Bock CO2 compressor scoops AHR Award

USA: The recently introduced Danfoss BOCK transcritical 6-cylinder CO2 compressor has scooped the refrigeration category award at the 2025 AHR Expo Innovation Awards.

The awards are announced annually by the AHR Expo organisers in advance of the US exhibition, which next takes place in February in Orlando. Winners are chosen from amongst the over 1800 exhibitors in ten HVACR categories and are designed to represent the most innovative products and technologies in the market.

The Bock HGX56 CO2 T 6-cylinder semi-hermetic has been designed for large capacity industrial heat pumps. Achieving water temperatures up to 90°C, the HGX56 reduces cost, system complexity, and the number of compressors required for large industrial heat pumps, refrigeration, and district heating systems. It is available now in most countries and will be available in North America at the beginning of 2025.

Winner of the Cooling category is EnviroKIT from US company Climate Control Group, the US subsidiary of the Swedish NIBE group.

The EnviroKIT is said to bring together the essential aftermarket components needed to sustainably retrofit vertical stack fan coils without the need for full-unit replacements. 

As such, it is designed to address a critical need in the marketplace for a quick, simple and budget-friendly solution that restores fan coil unit performance without the need for extensive demolition or major renovations.

LG Electronics has been deemed the Sustainable Solutions category winner for its residential cold climate heat pump. 

LG’s heat pump is said to operate effectively at temperatures as low as -31ºC, retains full heating capacity at negative -25ºC and functions at 70% capacity at -35ºC. 

It incorporates a refrigerant cycle that prevents frost accumulation on the outdoor heat exchanger and is equipped with a high-capacity twin rotary inverter compressor using R32.

The Tools & Instruments Winner was PassiveLogic’s Sense Nano, a solar-powrered, truly wireless sensor communicating with its peers via bluetooth mesh.

German fan manufacturer Rosenberg was awarded the Ventilation award for its I-Series backward curved fans. In diameters from 355mm to 630mm, these high-efficiency, high-volume impellers feature five backward-curved, hollow-profiled, airfoil section aluminium blades, with efficiency-optimised circumferential diffusers. It is claimed that the new impeller can increase efficiencies up to 11%, while reducing noise levels by more than half compared to older impellers.

In addition to category winners, one overall 2025 Product of the Year winner will be announced during the show in Orlando, which takes place from 10-12 February.