Appliance Design - January 2009 - (Page 7)

NEWS WATCH ISO Aids Universal Design he International Organization for Standardization, based in Geneva, Switzerland, has released a report that is designed to help make products, services, and environments more accessible to older people and those with disabilities. The new ISO technical report, Ergonomics Data and Guidelines for the Application of ISO/IEC Guide 71 to Products and Services to Address the Needs of Older Persons and Persons with Disabilities (ISO/TR22411:2008), offers technical information, data and ergonomic knowhow for design that addresses the needs of these often overlooked members of the population. It builds on the contribution already made in this area by ISO/IEC Guide 71:2001,which was aimed mainly at experts and government bodies working in the ﬁeld of standardization. The new technical report can also be used by manufacturers, designers, HARMONIZING C02 STANDARDS. T Universal design concepts for appliances created by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in concert with GE Consumer & Industrial. service providers, educators, and others. Each of the report’s design considerations or recommendations is based on ergonomic principles necessary for making accessible products, services, and environCARRIER CAPTURES COOLING AWARD. ments encountered in all aspects of daily life, as well as in the consumer market. Accessible design extends standard design to people with some type of performance limitation. Its purpose is to maximize the number of people who can readily use a product, building, or service. This can be achieved either by designing products, services, and environments that are readily usable by most users without any modiﬁcation, or by making products or services adaptable to different users (adapting user interfaces), or by means of standardized interfaces compatible with special products for people with disabilities. The report was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 159, Ergonomics, Working Group (WG 2), Ergonomics for Persons with Special Requirements. For more information, visit www.iso.org.  systems will reduce energy consumption, complexity, and cost for combined LT and HT systems. Three HVAC/R associations are working to harmonize C02 standards in the U.S., China, and Europe. A panel of experts from the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), the Association of European Refrigeration Compressor and Controls Manufacturers (ASERCOM), and the China Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry Association (CRAA) have collaborated to harmonize the technical standards. The ﬁrst effort will be to develop the AHRI Standard 570P, Performance Rating of Positive Displacement Carbon Dioxide Compressors and Compressor Units. (While the standard will be the same in each country, its name will reﬂect each country’s own standard nomenclature.) Currently, there are no technical performance standards for carbon dioxide compressor technology. The next triparty meeting will be held in conjunction with the China Refrigeration Show in April 2009. www.applianceDESIGN.com Carrier Corp., Farmington, Conn., a unit of United Technologies, won the Environmental Pioneer Award in the Refrigeration category at the 2008 Cooling Industry Awards. The award, which recognizes companies that demonstrate environmental leadership, cited Carrier’s installation of the world’s largest transcritical CO2 refrigeration system at a market in northern Germany. The application features high-temperature (HT) packs with a total capacity of 670 kW, and two low-temperature (LT) packs with a capacity of 130 kW. Carrier has also pioneered a two-step technology with the refrigerant, which allows the pressure on the supermarket shop floor to be kept at around 40 bar with only the plant areas requiring higher pressures. The company plans to launch integrated solutions that will make CO2 systems viable even in warmer climates, while current developments in booster TECHNOLOGY TROUBLES. Nearly half of technology users need help setting up and using electronic devices, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. Some 48 percent of technology says they have encountered problems with Internet connections, home computers, and cell phones. The research also showed that 44 percent of those with home Internet access say their connection failed to work properly at some time in the previous 12 months. Thirty-nine percent of those with desktop or laptop computers said their machines have not work properly at some time in the previous 12 months. Almost one third of cell phone users say their device failed to work properly at some time in the previous year. applianceDESIGN January 2009 7 http://www.iso.org http://www.appliancedesign.com

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Appliance Design - January 2009 Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch Supplier Spotlights Commercial Appliances Plastics & Parts Electronics Motors Design Marts Association Report: NAFEM Advertiser’s Index

Appliance Design - January 2009

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