The RAC Cooling Industry Awards 2009

The RAC Cooling Industry Awards held on 30th September at the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, London, saw Klima-Therm walk away as winners of two prestigious awards and a highly commended finalist for a third.

Together with Cool-Therm & Geoclima, Klima-Therm has demonstrated its dedication to achieving energy efficient solutions in the cooling industry and was awarded for their efforts with the following:

“Environmental Pioneer - Air Conditioning” Award - Winner
“Environmental Collaboration of the Year” Award - Winner
“Environmental Product of the Year: Air Conditioning” – Highly commended

Environmental Pioneer - Air Conditioning    

Klima-Therm, Cool-Therm & Geoclima

The three firms behind the Turbomiser chiller walked away with the title for their harnessing of distinct technologies to achieve dramatic energy savings.  Their description of the product as "ultra-efficient" is not marketing hype but an indication of the step change they have achieved by utilising floating head pressure, sophisticated control systems and reduced compressor run-time together in an integrated package.

The combination claims up to half the energy costs of a comparable screw-based machine, without compromising cooling performance, cutting payback time to less than a year.  And the superlatives don't end there - one high profile customer, the Dorchester Hotel, is claiming the installation of the Turbomiser is saving £10,000 every month in air conditioning energy costs.
When additional benefits of the system - such as reduced refrigerant leakage (thanks to reduced joints), oil-free design for reduced maintenance, variable-speed drive and a unit weight a quarter of conventional compressors - are added in, the package leaves the companies involved as worthy winners.

Judges said: "A compelling argument for energy efficiency and environmental pioneering."

Environmental Collaboration of the Year

This new category in the Awards was introduced to recognize the fact that if the industry is to push forward the frontier for environmentally-led technology that justifies its investment, there will need to be more partnerships and collaborations between companies and individuals.  We were inundated with entries, with every conceivable permutation of collaboration presented, from companies with complementary shills through to full supply chains and even rivals.

The team that was ultimately selected by the judges crossed disciplines and international boundaries to create a technological breakthrough that is more than the sum of its parts.  While the Turbomiser chiller owes a degree of its success to the cutting edge compressor at its heart, it has taken real design collaboration between UK specialists and an Italian manufacturer to create far more than just a Turbocor chiller, but a unique product with a whole suite of innovative energy saving enhancements.  Each partner has brought a distinctive perspective and skills to the collaboration, combining the intimate knowledge of the market and emerging technology on the part of the Brits, with manufacturing capability and willingness to adapt.

The collaboration continues, with a rolling program of enhancements which has seen the launch of the second generation Turbomiser II.  Independent tests of the technology in Italy found the 700kW machine achieved COPs of up to 15.5 at typical mid-season conditions, with an average performance of between 5 and 7.

Environmental Product of the Year: Air Conditioning

The team behind the Turbomiser have added to their clutch of accolades with a commendation from the judges in this category.  "In time, this could well become the standard for chillers," they said, citing the controllability as a major benefit.