Grand opening celebration marked the official unveiling and launch of the new laboratory, R&D facility that will help manufacturers test air-conditioning systems for compliance with regulations and standards.
Danfoss this week celebrated the grand opening of its “Engineering Tomorrow” Application Development Center in Tallahassee, Florida.
A state-of-the-art laboratory, Danfoss’ new customer Application Development Center features three fully-automated test facilities capable of accommodating residential and commercial air-conditioning and heat pump equipment, including rooftop units, from 1.2 to 50 tons and air-cooled chillers up to 150 tons. Additionally, the lab will be able to test mildly flammable refrigerants at global nameplate voltages, with real-time data acquisition and performance analysis.
“Danfoss has a long tradition of innovation,” remarked John Galyen, president, Danfoss North America, during the grand opening celebration. “This new Application Development Center affirms our commitment to helping our customers Engineer Tomorrow and advance energy efficiency and climate-friendly solutions.”
“One of the major drivers behind this significant investment is the increasing federal regulations and testing requirements impacting the HVACR industry, including aggressive energy-efficiency standards from U.S. Department of Energy and new targets for environmentally-friendly, low-GWP refrigerants from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” Galyen explained. “This Application Development Center will enable us to help our industry prepare for the transition by providing much-needed lab capacity to ensure compliance with evolving and future requirements.”
Globally, Danfoss has a network of Application Development Centers to provide industry partners with a collaborative laboratory environment and the application expertise necessary to meet challenges.
“Our objective is to make each of our Application Development Centers a place where local Danfoss application experts work with our customers in a collaborative, innovative environment that accelerates technology and propels business,” said Stefan Pietrek, senior director – global applications, Danfoss. “This ADC is designed to support testing specifically for the North American air-conditioning market.”
Gregory Handzel, manager of the Application Development Center, further explained that the collaboration facilitated by the ADC will help customers improve performance through system-level testing. “This lab enables engineering teams to validate new concepts and develop products and solutions that solve key challenges in today’s market.”
The Tallahassee Application Development Center will also serve as a competence center for Danfoss research and development activities.
Danfoss receives key to Tallahassee city
During the ceremony, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum provided Danfoss with a key to the city to signify the company’s investment in the city to drive innovation and efficiency. "The team at Danfoss has made and continues to make tremendous investments in our community, that not only bring good paying jobs and economic growth, but a level of engagement that is helping Tallahassee define itself as a 21st century city,” said Mayor Gillum. “We are grateful for their partnership and collaboration, and look forward to our continued work together."
Following a tour of the Application Development Center, attendees joined Danfoss and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU)/Florida State University (FSU) for an innovation demonstration. ”The Application Development Center will provide the multidisciplinary infrastructure needed for HVAC, where together with our customers and research institutions like FAMU/FSU, we can accelerate innovation and create greater value for all stakeholders,” commented Ricardo Schneider, president of Danfoss Turbocor® Compressors.
The grand opening celebration was held on Tuesday, June 27, and was attended by Danfoss’ Executive Committee, regional management, customers, and local officials. Jorgen M. Clausen, Chairman of the Board, and Kim Fausing, who has served as Executive Vice President and COO and takes over as CEO on July 1, inaugurated the facility with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Pictured above: Kim Fausing (left) and Jorgen M. Clausen (right) perform the ribbon-cutting ceremony.