SASKATOON – A longstanding partnership between the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) and a Saskatoon company has resulted in a national award. Two local professors and their students worked closely with Venmar CES, Inc. to test and develop new technology that could benefit structures around the globe.
Venmar has been collaborating with professors Carey Simonson and Robert Besant to test and develop a liquid-to-air energy exchanger – a new method for heat and moisture exchange between ventilation and exhaust air flows.
The partnership has developed an energy exchanger for Venmar’s commercial heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. The energy exchanger is an important part of what makes the HVAC system unique.
The Saskatoon manufacturer says the system can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cut heating and cooling costs by up to 50 per cent. It can also be easily installed in new and existing buildings worldwide.
“Working together, we’ve developed and tested a novel method for transferring energy in an HVAC system and developed computer models to optimize this energy exchange technology,” said Venmar research and development manager Manfred Gerber.
“Venmar CES’ STATEPOINT TECHNOLOGY™ system incorporates this novel energy transfer method via a liquid-to-air energy exchanger and has the potential to become a successful product in the HVAC market.”
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The system is currently in production and undergoing field testing.
Dr. Karan Clad, vice-president of research at the U of S, says the project has provided extensive training opportunities 21 graduate students, four post-doctoral fellows, two research associates and four undergraduate summer students.
Additionally, a portion of Venmar’s team includes several former U of S graduate students who were involved in the project.
The 2014 Synergy Award for Innovation from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) was announced this month. It recognizes effective partnerships between universities and industry.
This is the third NSERC Synergy Award awarded to U of S researchers and the last one since 2008.
Local researchers will receive a $200,000 grant and Venmar CES will receive a $30,000 credit toward future collaborative research.
Venmar started out in 1980, under the name Conservation Energy Systems. In 1997, the company changed its name when it joined CES Group, the largest manufacturer of custom heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment in North America.
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