Industry-First Integrated Air and Water System Wins an AHR Expo Innovation Award .

2012-12-04

Designed for full-service restaurants, the Rheem H2AC™ Rooftop Unit featuring eSync™ Integration Technology earns industry accolades for its innovation, value and market impact

ATLANTA—December 4, 2012–The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI); and the International Exposition Company (IEC), producers and organizers of the AHR Expo, have honored Rheem with a 2012 AHR Expo Innovation Award. The first-of-its-kind Rheem H2AC™ Rooftop Unit featuring eSync™ Integration Technology earned this esteemed honor in the award competition’s cooling category.

While Rheem designed the H2AC Rooftop Unit for full-service restaurants, the system can meet the air conditioning and water heating needs for any commercial setting that requires large daily demands for hot water. This system unites an establishment’s HVAC and water heating systems to achieve significant efficiencies. It works by using Rheem’s exclusive eSync Integration Technology, which takes the heat removed by the HVAC system and uses it as an efficient source for heating water. The H2AC Rooftop Unit is able to pre-heat a facility’s cold water supply to as much as 125 degrees Fahrenheit—which substantially reduces water heating costs. In the first year after Rheem installed this system at a Western Sizzlin in Northwest Arkansas the owners saved nearly $5,670 on their gas utility bill.

The AHR Innovation Awards honor the most innovative new products that will be showcased during the annual AHR Expo, which is the largest HVACR exposition and conference in the world. A panel of judges made up of ASHRAE members evaluated products submitted in 10 different categories based on innovation, application, value to the user and market impact. The cooling category includes any product or system designed to decrease the temperature of a space.

This is the third industry honor in 2012 for the Rheem H2AC Rooftop Unit. In July, it earned a Gold Dealer Design Award (DDA) in the commercial equipment category, and in September, it won a Mechanical Systems Week Product Showcase Award in the forced-air (cooling) category. This is also the second year in a row that Rheem has been honored with an AHR Expo Innovation Award; the Rheem XR90 Extreme Recovery Gas Water Heater won the award in the plumbing category at the 2012 show.

“In less than a year after we debuted the product, the Rheem H2AC Rooftop Unit has won three major industry awards, which is a testament to the benefits of integrating HVAC and water heating solutions,” Joseph Fristik, vice president of national accounts and marketing, Rheem. “We’re honored that ASHRAE, AHRI and IEC recognized the ingenuity and practicality of this product with the esteemed AHR Expo Innovation award.”

For more information on the Rheem H2AC Rooftop Unit featuring eSync Integration Technology, please visit www.rheem.com/H2AC.

About Rheem (www.rheem.com)
Rheem is privately held with headquarters in Atlanta and U.S. operations in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Minnesota and North Carolina. In its 87th year of operation, the company manufactures a full-line of eco-friendly, technologically advanced residential and commercial heating and cooling systems; tank, tankless, solar and hybrid heat pump water heaters; whole-home standby generators, controls, swimming pool and spa heaters; indoor air-purification products; and commercial boilers throughout North America and world markets. The company’s premium brands, including Rheem, Raypak, Ruud and Richmond have been recognized with countless industry and consumer awards for reliability, innovative design and high quality.

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