ASHRAE Journal - March 2015 - 7

INDUSTRY NEWS

TOP TRENDS FOR 2015

Rami Al Soleiman (center) shows Matt Kadelback (left) and Daniel Hicks (right) images
of the Petra Engineering Industries headquarters and facilities.

What's New at AHR

CHICAGO-Here's a sampling of
new products shown at the
AHR Expo and organized by
category.

Air Distribution
The DT-ERV from Advantix
Systems is a packaged DOAS
that combines liquid desiccant technology with exhaust
air energy recovery. The
unit maximizes ventilation
air while reducing energy
consumption which encourages optimal air quality and a
reduced carbon footprint.
ALUAFS.70 UL non-insulated aluminum flexible air
ducts from AFS are produced
for low and medium pressure
heating, cooling, ventilation,
exhaust and air conditioning systems. Made from
multi-layer aluminum and
polyester, the ducts have high
elasticity and flexibility.
Air King's Deluxe Quiet

series of range hoods are
suitable for continuous
whole house, standard-compliant ventilation.
Used with Axial and
Centrifugal fans, the new
FlowGrid air-inlet grill from
ebm-papst reduces ambient
noise generated by highperformance technology. The
diffuser lessens disturbances
in the fan inflow, minimizes
disturbing low frequency
tones caused by sound pressure in cooling, ventilation and air-conditioning
systems.
Haier Flexfit ductless
systems provide a solution
to mix and match different
indoor units to the same outdoor unit. This method helps
distributors and contractors
reduce the time and cost of
inventory management.
The Wireless Zone Control
Damper from ALAN

ATTENDEES
1. Energy Efficiency "I would
expect energy efficiency to be a
major driver for most markets with
rising energy costs."
2. Costs/the Economy "Rising
costs for mandated equipment."
3. New Technologies "DOAS units
connected directly to terminal
units, eliminating large AHUs and
large insulated ductwork."
4. Training/Staffing "How do we
hire, train, grow, develop, replace,
the sales, operations and technical
personnel who are retiring?"
5. O&M "Contractor's ability to

regulatory agencies out of the
industry and it will start to grow."
6. Training/Staffing "Lack of qualified/competent mechanical design
engineers."
7. Environment "Environmental
friendly refrigerants and
equipment."
8. Fuel "Continuing dominance
of natural gas in the heating
marketplace."
9. Competition "More manufacturers are also starting to buy distribution chains to have direct access
to the contractor channel."
10. O&M "Lack of owner awareness
of overall system life costs with shortlife, low-cost products installed."
effectively start up and maintain
newly released high-efficiency
products."
6. Government "Regional standards and how it will affect system
sales."
7. Refrigerants "Concerns about
the transition from R-404A to
something else."
8. Competition "Every Tom, Dick
and Harry trying to do HVAC."
9. Environment "Energy saving and
environment-friendly products."
10.Sustainability "Minimized energy
consumption using heat recovery,
net zero. Carbon reduction."

Manufacturing Inc. is
controlled by a handheld
wireless remote control
instead of a thermostat and
is capable of controlling up to
32 different dampers in 5%
increments.
The TSI-Alnor® EBT731

capture hood from TSI is
a modular air balancing
instrument designed to meet
HVAC TAB and commissioning requirements.
The all plastic Stratus diffuser from American Louver
is indistinguishable from

CHICAGO-Ten trends emerged
from an online survey of AHR Expo
exhibitors and attendees done
by ASHRAE Journal. As in 2014,
energy efficiency was the top trend
from the more than 700 responses.
EXHIBITORS
1. Energy Efficiency "Energy conservation, lower power consumption of pumps, recirculation."
2. New Technologies "Big trend is
visualization of big data."
3. Costs/the Economy "End users
looking for very low cost."
4. Sustainability "Green products."
5. Government "We need to get
the government and EPA and all

The 2015 AHR Expo shattered all-time records as well as records for the Chicago show. AHR Expo is in Chicago every third year and is typically the largest of the Shows.

MARCH 2015

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ASHRAE Journal - March 2015

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