2024 Dealer Design Awards: HVAC Commercial Equipment

The Gold award in the HVAC Commercial Equipment category goes to Goodway Technologies’ updated RAM-5DC-ID Chiller Tube Cleaner, which now features the Reverse Stop Assembly Speed-Feed Gun. This advanced system helps contractors and facility engineers clean large-volume smooth bore or enhanced tube bundles with increased ease, speed, and effectiveness, said Mark Rothenhausen, senior director of sales operations at Goodway Technologies.

“The updated gun combines our speed-feed technology to fire the shaft quickly into the tube from a pull of the trigger with the new Reverse Stop Assembly, which automatically detects when the brush is retracted from the tube and stops it in the optimal position,” he said. “Its ergonomic design and user-friendly interface make it easy to operate, while its durable construction ensures long-term reliability. With a focus on functionality and productivity, the RAM-5 Chiller Tube Cleaner delivers exceptional cleaning results and streamlining maintenance processes for a wide range of industrial applications.”

Speed-feed technology significantly improves the efficiency of tube cleaning jobs, allowing them to be completed up to four times faster than traditional methods, said Rothenhausen. This is achieved through the automation of loading and unloading the cleaning shaft into the tubes. In addition, variable-speed integration provides the operator with complete control of the shaft insertion speed and brush rotation to improve cleaning results, especially with enhanced tubes.

Brent Perry, a service coordinator at a building management company in Florida, is a big fan of the new chiller tube cleaner.

“With the previous version, people would suck the tube back up into the handle,” he said. “This new one has a sensor on it that keeps it from going back up in the handle. It’s much easier, and it’s much faster. We’ve always used RAM-4 chiller tube cleaners, but the new one with the automatic gun makes things a lot simpler. Goodway Technologies always has good tools.”

Two years of research went into developing the new RAM-5DC-ID, with customer engagement being the most critical step in its design, said Rothenhausen.

“For two years, the team engaged with contractors and facility engineers to discuss the benefits and challenges of the existing tube cleaners,” he said. “This feedback, along with consumer research, was used to determine potential features and improvements. Throughout the design process, testing was implemented multiple times to gauge effectiveness and outcomes.”

Goodway Technologies plans to continue to listen to feedback from their customers about the RAM-5DC-ID, in order to help identify areas of opportunity or improvement — from design enhancements to accessories that improve productivity.

“Our focus is on providing a high-quality and effective solution that achieves optimal results,” said Rothenhausen.

The Silver award goes to Copeland’s Oil-Free Centrifugal Compressor With Aero-lift Bearing Technology, which was designed to meet the rigorous demands of modern air- and water-cooled chillers used in mission-critical applications such as data centers and healthcare facilities. The compressor offers high reliability in full- and part-load conditions and an expanded operating envelope for high-ambient applications.

Frictionless Aero-lift bearing technology enables the compressor shaft to self-levitate and operate independently, without the complex controls or proximity sensors required for electromagnetic levitation bearings, said Mike Oakley, director of centrifugal products at Copeland.

“This groundbreaking advancement simplifies the application of oil-free compressors, all while delivering high-lift performance, increased reliability, and efficiency improvements in full- and part-load conditions,” he said. “Further, because the compressor does not rely on oil for system lubrication, it remains efficient over its life cycle, leading to lower operating costs and reliability concerns.”

The Copeland oil-free centrifugal compressor has been in development since the early 2010s, undergoing thousands of hours of rigorous testing in real-world chiller applications and simulations to help validate its performance in a wide range of operating conditions.

This all-new, oil-free centrifugal compressor platform is being developed for the 50 to 200+ tons capacity range and is optimized for use with the lower-GWP A2L and A1 refrigerants, R-1234ze, R-515B, and R-513A.

The Bronze award goes to Mojave Energy Systems’ ArctiDry, which is a liquid desiccant air conditioner that significantly lowers energy use and CO₂ emissions, yet installs like conventional packaged HVAC equipment. ArctiDry needs only an electrical connection — no chilled water, domestic water, or gas line required. It is designed for use in commercial buildings including hospitals, schools, hotels, grocery stores, and other environments with specialized humidity requirements.

“With an ISMRE over 9 lbs./kWh, it’s twice as efficient as conventional dedicated outdoor air systems (DOAS). Electing our optional energy recovery ventilator (ERV) raises this to over 10,” said Aaron Meles, vice president of product at Mojave Energy Systems. “That’s more than double the Department of Energy (DOE) standards that went into effect May 1, 2024. Add to that independent dew point and temperature control, and you can unlock building-wide energy savings by raising chiller temperatures or running dry coils.”

Five years of research went into designing the ArctiDry, which included a pilot program in Florida, Texas, and Michigan. The pilot units were successful and surpassed 15,000 hours of runtime, with units recording uptime of more than 97%. Real-time data from the pilot units revealed that the dehumidification capacity exceeds 110% of the product design specification.

The ArctiDry line offers total loads from 10 to 40 tons and two cabinet sizes that cover airflow requirements from 1,000 to 6,000 CFM.