The global heating, ventilation and air conditioning market
The global heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) market will exceed $70 billion in 2012. Global demand for equipment will increase by 5.8% annually. The Asia-Pacific region will outpace the rest of the world, with China and India leading the way, due to rising living standards. Investments in cooling equipment will surpass those in heating systems. As customers become accustomed to the comfort of air conditioning in their cars, they will increasingly expect it in their homes. The market is stable, with the seven largest suppliers accounting for more than four-fifths of total sales.
Energy savings and environmental protection are the two main themes of the sector. The industry once relied on CFC refrigerants, which deplete the ozone layer. The industry collaborated to replace them with more environmentally friendly chemicals. Recently, CO2 has emerged as the most likely substitute in automotive air conditioners and high-pressure water heaters (HPWHs). The HPWH CO2 standard was developed just a few years ago, primarily through the collaboration of nine Japanese companies, including Daikin, Hitachi, Toshiba, and Panasonic.
While CO2 is also a greenhouse gas, the industry considers the amount of CO2 emitted by HVAC systems negligible compared to that emitted by power plants and vehicles. However, the main drawback is that CO2 systems must operate at five times the pressure of traditional equipment. This creates a range of new technical challenges and increases energy consumption. Achieving high efficiency, low noise, low vibration, and high internal pressure requires heavier tubing made of more expensive alloys, thus increasing the demand for specialized metals.
Innovation
The next wave of innovation appears to be the integration of the internet with HVAC controls. The traditional thermostat, combined with internet communication standards and web-based controls, extends the concept of smart buildings to include analytics, decision-making, and control tools for facilities and homes with real-time data, previously reserved for industrial applications. Intelligent control systems that monitor and optimize energy consumption, send notifications and reports aimed at reducing the total cost of ownership throughout the system's lifecycle, are now an integral part of the HVAC market.
The most fundamental shift in thinking in the HVAC world is the ability to eliminate traditional compressors and air pumps through the design of a black wall-based heating and cooling system for commercial and residential buildings. The south-facing building structure exposes a black wall with an air gap between the wall and a transparent polycarbonate panel made of horizontal air particles that include a highly conductive aluminum foil. Outside air enters from the left and flows to the right until it reaches the vertical shaft, rises, and releases its warm air into the lobby.
This black wall for air heating utilizes the laws of physics, operates without any moving parts, and, by design, provides a comfortable heating system without the need for compressors, air pumps, or mechanical devices. This is achieved if the building is designed by an expert architect who has the tools to calculate the appropriate wall dimensions and the required airflow based on historical data regarding outside temperature, humidity levels, and the ideal indoor temperature range. The same system can be used in summer by applying the same principles. However, the garage now needs to be cooled instead of heated. Therefore, the hot air, now generated more quickly, passes through a heat exchanger and is converted into cool air using the same principles as refrigeration, where hot air is removed to create cold air. Since the cool air is generated at the top, it falls and is easily distributed throughout the hall.
The simple design requires minimal maintenance (occasional window cleaning). Since it has no moving parts, there is no wear or friction on the metal, so the system requires less maintenance and consumes no energy. Heat exchange will lose minimal energy. In fact, this heating and cooling system has the potential to generate electricity in the process. The capital investment is minimal
The first cash flow
The black wall pictured in the appendix has been in operation since 1995 and was commissioned by Per Carstedt, the Ford dealer in the Umeå region (northern Sweden), who has a proven track record in designing energy-efficient buildings. It is part of the GreenZone, designed by Anders Nyquist, who has implemented numerous energy-efficient and low-water buildings in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The well-documented performance of the small industrial cluster within the GreenZone, combining a gas station (Statoil), a fast-food restaurant (McDonald's), and a Ford dealership, has been so well received by investors and tenants that a second, advanced GreenZone incorporating the latest technologies is planned for 2013.
Anders Nyquist's projects go beyond the architectural concept originally developed and patented by Edward Morse and refined in the 1960s by the French engineer Félix Trombe and the architect Jacques Michel. While the system is quite similar, Anders has integrated heat exchangers and plays with black and white at the entrance in summer to generate ideal heating and cooling effects.
The opportunity
While many take the time and effort to travel three hours by train north of Stockholm to observe this marvel of design in operation, this simple approach to harnessing heat doesn't aim to block it, as is usually the case with a south-facing wall, but rather to convert it into heat for cooling and heating, depending on climatic requirements. After a thorough analysis, the Japanese automaker decided to entrust its future Scandinavian offices and dealerships to Anders Nyquist, insisting on the use of these principles as a standard. The fact that the architect was able to demonstrate its performance at a lower investment and operating cost, while also showing that it can work in different cultural and climatic environments, including in Japan, where he renovated the Daiwa House buildings in Sendai, northern Japan, convinced Toyota that he was the prime architect for the building.
The "Black Wall to Warm and Cool" concept is expected to gain increasing popularity thanks to the visibility created by Ford and Toyota. The design is actually quite simple, and with minimal knowledge of general physics and airflow in particular, it allows for a standardized approach to this HVAC system, freeing up capital while providing greater comfort at a lower cost for all occupants. While this design cannot be applied to the air conditioning of cars, trucks, and trains, it allows for a complete overhaul of commercial, residential, and industrial buildings by applying the concept of "substituting something for nothing," as advocated by the blue economy.
Photo courtesy of Anders Nyquist.
