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ARTI 21CR Program
The HVAC&R Research for the 21st Century (21CR) program (1999 - 2005) is a multiyear research collaborative research program administered by the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology Institute (ARTI), a not-for-profit organization for scientific research in the public interest. The overall emphasis of the 21CR program is to undertake research that enables HVAC&R manufacturers to offer equipment and services in the next decade that, once integrated into building and process applications, utilizes dramatically less energy (as compared to today's applications) while addressing the comfort and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) needs of building occupants. Some of these energy and IEQ improvements will accrue by innovative advancements in the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) equipment itself. Other benefits will be garnered by better incorporation of improved equipment into more comprehensive systems for particular applications such as buildings or refrigeration processes.
The 21CR program is funded, in part, by U.S. Department of Energy Cooperative Agreement DE-FC05-99OR22674 with co-funding from ARI, the Copper Development Association, the Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Institute of Canada, the Refrigeration Service Engineers Society, the California Energy Commission and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
Justification
The envisioned research is on the "cutting-edge" of the HVAC&R industry, and entails a high degree of technical risk. Currently, personnel and testing resources within individual HVAC&R companies are spread thin because of the pace of product changes necessitated by development of new equipment that use alternative refrigerants and offer improved efficiencies; with global warming implications to come. Precompetitive collaboration among HVAC&R companies and other interested entities will enable significant resources to be applied to strategic research areas. As a result, substantial savings should be realized by building owners and operators through reduced operating costs, even greater equipment reliability, and improved comfort levels.
21CR Focus areas
The effort fosters an environment where technical barriers are identified, solutions investigated, and information shared. Areas of interest are related to all aspects of the HVAC&R industry. Focus areas are:
- alternative equipment
- high efficiency equipment
- smart building system integration
- improved indoor environmental quality
- environmentally-friendly working fluids
ARTI Organization for the 21CR Effort
The 21CR effort is guided by experts from industry, related trade and professional organizations, national laboratories, governmental agencies, universities, utilities, and other interested stakeholders. The Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology Institute (ARTI), a not-for-profit research entity, is the administrator for the effort. It is ARTI's role to provide guidance and cohesiveness to the overall investigation while providing an umbrella for related research by others which advances the goals of the 21CR program
A committee structure guides the 21CR initiative and monitors the research. The committee membership comprises authorities in the research area drawn from industry, research organizations, universities, utilities, scientific laboratories, and government.
Steering Committee
A Steering Committee, comprising senior industry executives, assures that the work is of value to industry and has a path to commercialization. These executives also assure that the subcommittee members have access to necessary information, resources, and personnel. The 21CR Steering Committee assigns priority levels and approves funding support of individual projects recommended by its subcommittees:
21CR Subcommittees
21CR subcommittees, comprising senior industry engineers and technologists as well as competent, knowledgeable persons from pertinent industry sectors, identify specific project needs, prepare work statements, prioritize the research, and identify contractors capable of performing the individual research. Once individual projects have been approved for funding by the Steering Committee, the pertinent subcommittees provide technical review of contractor-submitted proposals, recommend contractor selection, monitor and oversee the on-going research, and review the submitted final reports. In performing their duties, the Subcommittees review, monitor and coordinate (where possible) industry/public-sector precompetitive research. The purpose of this ancillary focus is to encourage other entities (e.g., government laboratories, university researchers, etc.) to perform work of interest to the industry while also striving to minimize duplication of effort.
Reporting of Technical Program Results
ARTI disseminates research results via periodic seminars and symposia at suitable industry conferences. ARTI includes requirements for technical papers and conference presentations in all contracted research. Where needed, ARTI will host or coordinate seminars at prominent technical conferences:
- International Refrigeration Conference at Purdue University
- Summer and Annual meetings of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
- International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) conferences.
Final reports and executive summaries for each completed project are available for free downloading. All remaining 21CR projects are scheduled to be completed no later than 31 December 2005.
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