The AHR Expo (International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition) announces the winners of the 2021 AHR Expo Innovation Awards in 10 industry categories.

Show Management, co-sponsors ASHRAE and AHRI, and the Innovation Awards panel of judges wish to acknowledge and honor the 2021 award winners despite the recent cancellation of the live event. Typically, award winners are formally recognized at a ceremony hosted on day two of the annual Show. For more about the awards, visit https://www.ahrexpo.com/awards/#winners.

The 2021 AHR Expo Innovation Award Winners and finalists were selected in ten industry categories, including building automation, cooling, green building, heating, indoor air quality, plumbing, refrigeration, software, tools and instruments, and ventilation.

SOFTWARE

Winner: Willdan – NEO Net Energy Optimizer® Energy Modeling Software

Innovation: The Willdan NEO Net Energy Optimizer® is a SaaS platform that provides customized, real-time energy and financial ROI analyses in seconds. The energy modeling software streamlines whole building analyses of HVAC systems and energy conservation measures for commercial buildings with the versatility to support product comparisons, existing building energy audits and new construction from early design through construction. NEO uses default inputs from vetted industry standards (ASHRAE, COMNET, RS Means) to automate the modeling process. All inputs are customizable where additional details are known. NEO supports 40+ commercial building types (including mixed-use and multifamily) and 250+ operational and capital improvement measures coupled with automated ASHRAE Standard 90.1 and IECC baselines. NEO performs HVAC life-cycle cost analysis to help users make faster, more-informed HVAC decisions and rating analyses to empower users to evaluate the ROI of energy conservation measures to assist with specifying, designing and maintaining higher-performing buildings. NEO increases efficiency of product selection and design decisions by providing both energy savings and ROI information. NEO graphically reports results, generates downloadable input/simulation files, and creates CSV and MS Word documents detailing key model inputs and outputs. NEO is web-based, touch friendly, and requires no software installation.

Finalists in this category include: Distech Controls – Builder; Lennox International Inc. – CORE Service App

Read about all of the finalists on the ASHRAE website  >