In this special report, CCN takes a look back at how HVAC&R industry has changed over the last 20 years. We ask some of the industry's leading figures to identify the biggest technological changes and the best innovations that have affected the refrigeration and air conditioning landscape.
South Western Sydney Institute of TAFE head teacher for refrigeration and air conditioning trades, Brian Mobbs, says a standout technological change in the last 20 years has been the increased utilisation of electronic controls and electronic components.
“It is now quite common to see electronic controls on most commercial refrigeration applications,” Mobbs says. “On larger installations controls may be communicating with each other, which will include a central control serving as a monitoring and maintenance system.
“In air conditioning, many early systems were analogue and pneumatic; however the introduction of direct digital controls has seen the evolution of control systems integrated into the building and implemented with a building management system.”
Mobbs says other significant changes that have been particularly innovative include the development of variable refrigerant flow systems, which have been installed in many commercial buildings such as nursing homes, schools and hotels.
“The continual evolution of these systems has been quite significant, with improved controls systems and heat recovery systems,” he says.
The support offered by many of the manufacturers of variable refrigerant systems is quite significant and extremely beneficial to those employed within the HVAC&R industry, he says. He also believes the training offered for servicing, design and installation of these systems is of a high standard and eases some of the technological changes facing the HVAC&R technician.
His colleague Warren Cole, senior RAC teacher at South Western Sydney TAFE, says one of the biggest innovations is the development, implementation and proven viability of the Turbocor compressor.
“The refrigerant changes we have experienced over the past 20 years may well be only the tip of the iceberg,” Cole says, adding that poor government policies and indecision do nothing to assist in steering the future direction of refrigerant choice.
Looking ahead over the next decade, Cole says it would require “the wisdom of Solomon” to predict which substances will be used as refrigerants 10 years from now, let alone any time thereafter.
“Other challenging factors pertaining to the use of some refrigerants is raising the awareness of the safe use and handling of hazardous refrigerants,” he says.
Evapco managing director Andrew Taylor believes energy efficiency has had a big impact on technology over the last 20 years, which has led to the introduction of the super low sound fan.
“In the last 20 years manufacturers have invested in the development of low noise fans that use 75 per cent less energy,” Taylor says.
“Evapco and other leading manufacturers are now able to provide very low noise cooling towers and evaporative condensers that rely on very low energy usage.”
He believes the biggest challenge facing industry in the next 20 years is continuing investment in research and development to attain the energy efficiency of evaporative cooling with reduced water consumption.
“There are hybrid products available that reduce water usage, however their energy costs and physical footprint is three times higher than conventional evaporative cooling,” Taylor says.
Research firms have identified energy efficiency as a major growth driver for HVAC systems.
Energy consumption by HVAC systems accounts for roughly 40 per cent of total building energy consumption, and in turn, buildings account for 35 per cent to 40 per cent of total worldwide energy consumption. Thus, HVAC energy consumption in commercial buildings is a key contributor to total global energy consumption.
Driven by tightening energy efficiency regulations and by demand for higher-efficiency buildings, the technology for efficient HVAC systems is advancing.
According to a new report from Navigant Research, annual revenue from energy efficient HVAC systems will grow from $17.2 billion in 2013 to $33.2 billion by 2020.
“In the wake of the global recession of 2009, developed markets for efficient HVAC – especially in North America and Europe – remain sluggish,” according to senior research director, Bob Gohn. “However, the North American market has picked up during 2013 and there will be more growth during 2014.
“Europe will follow a similar trend, but recovery will likely not occur until mid to late 2014. The strongest region for energy efficient HVAC expansion, however, will be the Asia Pacific, which will account for 55 percent of the world market by 2020.”
The global HVAC market, according to the report, is led by large suppliers, such as UTC (Carrier), Hitachi, Ingersoll-Rand (Trane), Daikin, and LG Electronics, many of which also produce various other products, technologies, and services.
WT Sustainability director Steve Hennessy also identified energy efficiency as an issue growing in importance. Hennessy says chillers have experienced a quantum leap in efficiency, and other improvements include a significant drop in the price of variable speed drives, LEDs challenging more traditional lighting solutions, photovoltaics becoming more affordable and controls becoming more sophisticated.
“The biggest change is improvements in chiller efficiencies, which has made an important dent in building energy consumption,” he says.
“Chillers are usually the single most energy hungry component of a HVAC system so doubling the workload with no increase in energy consumption is pretty impressive.”
When it comes to standout innovations, Hennessy says variable speed drives are nothing new but falling prices and higher energy prices have made them ubiquitous.
“We see them on fans, pumps, chillers, and in the case of the latter they are a significant factor in the delivery of higher efficiency,” he says.
“This industry now recognises the need for greater efficiency. 20 years ago many in the industry took the view that if loads were high, just install more equipment; after all, energy was cheap.
“Now we question everything. Yes, energy has become more expensive, but there are a range of other drivers including NABERS, environmental imperatives, legislation and carbon pricing.”
Hennessy forecasts that the theme of “getting more with less” will continue over the next 10 years, but says there is also a need for more education and planning.
“Our industry is improving but we could do so much better. Why are many buildings still performing poorly?
There are many reasons but it all comes back to knowledge and how it is applied.”
Scotch research principal Emma Scotch, has a similar view. She says the greening of HVAC is the most prominent trend taking place today and this will continue over the next decade.
Most manufacturers and wholesale suppliers, she says, are focusing on sustainability and energy savings.
“Air conditioning, cooling and ventilation technology have become the crucial factor in terms of a building’s energy balance sheet.
“While the need for cooling in buildings is on the increase, there is a parallel trend for the amount of energy used for heating to decrease. This leads to the great energy challenge.
“Efficient heat recovery systems, the integration of renewable energies and installations with intelligent energy distribution are gaining in importance.
“On top of this are more stringent demands for air hygiene. It is important for air circulation systems to be easy to clean. The goal is to reduce energy while improving the quality of air in the room.”
Scotch says one trend that has seen significant inroads in the past decade is building services technology, which is now expected to operate heating, cooling and ventilation systems all at the same time.
Demand is for integrated systems rather than separate units, she says.
“This is where system integration comes in; coordinating air conditioning and ventilation systems with cooling and heating facilities.
“This is where the market has been heading for some time. With solutions such as VRF technology, it is possible to create complete systems for heating, cooling and hot water production in a single installation.”
Over the next decade, Scotch forecasts that technology will aim to reduce energy requirements even further, particularly when it comes to the power required for refrigeration, fans, heat exchangers and pumps.
Even with the technologies currently available, she says there is still plenty of room for further energy savings.
“In my research alone I can see savings of at least 30 per cent in when it comes to fans and pumps; components still have a contribution to make.”
When asked to identify her stand-out technological developments, Scotch nominates solar thermal energy and evaporative cooling.
“The big advances are in intelligent system integration and building automation solutions,” she says.
Air Change CEO Steve Atherton says a notable change over the years is in the area of air conditioning design, which now focuses on “squeezing every last bit of efficiency out of the project”.
Some of the biggest changes he has noted is the introduction of plug and play packaged systems and much more efficient air conditioning componentry.
“The three biggest innovations are more sophisticated computer-based design and control systems, more environmentally friendly gases, and air to air heat exchangers,” Atherton says.
“The industry has been quite agile in adapting to these changes despite all of the concerns people have initially.” Atherton says the development of environmentally friendly gases that are safe to use and economically priced is one of the biggest challenges facing industry in the near future.
A spokesperson for analyst firm Research and Markets says the industry is witnessing the use of highly advanced and innovative technologies in HVAC systems.
“Evaporative cooling is one such technology that has huge growth potential because it works on the concept of water’s large enthalpy of vaporisation,” the spokesperson says.
“This can easily be used in open spaces such as schools, factories, and outdoor swimming pools.”
Other stand-out technologies identified by the research company include technologies such as VFDs and VRF to customise temperature control functions in HVAC systems.
Pike Research senior analyst Eric Bloom nominates the smart building industry as an area where the biggest changes have occurred in the last decade.
“Although the global economic recession is still felt throughout the building and construction industries, we have continued to uncover new opportunities to improve energy efficiency in the existing building stock,” Bloom says.
“The potential for energy efficiency has hardly been tapped, even today.”
Bloom says many of the technologies required to qualify as a smart building, such as energy efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and submeters, are mature.
However, others such as building energy management (BEM) systems and building information modelling (BIM) are some of the biggest innovations the industry has seen in many years.
Pike Research forecasts the global BEMS market will grow from $1.9 billion in 2011 to $6 billion in 2020.
“The challenge we face in the future is tying these together, maximising profits, leveraging strengths and creating a smart building ecosystem,” Bloom says.
In the next decade, he believes BIM will transform the design process, and the smart building industry will really take off in the Asia Pacific region. It will begin with a high level of integration, Bloom says.
“A smart building starts with a smart design. Many of the decisions that impact energy efficiency such as the integration of HVAC, lighting and other building systems, are made early in the design process and are difficult to change down the track.
“It is remarkable that the design and construction process today is highly fractious. Architects, engineers and contractors operate largely independently of each other; they don’t take a whole systems approach to design.
“This can have catastrophic implications for green and energy efficient buildings.”
As a result, Bloom believes the current approach will change and increased coordination will lead to a completely transformed eco-system that will then lead to greater innovation in the construction industry.
“In the future the definition of a smart building will continue to expand, the industry will increasingly look upstream and enhance interactions with the grid,” he says.
Looking ahead another factor to consider is climate change, which has had a significant impact on the global HVAC&R industry. This impact will continue over coming decades.
One area that will shape the regulatory environment is greenhouse gas
emission targets.
Australia’s Climate Change Authority is currently conducting its ‘Caps and Targets Review’.
The review is important because it will recommend emissions reduction targets
for Australia and report on how the country is tracking.
Current data estimates that direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from RAC equipment is as high as 11.7 per cent of total Australian emissions.
Setting targets for reducing Australia’s emissions also involves setting limits, or ‘caps’, for Australia’s carbon pricing mechanism – hence the ‘Caps and Targets’ title of this Review.
The Authority is re\quired to report to the Government by February 28, 2014.
In addition to setting a 2020 emissions reduction target, the final report will also make recommendations beyond 2020.