ControlTrends Awards | Control Trends by Stromquist

ASHRAE Giants Series: Willis Haviland Carrier, the Father of Air Conditioning

May 16, 2013 by Ken Smyers 1 Comment

WillisHaverlandCarrier While standing on a foggy train platform in Pittsburgh, William Haviland Carrier was struck with the genius realization that he could dry air by passing it through water, using the spray as a condensing surface. Soon afterwards, Carrier conceived the idea of adjusting humidity by heating the spray water itself and controlling the dew point temperature of the air leaving the conditioning machine. With this, came “dew point control” which, an early company brochure announced, was “the greatest single factor in modern air conditioning.”

The “Apparatus for Treating Air,” which was granted U.S. Patent# 808897 in 1906, was the first of several patents awarded to Willis Haviland Carrier. The air conditioning device would historically impact factory productivity, building design, population trends, and, ultimately, the growth of U.S. Sunbelt cities, like Atlanta and Houston. [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Community Tagged With: ASHRAE, Carrier, ControlTrends Awards

ControlTalk Now for the Week Ending April 28, 2013

April 29, 2013 by Eric Stromquist Leave a Comment

Haystack Connect 2013 (live) from Chattanooga, TN is this week’s ControlTalk NOW sponsor. Haystack is a networking extravaganza with some of the top minds in the business previewing the future software and hardware solutions.

Smart Thermostats: Score one for Honeywell and one for [Read more...]

Filed Under: Control Talk Tagged With: Control Trends, ControlTrends Awards, Easy I/O, honeywell

Mike Marston and Easy IO’s Beast from the East — A Paradigm Game Changer

April 24, 2013 by Ken Smyers 1 Comment

ControlTrends Awards thanks Easy IO for their Platinum Sponsorship for the 2013 CTA Awards Show to be held at the BB King Blues Café in NYC, January 21, 2014. The EasyIO 30P-SF was the 2012 Building Automation Controller of the Year. Knowing Mike Marston’s passion for success and EasyIO’s commitment to excellence, the ControlTrends Community will see much more of EasyIO in this year’s competitions.

Excerpt from Mike Marston’s ControlTrends 2012 interview: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Easy I/O Tagged With: control integration, Control Trends, ControlTrends Awards, ddc

ControlTalk Now for the Week Ending April 21, 2013

April 22, 2013 by Eric Stromquist 2 Comments

CTA Awards Steering Committee is the sponsor for this week’s ControlTalk NOW. The extraordinary BB King Blues Club will be the site of the 2013 ControlTrends Awards. Located in NYC’s Time Square, this famous venue promises to enhance the excitement and entertainment of the CTA’s.

Connexx Energy: Get Your Energy Products into the Market with Connexx Energy Software and Control Systems. For all the ControlTrends Community members attending the Haystack Connect 2013, in Chattanooga, TN at the end of this month, make sure you visit the Lynxspring booth and learn more about Connexx. Connecting enterprise energy software and energy control systems has many [Read more...]

Filed Under: Control Talk Tagged With: Automated Demand Response, boiler, boiler controls, combustion efficiency, control integration, Control Trends, ControlTrends Awards, Demand response, hvac controls, johnson controls, steam boiler

ControlTalk Now for Week Ending April 14, 2013

April 15, 2013 by Ken Smyers 1 Comment

Johnson Controls

Johnson Controls: See What’s Possible in Building Efficiency — The Boom Heard ‘Round the World.Technology [Read more...]

Filed Under: Building Automation and Integration, Commercial HVAC, Continuing Education, Control Talk, Energy Monitoring, Energy Saving Ideas, Johnson Controls, New Posts, News and Information, Product Reviews, Thermostats, Wireless Tagged With: control integration, Control Trends, ControlTrends Awards, energy management, energy monitoring, energy savings, honeywell, hvac controls

Nest: Back in the News — Are We Still Waiting for Smart Thermostats to Outsmart Us?

April 12, 2013 by Ken Smyers 3 Comments

The ControlTrends Community will soon be voting for the 2013 Thermostat of the Year. The Honeywell Prestige IAQ, Viconics, EnTouch, as well as the three other thermostats mentioned in the following article, Nest, Ecobee, and EcoFactor are all well recognized thermostats with an abundance of features and benefits.

I found this article written by Mary Catherine O’Connor posted in the Smart Planet Daily, which is a great source for Smart News and Ideas. Ms. O’Connor delivers a fresh, insightful, and big picture perspective, quite different from the traditional HVAC view, to the discussion of thermostats and the integral role the household thermostat will play in America’s, possibly, the world’s energy future.

By Mary Catherine O’Connor, April 11, 2013, 3:00 AM PDT

Americans are using less energy but are still failing to conserve energy.

That sounds like a contradiction, but it’s not. Because new homes are better insulated and heating and cooling system are more efficient, Americans burned around 10 percent fewer British thermal units to heat and cool their homes in 2009 than they did in 1993, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But during that same period, the amount of energy consumed for appliances, electronics and lighting grew by around 10 percent. [Read more...]