by Ann Withanee — October 7, 2011—Building professionals and facilities executives welcome the efficiency of Mitsubishi Electric’s split-ductless and variable refrigerant flow (VRF) air-source heat pump systems, which supply efficient heating and cooling for commercial and residential applications. The eco-friendly system was named one of BuildingGreen’s choices for the Top-10 Green Building Products for 2012 at the U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild conference recently held in Toronto.
These systems are composed of outdoor condensers, controllers, and interior air-handling units supplied by refrigerant lines carrying ozone-safe R-410a refrigerant.
Mitsubishi Electric says it has been at the leading edge of the air-source heat pump revolution in recent years, providing efficient systems that significantly outperform older, unitary heat pumps, especially at low outdoor temperatures, in which air-source heat pumps in the past have not been practical. The residential M-series models are available with SEER ratings as high as 26. Some are available with wireless controls and Mitsubishi’s Hyper-Heating Inverter (H2i) technology, allowing operation at outside temperatures as low as -13°F (-25°C).
For multibusiness buildings and multifamily applications, the company’s VRF systems can be configured with “tenant billing” that allows a single outside unit to serve up to 50 individual zones, with total electricity consumption apportioned according to the heated or chilled air delivered by the indoor units for separate billing to tenants.
What makes this product green?: equipment that conserves energy and manages loads; alternatives to ozone-depleting substances.
LEED-NC Credit relevance: EA Prerequisite 2: Minimum Energy Performance; EA Credit 1: Optimize Energy Performance.
See also “BuildingGreen Winners: Top-10 Green Building Products for 2012 display innovative solutions” on FMLink.
