The AHR Expo (International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition) has announced the winners of the 2021 AHR Expo Innovation Awards in 10 industry categories, and ASPE Affiliate Sponsor Viega took the top spot in the heating category for its Radiant Auto-Balancing System (RABS), which introduces the ability to monitor the temperature of every return circuit in a radiant system. Coupled with the monitoring of each zone’s air temperature via wireless thermostats, the control actuates flow of conditioned water to each loop using a learning algorithm to increase the efficiency of a radiant installation. Circuit lengths no longer need to be designed to be similar lengths or manually balanced using flow controls on the manifold. Even though designing similar length circuits is still best practice, designs rarely account for furniture and temporary floor covering. The system maintains set temperatures through changes in these variables without user input, giving designers more flexibility without loss of efficiency.
The RABS will offer a desirable solution to customers seeking high-efficiency radiant. The system also incorporates more digitalization of plumbing for monitoring by end users, something that is sought after more and more by customers looking to have more interesting and useful data related to their system performance. Additionally, this system will save installers valuable time when balancing a radiant system. Once the system is connected to a manifold and the web application, the customer has the ability to make changes and monitor temperatures.
Show Management, co-sponsors ASHRAE and AHRI, and the Innovation Awards panel of judges wish to acknowledge and honor the 2021 award winners despite the recent cancellation of the live event. Typically, award winners are formally recognized at a ceremony hosted on day two of the annual Show. “The Innovation Awards are an exciting part of the AHR Expo and we are disappointed that we won’t be able to honor them in the same ways we would at a live Show,” said Show Manager, Mark Stevens. “Despite the challenges 2020 has presented, we are committed to recognizing the incredible innovators in our industry.”
Submissions were collected over the summer and then reviewed by a panel of third-party judges made up of distinguished ASHRAE members. Entrants are evaluated based on overall innovative design, creativity of the product or service offered, application, as well as potential market impact.
“We want to formally congratulate each of our 2021 AHR Expo Innovation Award winners, as well as finalists and all our entrants, for their continued leadership and contribution to HVACR,” said Stevens. “We look forward to seeing these innovators in the marketplace in the coming year, and in-person on the Show floor in 2022.”
Source: AHR Expo
