Greening RTU's: Aaon High Efficiency Units

Today's codes and customers are demanding higher and higher efficiencies from their units. And Aaon has been continually improving their product offering to stay one step ahead of the curve. Not only do they offer energy-saving features like heat recovery, foam core panel construction, digital scrolls and the best RTU economizers on the market, but they also offer industry-leading cooling efficiencies.



To help customers select the unit that is right for their project, Aaon has created this quick select guide that shows the available efficiency levels of their RTU products (Energy Star, ASHRAE 90.1, ASHRAE 189, CEE Tier 1 or CEE Tier II) for all of their units from 2 tons to 70 tons.

See what else Aaon is doing to revolutionize the efficiency of rooftop units at our Greening RTU's section of this blog!

Smardt Displaying at 28th West Coast EMC Show, June 15-16

Smardt is bringing their high-efficiency chillers to Seattle to show in the upcoming 28th West Coast Energy Management Congress Expo. Come see the industry leading oil-free compressor chillers and chiller controls systems first hand!



Exposition Hours:

Tuesday, June 15, 2010: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Wednesday, June 16, 2010: 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Free tickets to the expo are available here.

The show will highlight energy efficiency products and programs and is supported by local utilities, industry organizations and local industry. It should be a very informative and exciting show, and it is conveniently located at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in downtown Seattle.



See you there!

Aaon Completes Conversion to Foam Core Construction with Announcement of New RQ

A few years back, Aaon made a committment to convert all of their air handling products to high-performance foam core panels. With the introduction of the new RQ rooftop unit (1-6 tons) this conversion is complete!


We've mentioned the many benefits of the foam core technology before, but it is worthwhile to revisit the subject to understand how much better this R-13 double-wall cabinet is than the standard single wall R-1 to R-3 batt insulation cabinet design in the industry. This detailed report on the performance of the foam core panel shows that in Seattle's environment, as much as 20% energy savings can be realized just from the better thermal performance and low leakage of this design.


But the RQ is not just better because of its high-performance cabinet. This product also makes available all of the energy saving advantages of the larger AAON RN product, like:

• Digital scroll compressors


• True Variable-Air-Volume Performance


• Integrated, high-reliability economizers


• Heat Recovery


• Heat Pump Operation


• Ground Loop Operation


• Direct Drive Plenum Fans

And offers a new energy savings feature: ECM Fans!

And while SEER's are of relatively small importance to the overall efficiency of a rooftop system in a heating dominated climate like Seattle's, the RQ boasts SEER's that are in line with CEE's Tier 1 and Tier 2 efficiency levels

With the introduction of the RQ, Aaon has set a completely new standard in energy efficient rooftop air conditioning systems.

Energy Labs Announces IBC 2006 Seismic Certification

Energy Labs Air Handling units have received IBC 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009 seismic certification.


The certificate of compliance qualifies the company’s Air Handling Units for use in building structures wherever seismically rated equipment should be considered.

Air Handling Units play a critical role in maintaining the building environment and making them functional. Seismically Certified Air Handling Unit equipment is required in the 50 states that have adopted the IBC code.

Air handling Units must not only survive earthquakes, the intent of the IBC is to encourage manufacturers to create equipment that remains online and functioning during and after a catastrophic event in order to provide critical life–safety support.

Applications where seismically certified equipment should be considered include hospitals, healthcare facilities; fire, rescue and police stations; emergency shelters; telecommunications centers; power plants; air traffic control centers; military and government buildings; and water treatment facilities.

To qualify for seismic certification, Energy Labs Air handling Units were tested by the VMC Group, an ICC–approved, independent approval agency. All tests were done in accordance with IBC 2000, 2003 and 2006 Section 1707.7.2 and Section 1708.5.
Energy labs certified equipment will have a certificate and label in a clear, viewable location to assure the customer that this equipment qualifies for seismic locations.



When should you specify this certification? Energy Labs has created a quick slideshow to help illustrate the requirements of the code.

How should you specify this requirement? These suggested specifications from Energy Labs should help.