Commercial building operators and contractors face many pressures today, from lowering energy consumption and reducing operating costs, to minimizing environmental impact and ensuring occupant comfort. But it’s not enough to simply look at a building as a place to do business – organizations need the right insights and tools to reduce energy costs and emissions, but also ensure buildings are positively contributing to their strategic goals and outcomes.

Helping organizations leverage new technologies to enhance their buildings’ air quality and enable tenants to breathe easier was a key focus for those attending the bi-annual Daikin Group Sales Meeting 2017 (DGSM) in San Antonio, Texas, which took place October 13-16.

“At Daikin Applied, we believe your air can be doing more – for your business, and your people. Every day we aim to create better outcomes for our customers, so they can breathe easier. That’s what we deliver through Air Intelligence,” says Mike Schwartz, CEO of Daikin Applied Americas. “We’re changing the way we think about HVAC to create smarter, more configurable solutions that empower owners and managers to optimize building environments for their people.”

During the conference, Daikin Applied promoted building management and operational best practices to help organizations optimize their equipment and facilities, as well as showcased new, advanced commercial HVAC equipment to demonstrate its commitment to producing better air for end-users through the application of smart solutions, including:

• PreciseLine Large Capacity Blower Coil: Daikin’s large capacity horizontal blower coil affordably conditions air to precise levels up to 5000 cfm, designed to match a building’s air handling demand at a blower coil price point. The offering is a more compact unit that meets building demands while maximizing space – helping facility managers’ condition air for a larger space in a smaller package at an affordable price. And, its double-wall construction minimizes airborne pathogens and contaminants to provide better recirculation of room air and improved indoor air quality.
• Data acquisition and analytics: Daikin’s Intelligent Equipment connects directly to 150 data points on rooftop units and 350 data points on air-cooled chillers to monitor energy consumption at the equipment level for deeper, more accurate performance measurement. Intelligent Equipment earned recognition as a finalist in the 2017 AHR Expo Innovation Awards in the Building Automation category.
• Remotely connected rooftop units: Daikin’s rooftop product line is Intelligent Equipment-enabled and provides superior temperature and humidity control, enhancing the quality of the occupied space. At the DGSM, Daikin previewed its latest enhancement of Rebel: The Commercial Packaged 20-ton Heat Pump Rooftop with inverter scroll compression. The modulation of the variable speed compressor equates to 30 percent energy savings relative to ASHRAE 90.1-2016 part-load minimums - values rarely attained in a rooftop unit this large.
• Air-cooled chillers: Daikin’s Pathfinder (screw) and Trailblazer (scroll) chillers are available with Intelligent Equipment® to help building owners and facility managers transform how they manage their HVAC equipment. Trailblazer chillers are designed for low-install costs and high performance with up to 10 percent better efficiency than competing offerings. Pathfinder AWV features the industry-first Variable Volume Ratio (VVR) technology which allows the chiller’s compressor to optimize performance for every condition and at every hour of the day, significantly improving efficiency levels. Pathfinder was recognized as a 2017 AHR Expo Innovation Award Winner for the cooling category.
• Next-generation magnetic bearing chillers: The Magnitude centrifugal chillers feature magnetic bearing technology that eliminates the need for oil, mechanical seals and gears, enabling longer machine life, as well as better efficiency and reliability that can save end users up to $4 million in energy costs over the lifetime of the chiller. Daikin’s unique RideThrough and RapidRestore technologies allow chillers to maintain stable operation during short power outages and drastically improve restart times, if needed.
• Compact water source heat pumps: Daikin’s SmartSource compact vertical water source heat pumps pack high-performance features into a 48 percent smaller footprint, providing engineers, contractors and facility managers with a solution that frees up space, as well as lowers energy usage and installation costs.
• Flexible fan arrays: Award-winning ECM fan arrays for Daikin’s Vision and Skyline semi-custom air handlers use 46 percent less cabinet space while delivering higher efficiencies and less noise. With the ability to accommodate up to 20 fans in 40 different arrangements to meet application requirements, along with fan and motor redundancy to ensure reliability, ECM fan arrays for indoor and outdoor air handlers are the perfect fit for mission-critical facilities where extra space is limited.

“No matter the type of commercial building, Daikin applies its advanced technologies to create the most effective solutions for each unique environment,” Schwartz says. “We deliver technology that sets a new standard for the industry in producing quality air, because we know healthier air produces better outcomes where you work, where you create, and where you live.”