(Credit: Halton)Phononic and Halton have announced a strategic licensing partnership for the commercial launch of an emissions-reducing HVAC platform.
The platform, named Terminal Treatment of Air with Peltier (TTAP), eliminates the use of global-warming refrigerants and allows building owners and developers to greatly reduce the emissions of a given commercial building. The platform uses the Peltier effect, which has been identified as a sustainable alternative to conventional refrigerator cooling systems. Peltier modules use an electric current and do not produce any hazardous gasses, instead operating more like a heat pump.
“The role that HVAC plays in climate change is significant and the Peltier effect has long been investigated as a promising source of sustainable cooling,” said Dominique Bense, developer of the TTAP concept. “The TTAP technology was invented to push solid-state boundaries into HVAC, and with Halton and Phononic we have an ideal partnership to introduce TTAP as a desperately needed sustainable HVAC innovation that will make a real and positive environmental impact.”
When compared to traditional HVAC methods, the TTAP system was found to emit 20% less emissions during installation and production, and 13% less once in operation. Along with carbon emissions reductions, TTAP technology also helps lower costs. According to lab testing, HVAC installation that uses the TTAP system may save 18% or more on installation and operation costs.
The TTAP system can be integrated into already existing building retrofits or installed during new building construction.
According to Phononic, HVAC can consume around 40% of a commercial building’s energy use. HVAC is also responsible for refrigerant leaks with up to 2000 global warming potential, making refrigerants significantly more harmful to the atmosphere than carbon emissions.
Innovations in heating and cooling, including the TTAP, are working to reduce and eliminate the use of refrigerants and the overall emissions-causing nature of heating and cooling. For example, sales of heat pumps have grown in recent years. Heat pumps produce zero emissions when powered by renewable energy and have been identified as a central technology for sustainable heating and cooling.
Multiple avenues for decarbonizing HVAC systems have been identified and implemented as well, and release of the TTAP system adds yet another option to the list.
