Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HVAC system design is a subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer. "Refrigeration" is sometimes added to the field's abbreviation as HVAC&R or HVACR, or "ventilation" is dropped, as in HACR.
Johnson Controls International plc is an American, Irish-domiciled multinational conglomerate headquartered in Cork, Ireland, that produces fire, HVAC, and security equipment for buildings. As of mid-2019, it employed 105,000 people in around 2,000 locations across six continents. In 2017 it was listed as 389th in the Fortune Global 500. It became ineligible for the Fortune 500 in subsequent years since it relocated its headquarters outside the U.S.
David Lennox was an American inventor and businessman. A furnace manufacturing business he founded in 1895 in Marshalltown, Iowa evolved into what is today known as Lennox International, a global corporation specializing in air conditioning, heating, and commercial refrigeration. Lennox helped to develop what has been described as the first riveted-steel furnace in 1895. His contributions to furnace design have been described as significant steps forward in durability and efficiency from the cast iron furnaces commonly in use near the end of the 19th century.
American Standard Companies Inc. was a manufacturer of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, plumbing fixtures, and automotive parts. The company was formed in 1929 through the merger of the American Radiator Company and Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company forming the American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation. The name was simplified to American Standard in 1967.
The Amana Corporation is an American brand of household appliances. It was founded in 1934 by George Foerstner as the Electrical Equipment Co. in Middle Amana, Iowa, to manufacture commercial walk-in coolers. The business was later owned by the Amana Society and became known as Amana Refrigeration, Inc. It is now owned by the Whirlpool Corporation. Today, the Amana brand is marketed as the economy brand of Whirlpool Corporation, slotting below Whirlpool in the lineup. Its closest competitor in the United States is the Hotpoint brand owned by GE Appliances/Haier.
UTC Climate, Controls & Security was a global provider of building technologies offering fire safety, security, building automation, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, and refrigeration systems and services. A wholly owned subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, UTC Climate, Controls & Security was a $16.7 billion company with 55,000 employees serving customers in more than 180 countries.
An air handler, or air handling unit, is a device used to regulate and circulate air as part of a heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. An air handler is usually a large metal box containing a blower, furnace or A/C elements, filter racks or chambers, sound attenuators, and dampers. Air handlers usually connect to a ductwork ventilation system that distributes the conditioned air through the building and returns it to the AHU, sometimes exhausting air to the atmosphere and bringing in fresh air. Sometimes AHUs discharge (supply) and admit (return) air directly to and from the space served without ductwork
Carrier Global Corporation is an American multinational heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, and fire and security equipment corporation based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Carrier was founded in 1915 as an independent company manufacturing and distributing HVAC systems, and has since expanded to include manufacturing commercial refrigeration and food service equipment, and fire and security technologies.
MTD Products is an American manufacturer of outdoor power equipment for the mass market. Headquartered in Valley City, Ohio, the company began in 1932 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stanley Black & Decker. Prior to Stanley Black & Decker's acquisition in December 2021, MTD Products was a majority family-owned, private company. It originated as a tool and die maker. MTD's main competitors are Stihl, Ariens, Briggs & Stratton, John Deere and Husqvarna.
Worthington Enterprises, Inc. is a global diversified metals manufacturing company based in Columbus, Ohio. It is a steel processor and manufacturer of pressure vessels, such as propane, oxygen and helium tanks, hand torches, refrigerant and industrial cylinders, camping cylinders, exploration, recovery and production products for global energy markets; water system tanks for storage, treatment, heating, expansion and flow control, and compressed natural gas storage cylinders. The company also manufactures framing systems for mid-rise buildings and steel pallets and racks for shipping. It is the largest independent processor of flat-rolled steel in the United States. The company takes steel from steel producers and processes it for customers in industries including automotive, lawn and garden, construction, hardware, office furniture, electrical control, leisure and recreation, appliance, agriculture and HVAC.
The Husqvarna Group is a Swedish manufacturer of outdoor power products including robotic lawn mowers, chainsaws, trimmers, brushcutters, cultivators, and garden tractors. Founded as a firearms manufacturer in 1689, it is one of the oldest continuously running companies in the world. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, the group also produces consumer watering products under the brand Gardena, cutting equipment and diamond tools for the construction and stone industries.
International Comfort Products Corporation (ICP) is a company that designs, manufactures and markets central air conditioning (HVAC) systems and gas and oil furnaces for use in homes and commercial buildings. It is a unit of Carrier Global and is headquartered in Lewisburg, Tennessee, United States.
SPX Corporation is an American manufacturing company, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company operates within four markets: heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), detection and measurement, power transmission and generation, and engineered solutions. Examples of SPX’s products include cooling towers and boilers, underground pipe and cable locators, power transformers, and heat exchangers. Brands include Waukesha, Dielectric, Genfare, Fahrenheat, Radiodetection, and Pearpoint. SPX operates in 17 countries with a sales presence in 100 countries, and over 6,000 employees worldwide. In 2019, the company earned approximately $1.5 billion in annual revenue.
TheVuilleumier cycle was patented by a Swiss-American engineer named Rudolph Vuilleumier in 1918. The purpose of Vuilleumier's machine was to create a heat pump that would use heat at high temperature as energy input. The Vuilleumier cycle...
utilize[s] working gas expansion and compression at three variable volume spaces in order to pump heat from a low to a moderate temperature level. The interesting characteristic of the Vuilleumier machine is that the induced volume variations are realized without the use of work, but thermally. This is the reason why it has a potential to operate at modern applications where the pollution of the environment is not a choice. It is a perfect candidate for such applications, as it consists only of metallic parts and inert gas. Using these units for heating and cooling buildings, large energy savings can be accomplished as they can be operated at small scale in common buildings or at large scale providing heat power to entire building blocks without using fossil fuels. The use of Vuilleumier machines for industrial applications or inside vehicles is also a feasible option. Another field where these machines have already been involved is cryogenics, as they are also able to provide refrigeration at very low temperatures like the very similar and well-known Stirling refrigerators.
Trane Technologies plc is an American-Irish domiciled company focused on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) and refrigeration systems. The company traces its corporate history back more than 150 years and was created after a series of mergers and spin-offs. In 2008, HVAC manufacturer Trane was acquired by Ingersoll Rand, a US industrial tools manufacturer. In 2020, the tools business was spun off as Ingersoll Rand and the remaining company was renamed Trane Technologies.
Variable refrigerant flow (VRF), also known as variable refrigerant volume (VRV), is an HVAC technology invented by Daikin Industries, Ltd. in 1982. Similar to ductless mini-split systems, VRFs use refrigerant as the primary cooling and heating medium, and are usually less complex than conventional chiller-based systems. This refrigerant is conditioned by one or more condensing units, and is circulated within the building to multiple indoor units. VRF systems, unlike conventional chiller-based systems, allow for varying degrees of cooling in more specific areas, may supply hot water in a heat recovery configuration without affecting efficiency, and switch to heating mode during winter without additional equipment, all of which may allow for reduced energy consumption. Also, air handlers and large ducts are not used which can reduce the height above a dropped ceiling as well as structural impact as VRF uses smaller penetrations for refrigerant pipes instead of ducts.
Rheem Manufacturing Company is an American privately held manufacturer that produces residential and commercial water heaters and boilers, as well as heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. The company also produces and sells products under the Ruud brand name. It is an independent subsidiary of Paloma Industries. What became Rheem started in 1925 as a supplier of packaging to the petroleum industry, and is currently headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States. The company is one of the largest manufacturers of both water heating and HVAC equipment in the United States, and also produces and markets products in Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bahrain, China, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Iraq, Kuwait, Mexico, New Zealand, Perú, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, UAE, and Ukraine.
The Worthington Mower Company, originally called the Shawnee Mower Factory, produced lawn mowers and light-duty tractors in the United States from the early 1920s until around 1959. Founded by Charles Campbell Worthington and run as a family business, in 1945 it was purchased by Jacobsen Manufacturing. It continued to produce tractors and mowers in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, until around 1959.
Sanhua Holding Group Co., Ltd. (三花控股集团有限公司) is a global manufacturer of controls and components for the HVAC & Refrigeration home appliance, automotive air conditioning and thermal management industries.
D.W. (Fritz) Norris, aka David Windsor “Fritz” Norris Jr. was an American newspaper publisher and businessman.
