TruFlow is Awarded the 2015 Energy Star Emerging Technology Award! 

Never did I ever think I’d receive a letter from the United States Environmental Protection Agency! Okay, maybe I had a bit of an inkling a few months back at the NAFEM (North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers) Show which was held in sunny Anaheim California.  It was there I learned that the Agency had been working on a set of criteria to evaluate Demand Control Kitchen Ventilation Systems (DCKV)… and in reviewing the criteria I knew we’d be a shoe-in. You can read more about the DCKV, its advantages, and the award criteria here. 

At Spring Air Systems, we’ve been focused on engineering Energy savings for almost three decades. We know that, along with refrigeration, proper kitchen ventilation has some of the highest energy requirements for many buildings. As such, we’ve been working to minimize energy consumption in a variety of ways since 1988 - Demand Control Ventilation is just one of the ways we’re working to reduce capital costs on new projects, minimize energy consumption, and deliver bottom-line savings to operators. 

Simply put, our TruFlow DCKV system automatically adjusts supply and exhaust requirements to meet the needs of cooking appliances as they’re being used. Traditional Kitchen Ventilation systems work at a single speed – the systems are either on or off. While they’re operating they’re exhausting at full velocity regardless of what kind of cooking (or even prep) is being performed. This mean that fans are running to bring air into the kitchen, and take it back out – even when it’s not necessary! Even worse, if it’s above or below the “design temperature” of the kitchen the air being brought in is likely being heated or cooled – adding to the cost of operating the equipment. 

TruFlow manages exhaust volumes by modulating supply and exhaust volumes based on temperature, infrared heat detection, optical smoke sensors, or a combination of the three. By only exhausting the necessary amount of air, TruFlow can reduce air volume requirements (and the correlating energy consumption) by up to 70% at any given time. Additionally, our ZoneFlow dampers can further manage exhaust requirements by increasing exhaust volumes at specific duct collars only, eliminating the needs to increase the total system requirements in the event only a specific appliance has increased exhaust needs. Because the system is automated, it’s like every hood having its own exhaust fan that automatically adjusts to meet exhaust needs. 

If you want to know more about Spring Air Systems, and our approach to Energy savings. Please visit our webpage: springairsystems.com and feel free to reach out with any questions. If you’re currently working on a project we’d be happy to provide drawings, energy savings calculations, and of course a quote!