Panasonic glory at PRO Awards

CZECH REPUBLIC: German projects took the major glory at this week’s Panasonic Heating & Cooling Solutions PRO Awards to recognise Panasonic’s most outstanding European HVACR projects.

German projects were the recipients of three of the nine awards at this bi-annual event, which was this year held at the Hermitage Hotel in Prague. 

The fifth edition of the awards attracted a high volume of entries from a wide range of markets and countries across Europe, with submissions being judged across four core categories: Best Residential Single House Project, Best Residential Multi Family House Project, Best Hospitality Project, and Best Commercial Project. 

In addition, the judges recognised standout achievements in five special categories: Best Innovative Project, Best Green Impact Project, Best Heating Project using Natural Refrigerant, Best Cold Chain Project using Natural Refrigerant, and Best Indoor Air Quality Project.

“We are incredibly proud to celebrate the outstanding projects that have emerged through this year’s PRO Awards,” said Panasonic HVAC MD Enrique Vilamitjana. “These projects not only demonstrate the high standards of quality and innovation associated with Panasonic products but also highlight our commitment to sustainability and excellence in the HVAC industry.”

The PRO Award Winners were:

Best Residential Single House Project
Winning country: Hungary
Júlia, a residential duplex development
Client: Equinox 
Distributor/installer: Attila Beck

An Aquarea 9kW heat pump was included in this four-bedroom duplex development – Hungary’s first zero-carbon building.

Located in Diósd, in the suburbs of Budapest, Júlia is constructed of cross-laminated timber. It comprises individual functioning units, each comprising 140m² over two storeys.

In addition to the Panasonic heat pump, the building has a number of key features. It is insulated with environmentally-friendly cellulose, uses natural ventilation, includes PV, remotely-controlled external roller blinds, rainwater collection and access to groundwater via boreholes for toilet flushing.

Best Residential Multi Family House Project
Winning country: Poland
Radom housing estate refurbishment
Distributor: Bims Plus Warsaw
Installer: PROFtechnik

Aquarea air-to-water heat pumps replaced an external gas boiler serving two buildings totalling 48 apartments in Radom, a city in east-central Poland, approximately 100km south of Warsaw.

Three 16kW Panasonic T-CAP heat pumps were installed, operating in a cascade. Two units in the cascade provide energy for DHW production, and the technical room contains two 500 litre water tanks.

Best Hospitality Project
Winning country: Germany 
Client: Best Western
Distributor: Vogelsang
Installer: KlimaShop!

A Panasonic VRF multi-split system, totalling 13 outdoor units and 178 indoor units, with a total capacity of 364kW, installed at the Best Western Hotel Munich Airport.

The sustainable cooling and heating solution was implemented in 163 rooms, the restaurant, the lobby, and seven conference rooms at the four-star hotel in Erding.

A 210kW photovoltaic system was also installed on the roof, during the renovation.

Best Commercial Project
Winning country: Poland 
Client: OrbitOne
Distributor: Schiessl
Installer: Ekotec 

Thirteen 16kW Aquarea T-Cap heat pumps, operating in cascade, were installed at the OrbitOne plant in Prabuty, to replace the existing gas boiler room.

In total 208kW of heating was provided across two buildings. Each heat pump is connected to a 1000 litre buffer tank, connected in series with the central heating system. This system provides heat for buildings with a combined usable area of 7,166 m², while for the 1434.2 m² office and production building, a heating system consisting of three heat pumps connected to an 800 litre buffer tank and a 500 litre DHW tank was designed.

Special category awards

Best Innovative Project
Winning country: Spain 
Torres Ikon Tower, Valencia
Client: Kronos Homes
Installer: Germania de Instalaciones y Servicios

At over 110m tall, the Torres Ikon Tower is the tallest residential building in the city of Valencia. Comprising two towers of luxury apartments, the tallest tower has 30 floors and 142 apartments, while the second tower has 14 floors and 61 premium apartments.

More than 200 Aquarea heat pumps provide underfloor heating and domestic hot water, in addition to cooling via fan coils. 

The problems of bridging the gap between indoor and outdoor units due to the building’s height was solved by employing intermediate technical floors, in addition to outdoor units on the roof.

Best Green Impact Project
Winning country: France 
Cuisine Centrale de Puellemontier
Client/end user: ADASMS
Distributor: Rolesco Dijon
Installer: Aube Froid

This project is a first in Europe thanks to its original installation of a heat recovery system using three CO2 cold chain units.

The Cuisine Centrale de Puellemontier in Haute Marne is a 560m² central kitchen capable of preparing up to 5,000 meals per day. 

The installation includes a 16kW to cool four cold rooms to +1°C, a further 16kW unit to cool four laboratories for food preparation to +8°C and a 3.6kW unit to cool a freezer cold room to -24°C.

The heat produced by the transcritical units is recovered and fed into two 500 litre heat recovery units. The primary water recovery unit is connected to an immersed DHW exchanger, which preheats domestic water from 10°C to 50°C when the storage temperature is 53°C.

Best Heating Project using Natural Refrigerant
Winning Country: Germany 
Client/end User: POFIN Financial Services GmbH
Distributor: Warmepumpenzentrum Stuttgart
Installer: Saturn Kälte + Klima + Wärmepumpen 

Eight R290 Aquarea Big M 30kW series units working in cascade replaced an inefficient night storage heater in POFIN’s 6,000m² office building. 

The system has saved approximately €100,000 annually and is considered a showcase project for energy-efficient renovations.

Best Cold Chain Project using Natural Refrigerant
Winning country: UK 
Client/end user: GKN Aerospace Services Ltd
Distributor/installer: Green Cooling Ltd

This project for UK Aerospace comprised eight CO2 units – six 10HP and two 4HP units.

Best Indoor Air Quality Project
Winning country: Germany
Sternodrom 2.0 office, Augsburg
Client/end user: Promous Group
Distributor: Vogelsang
Installer: KlimaShop! 

One of the largest Panasonic VRF contracts in Germany, the Sternodrom 2.0 office centre now employs 23 outdoor units and 200 indoor units with nanoe X technology

The 19 outdoor units located on the roof of the building, and four more located on the building itself replace a previous gas heating system.