International News
DAIKIN FINALIST OF THE
GLOBAL COOLING PRIZE
D
www.hvacronline.co.za
Daikin believes
the nomination
is in line with its
vision for carbon
neutrality by 2050.
Pixabay
aikin Airconditioning India and Daikin Industries have been
selected as a finalist of GCP together with engineering firm,
Nikken Sekkei.
The Global Cooling Prize (GCP) is an international competition
endorsed by the Indian government, Mission Innovation, and
the Rocky Mountain Institute to explore technologies that can
significantly reduce the climate impact of room air conditioners
compared to equipment currently on the market. For this
initiative, Daikin and Nikken Sekkei teamed up to propose a new
concept for room air conditioning.
This new concept employs a technology which can achieve
comfort and energy savings, and at the same time ensure
consistent room temperature and humidity by adequately
controlling multiple indoor units in one room. Another new
concept is that it utilises the vaporisation heat of water to further
increase the energy efficiency of the equipment. The proposed
equipment uses HFO-1234ze(E) refrigerant.
Daikin adopted an out-of-the-box approach by controlling
multiple units in one room and by choosing the refrigerant
HFO-1234ze(E) which has a low GWP. However, this causes
other environmental challenges such as the increased use of raw
materials as a result of the larger equipment size.
Daikin’s overall refrigerant policy is to support a diversity
of refrigerants. Daikin believes that R32 is the most balanced
refrigerant for many applications in terms of safety, energy
efficiency, economy and the environment, and that it will be the
standard for the mid- to long-term horizon. R32 based equipment
is an established technology, being sold in more than 70 countries
including India.
Daikin’s participation in the Global Cooling Prize is consistent
with their ‘Environmental Vision 2050’ which provides a roadmap
for the company to carbon neutrality by 2050. In line with
that vision, Daikin is in a continuous search to reduce energy
consumption and refrigerant impact. The manufacturer and
supplier’s participation in the GCP is a part of that effort to
examine energy efficiency technology with low GWP refrigerant
alternatives. RACA
RACA Journal I February 2020
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