet devices and laptop loans to students, a recent article in Engineered Systems appealed to me as a both a father and as a marketer of fans for a wide array of ventilation applications.

The article’s revelation? When we increase the quantity of fresh air per person to 10 cubic feet per minute in classroom settings, our children become more alert and engaged in learning. In fact, the quantity of fresh air needed to help students learn better is approximately twice that of ASHRAE’s ventilation standard for commercial offices, hotels, banks and even pharmacies.

What’s the challenge? During the cold winter days ahead, bringing fresh air into a school comes at the expense of lost energy. Therefore, precisely controlling outside and inside air is critical to balancing a school’s operating costs with high quality, high volume air for its students.

Precision air management focuses on the controls portion of this task. The article advocates a multi-point approach, using C02 sensors, occupancy sensors and occupancy schedules to best manage a school’s heating and ventilation needs within tight budgets. The goal is to bring all an HVAC system’s ingredients — the air handling unit, variable air volume, double check valve, fan coil units, sensors and air movers — into equilibrium.

How can we help customers take advantage of the latest in ventilation controls and features while keeping their up front costs and return on investment goals in mind? Building on our GreenTech philosophy, our EC air movers integrate the energy efficient controls typically seen on large and complex systems into the heart of our ultra high efficiency motors.  These motors are then part of our total system approach with the latest in aerodynamic advancements of our fans and impellers for a plug and play solution.

When applied in schools, these advanced ventilation technologies can give our children the air they need to excel.

by Phil Hartman, Senior Director of Marketing

On September 13, 40-50 members of the Connecticut ASHRAE chapter paid ebm-papst a visit in Farmington for a technical session. These sessions are held once a month from September through May; consisting of a technical session given by a host company, social hour, dinner, and presentations by the host company. They are an  opportunity for members to learn more about other companies and their products, and for the host company to showcase their expertise.

Those who arrived early were able to visit our new showroom and view our extensive range of products, including fans, blowers, and value-added assemblies.

To start our technical session we divided into two groups for tours – one of our manufacturing area led by Brian Ladegard, Director of Operations, and the other of our test lab, including airflow and acoustic testing areas, led by Scott Beauchemin, Vice President of Engineering. 

In the manufacturing areas, participants were able to see a variety of processes, such as sheet metal punching, bending, forming, painting, assembly and end-of-line testing.

In the lab and testing areas, Scott described the testing we are capable of for air moving devices with focus on our air test and acoustic chambers.  Participants were able to see actual customer units currently being tested. 

After the tours, the group reconvened at the Farmington Marriott for a social hour, dinner, and presentations by Armin Hauer, Advanced Technology Manager and Tom Costello, Market Manager - Heating.  Armin covered the latest fan & EC motor technology for buildings, fan efficiency metrics and the latest fan energy legislation.  Tom focused on gas component and system technology used in high efficiency residential and commercial gas fired condensing boilers, with emphasis on comparing pneumatic and electronic GARC (gas-air-ratio-control) technology.

Many thanks to Armin Hauer, an active ASHRAE member himself, for being instrumental in making this possible and for providing guidance for the content.  This was our first time hosting an ASHRAE tech session, and based on the feedback we received, the group found the tours and presentations to be informative and interesting.  It was our pleasure to host and we thank ASHRAE for their assistance and participation with this event!