As punker’s new Area Sales Manager North, Central and South America, I travel to punker LLC on a regular basis to support my colleagues in further establishing the North American market. On my last stay at punker LLC in October, punker LLC’s Managing Director, Ryan Kilkelly, and I visited the Annual AMCA Meeting in California.
The Air Movement and Control Association (AMCA) is an international, not-for-profit association of the world’s manufacturers of fans, louvers, dampers, air curtains, air flow measurement devices, ducts, acoustic attenuators and other air system components. AMCA invites its members regularly to discuss innovations and developments concerning the HVAC industry. This year’s Annual Meeting focused on the topic of energy conservation and energy efficiency. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is preparing a new program for energy efficiency in commercial air conditioners, heat pumps and commercial warm-air furnaces which is expected to be finalized within the next couple of month. For most of the manufacturers within the HVAC sector, this programm will mean venturing into uncharted terrain.
Even though Washington has not defined any standards or regulations yet, AMCA expects that by 2019, energy effiency in the HVAC sector will have to be increased by 20%. The U.S. administration has, however, already enacted a subsidy program of 9 billion US$ for energy conserving industry applications. Manufacutrers seeking to submit products for funding will first have to get these products certified by the DOE. Standards have not been finalized for this programm, however. AMCA will represent the industry’s interests during the process of finalizing these standards.
Energy efficiency has defined product development at punker since the European Union’s Ecodesign Directive extended its scope to air conditioning and ventilation systems in a 2009 revision. With our extensive know-how and energy-efficient fan wheel series like R63D-HVAC, the DOE’s future program poses an excellent opportunity for establishing the punker brand in the US.
