Danfoss, a leading manufacturer of high-efficiency electronic and mechanical components, controls, compressors, and variable frequency drives for air-conditioning, heating, refrigeration, industrial, and water systems, this week opened the first test chamber of its new Engineering Tomorrow Application Development Center in Tallahassee, Florida. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to inaugurate the chamber, which can accommodate air-conditioning systems up to 12.5 tons.

A state-of-the-art laboratory for the testing of HVACR equipment, Danfoss’ new customer Application Development Center will, in total, feature three sets of psychrometric rooms capable of testing air-conditioning systems, including residential equipment and rooftop units from 2.5 to 50 tons and air-cooled chillers up to 150 tons.  

“With the broadest portfolio of components to help chiller and rooftop manufacturers achieve bold levels of energy efficiency, Danfoss technologies play an important role in improving how buildings consume energy and impact the world around them,” remarked Jurgen Fischer, president, Danfoss Cooling Solutions. “Danfoss has a long history—more than 80 years—of innovation, and we remain committed to working with our customers to push the boundaries of innovation and energy-efficiency and climate-friendly solutions. This laboratory joins a family of Application Development Centers around the world that are actively working to advance our research and development initiatives and help our customers engineer tomorrow.”

“One of the major drivers behind the significant investment in this Application Development Center is the increasing federal regulations and testing requirements impacting the HVACR industry, including aggressive energy-efficiency standards from U.S. Department of Energy and new targets for environmentally-friendly, low-GWP refrigerants from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” said John Galyen, president, Danfoss North America. “This Application Development Center will allow us to help our industry prepare for the transition ahead by providing much needed lab capacity to ensure compliance.”

Stefan Pietrek, senior director – global applications, Danfoss, explained: “The Application Development Center is set up to support testing specifically for the North American air-conditioning segment, comprising rooftop units and chillers in climatic controlled chambers. The test chamber we opened today is designed to test residential air-conditioning and light-commercial equipment of 2.5 to 12.5 TR. We are using the broad Danfoss portfolio of products to offer a complete solution to our customers — including controls, compressors, line components, heat exchangers, and frequency converters. This makes the Application Development Center a unique home for complete innovative solutions.”

The ribbon-cutting ceremony also included a facility tour hosted by Danfoss’ Alice Riemer, director, global laboratories; and Gregory Handzel, manager of the Application Development Center.

The Center’s other two test chambers—one for up to 50-ton and another for up to 150-ton systems—will open in the coming months. The Application Development Center is expected to be fully operational in early 2017.