Appliance Design - December 2007 - (Page 9) NEwS watch In addition, Article 5 countries agreed to choose as the baseline the average of the 2009 and 2010 levels of consumption and production. Those countries also agreed to freeze consumption and production in 2013 at the baseline level. Parties also agreed to replenish the Multilateral Fund to enable Article 5 countries to comply with the accelerated phaseout schedule vate equity firm Hellman & Friedman LLC in a cash deal valued at about $1.8 billion. Goodman Global manufactures and sells products under the Goodman, Amana and Quietflex brand names. According to the Houston Chronicle, this is the second time that a private equity firm has bought Goodman. Apollo Management bought Goodman Manufacturing for $1.4 billion in 2004 and the company went public as Goodman Global in 2006. In September, the Italy-based company won the Janus de l’Industrie, the Institut Français du Design award for the Moon. BooStING SoLar. In October, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed bill AB 1470, the Solar Water and Heating Efficiency Act of 2007, which was designed to create a broad market for solar water heating technologies by offering $250 million in rebates for the state’s consumers over the next 10 years. The rebate fund would come from a $0.13 per month surcharge on gas bills and be implemented by the California Public Utilities Commission and individual municipal utilities. Backers of the program say that widespread use of solar water heating would not only fight global warming, but also lower gas prices for consumers by significantly lowering demand. Indesit Moon washer. DrY haNDS SaFELY. NSF International, JaPaN SEtS LImItS. Japan’s Nuclear an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based certification agency, has developed a protocol to evaluate and test commercial hand dryers to certify that they dry hands hygienically. The NSF Protocol P335: Hygienic Commercial Hand Dryers standard establishes health and sanitation requirements for hygienic hand dryers. This includes requiring hand dryers to dry hands completely within 15 seconds using air filtered with HEPA filtration. Additional requirements include handsfree operation, water disinfection, resistance to burns, ability to clean the product, and noise levels. UK-based Dyson Ltd. is the first company to achieve certification to NSF Protocol P335 for its Dyson Airblade hand dryer. $30m caSh rEcharGE. A123Systems, a developer of the Nanophosphate lithium-ion battery, has received a $30 million influx of capital from GE Energy Financial Services and CMEA Ventures. This brings the total capital invested in the company to $132 million. A123Systems of Watertown, Mass., says it will use the funds to increase production capacity. The company is working with Black & Decker Corp. to help drive its transition from nickel technology to doped nanophosphate lithium-ion technology. GLEN DImPLEX EXPaNDS. The Ireland- and Industrial Safety Agency plans to set standards limiting exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields that occur near power lines and appliances when there is electric current, according to the Japan Times. The regulations are meant to comply with World Health Organization recommendations. According to the UN agency, high levels of exposure to electric and magnetic fields in frequencies up to 100 kH can affect nervous systems. Under the standards, the level of magnetic fields arising from a current would be capped at 100 microtesla in Eastern Japan, where electric power operates at 50 Hz, and 83 microtesla in Western Japan with a frequency of 60 Hz, according to the report. Dyson Airblade based Glen Dimplex Group has acquired Applied Energy, a U.K.-based company that makes heating, air and water management products under the brand names of Creda, Redring and Xpelair. With increasingly stringent building regulations across Europe, the company says that the acquisition will help it grow and develop business in this sector. The company intends to operate Applied Energy as a stand-alone business, under its current management team. awarD wINNING mooN. The Indesit GooDmaN GoES PrIVatE. Houstonbased Goodman Global Inc. has agreed to be acquired by affiliates of the priwww.applianceDESIGN.com Co.’s Moon clothes washing machine won the Kitchen Product of the Year award presented by Designer, a U.K.based magazine for architects, developers and designers. The machine was awarded the prize for its “eco-friendly” technology including its ability to optimize water consumption and energy. hEatING wIth hEarthS. As temperatures start to fall and heating costs rise, a recent poll commissioned by the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association found that 36 percent of adults indicated they will have and will use hearth products in their home to combat heating costs in the next six months. Three-fourths of applianceDESIGN December 2007 9 http://www.appliancedesign.com
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