SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—As a highly efficient, all-season HVAC solution, ductless systems are increasingly popular for conditioning air faster, maintaining accurate temperatures and reducing energy costs. Now, Friedrich Air Conditioning Co., a leading U.S.-based manufacturer of heating, cooling and other air-conditioning products, is making installation and servicing residential and commercial ductless systems easier than ever. Launched at 2019 AHR Expo, Friedrich’s re-engineered Floating Air Pro and Floating Air Premier ductless solutions featuring FastPro are designed with the HVAC contractor and installer in mind. Friedrich FastPro makes ductless installation and maintenance much simpler, opening up new business opportunities for the trade and decreasing...

ORLANDO, FLA.—Master-Bilt, manufacturer and supplier of a full line of commercial refrigeration equipment, will be displaying a wide array of products in a redesigned booth with interactive video presentation at the NAFEM Show in Orlando, February 7 to 9, 2019, in booth #2823. Master-Bilt’s newly designed booth will highlight many items including its redesigned ice cream dipping/display merchandisers. Features include: Full glass top and LED lighting, maximizing product visibility; R290 refrigerant and redesigned refrigeration systems, providing optimum efficiency; Lower back rail, providing improved operator ergonomics for easier dipping; Radiused rear edge of cabinet, also providing improved operator comfort; and Available...

SANTA FE, N.M.—La Fonda on the Plaza Hotel has been named “Sustainability Champion” in the Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide 2018 Awards of Excellence. Each year, the Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence honor the most exemplary historic hotels, hoteliers, and leadership practices in multiple categories. The winners were chosen from more than 200 nominees. “Congratulations to the recipients of the 2018 Historic Hotels Awards of Excellence,” said Lawrence Horwitz, Executive Director, Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels Worldwide. “These 2018 winners represent more than 400 years of history and include the finest legendary and iconic historic...

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—Bigger, more powerful and with the capability to deliver conditioned outside air, Friedrich Air Conditioning Co., a leading U.S.-based manufacturer of air conditioners and other home environment products, is now offering its award-winning VRP (Variable Refrigerant Packaged) Heat Pump system in a larger three-ton size. Originally available in one or two-ton capacities typically used for lodging and hospitality properties, Friedrich is debuting the larger capacity VRP as the ultimate solution for multi-family and other light-commercial applications at the 2019 AHR Expo in Atlanta, January 14 to 16, 2019. The expanded Friedrich VRP line up is based on the company’s...

HOUSTON—Daikin North America LLC introduced The Daikin One+ smart thermostat, an architecturally-inspired intelligent air management controller. Beyond a typical smart thermostat, it is a controller for a full professional HVAC system with a growing ecosystem of air quality modules to give consumers more control over the air they breathe and a premium HVAC experience. With the introduction of the Daikin One ecosystem, Daikin is up-ending the status quo in the HVAC market, where players have been conservative in adopting IoT technologies and, until recently, relegated leadership in the smart thermostat category to consumer electronics brands. The Daikin One+ smart thermostat is...

ATLANTA—Honeywell, a global leader in connected hospitality, announced that the Avista Resort installed the Honeywell INNCOM e7 Thermostat and Deep Mesh Network throughout its 378-room property. The Avista Resort is operated by Seaside Properties in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The INNCOM e7 Thermostat offers a modern design with easy-to-use controls based on a patent-pending Smart Wall Plate that provides hotels with a reliable back-up of the device configuration. The e7 automatically reduces in-room energy costs in some cases as much as 35 percent and is compatible with most HVAC solutions and equipped for Honeywell’s Connected Guest integration. The e7 Thermostat comes...

LAS VEGAS—Crave Interactive, a leading developer of cloud-based digital guest service solutions for hotels, announced an integration partnership with award-winning hotel room-control technology company INTEREL, to integrate innovative room control features into the Crave in-room guest tablets. This partnership marks a pivotal advancement for Crave as a world leader in guestroom technology. By integrating the INTEREL room-control API into the Crave guestroom tablets, Crave now offers its clients a wide range of room controls at the guest’s fingertips that include control of lighting, temperature, drapery, privacy, and staff service requests. All of these innovative features are neatly controlled from Crave’s...

NEW YORK—A solar powered USB charging station. An electric bicycle lending program. A one hundred percent recyclable wine glass. A system that integrates an alarm clock, HVAC and lighting controls, Wi-Fi and more into a single unified platform. A salad-making robot (vending machine) named “Sally” that delivers eight-component meals in seconds. These are just some of the products that were introduced at HX: The Hotel Experience and Boutique Design New York (BDNY). Both events were held November 11 to 12 at the Javits Center in New York City. It would be impossible to list all the eco-friendly products and...

Two recent hotel emergencies highlight the importance of placing carbon monoxide detectors throughout an entire hotel building—not just in guestroom areas. First, last Friday morning, a Jacksonville, N.C. Holiday Inn Express was evacuated after a carbon monoxide leak. Sixteen people required medical treatment at a local hospital. The cause of the leak is yet to be determined. Some of those evacuated were homeowners displaced after Hurricane Florence. Yesterday morning, emergency crews evacuated a portion of the Westin Hotel in downtown Nashville after a carbon monoxide leak was detected in the building. According to fire officials, the leak sickened 14 people, and...

LOS ANGELES—In the Los Angeles offices of Cuningham Group architecture firm, natural daylight streams in through four skylights and floor-to-ceiling glass walls, while discreet vents manage the flow of fresh air. Individual offices are set in upcycled shipping containers, with a central indoor garden that filters the air and enhances the space with morale-boosting greenery. “Sustainability in the office has advanced by leaps and bounds in the last five or ten years,” says Stuart Finnie, Head of Design at Tétris. “Design measures that can enhance a firm’s environmental credentials are coming to the top of every client’s wish list.” Common eco-friendly measures include the...