The First HVAC&R Award 2018 Presented during HVAC&R JAPAN

HVAC&R JAPAN 2018 was held from February 27 to March 2 at Makuhari Messe, organized by the Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association (JRAIA). On the occasion of this year’s exposition, the organizer invited applicants for the HVAC&R Award 2018 in or-der to mark the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the exhibition.
 
The HVAC&R Award’s Judging Committee selected and awarded exhibits which can be highly acclaimed by contributing to the sound development of the refrigeration and air conditioning equipment industry and its related industries among products, technologies, services, etc. exhibited at HVAC&R JAPAN 2018 by comprehensively judging their corporate philosophies and business activity principles which generated their exhibits and their content displayed at the exhibition.
 
Categories and Setting of Awards:
1. Eco and environment innovation category
2. Safety and comfort innovation category
3. Jury’s special award
4. Best approach award

The award in Category 4 com-mended exhibitors that were excel-lent in booth design along with the attitude and responses of staff based on visitor survey responses. For the best approach award, advance application was not accepted. The judging committee selected winners for the award based on visitors’ survey responses.
 
In the Eco and environment innovation category, Hitachi Appliances and Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning won the grand prize for their Stainless Clean Shirokuma-kun room air conditioner (RAC) that has adopted Frost Wash for the first time among RACs available in Japan. With Frost Wash, the heat exchanger of the indoor unit is frozen at once to wash away the stain inside the heat exchanger, thereby preventing the indoor unit from experiencing reduced capacity due to clogging.

As the runner-up of the grand prize, Fujikoki’s PDM model electronic linear control valve for larger flow rates was nominated. This mo-tor-driven valve for larger flow rate is small in size, large in diameter, and capable of finely controlling the flow rate by combining the unique structure with built-in planet gears and a system for cancelling the force of pressure upon the valve.
 
In the Safety and comfort innovation category, Mitsubishi Electric’s Kirigamine RAC FZ series models for 2018 were selected as the grand prize winner. The models in this series are innovative and pioneering RACs with a higher level of energy saving features compatible with comfort achieved by adopting the Move-Eye mirA.I. and Active Switch Compressor.
 
As the winner of runner-up to the grand prize, Nippon PMAC was nominated for its PAFMAC fan coil unit (FCU) with a heat pump. By combining the FCU with a heat pump, this product has realized a free cooling/heating mode change-over as a chilled/hot water system.
 
Two companies were selected as Jury’s special award winners, including Ziehl-Abegg Japan for its ZAbluefin plug fan that has attained a vane efficiency of 79% for the first time. The other prize-winner was Asada, nominated for its high-speed fluorinated gas collecting system. It can shorten the time for fluorinated gas collecting time by up to 50% and greatly reduce the cost of collection.
 
In the Best approach award category, Daikin was nominated as the grand prize winner, and Mitsubishi Electric was nominated as the runner-up to the grand prize.
 
The screening was difficult and it was not easy to say which of the nominated products/technologies/ services applied were best, the chief juror Kishimoto said. “We would like to continue to grant awards on the occasion of future expositions,” he added. The award winners, in their speeches, showed progressive attitudes toward their future activities.