Daikin VRV delivers the lowest lifecycle cost to my customers.

Owner: Blaine Aldrich | Daikin Dealer Since 2009

In Everett Rogers' 1962 book Diffusion of Innovations, the author discusses four elements that influence the spread of a new idea – the innovation itself, communication channels, time, and the social system. Within the spectrum of adopters, there are innovators, early adopters, early and late majorities, and…well, anyone else. The HVAC market follows its own version of the cycle, where new concepts must be proven both in testing and real-world applications, with adoption of design standards to suit. It's a process with which Blaine Aldrich is very familiar.

Blaine owns Comfort Service, Inc., in DeLand Florida. His 33-year-old company is very successful in what some would call a limited territory, because his team has a broad experience base, a strong service ethic, and deep community roots. There are no huge buildings in DeLand, but plenty of commercial properties. Comfort Service has installed and serviced a lot of them, mostly with rooftop DX systems.

Blaine started using Daikin on residential systems in 2009, but immediately recognized the potential with their VRV system. They won a smaller commercial project downtown where they used multi-zone VRV, and it became a showcase for local architects and building owners. "Once they experienced the product first-hand, we started making headway. That buildings' energy expense is 30% lower in comparison to typical buildings around here, and the tenants are more comfortable. We got a lot of good press from that project. That helped us secure projects for a number of large churches and a new YMCA."

On one of the church projects, a 50-ton water-cooled chiller failed and the replacement bid was just too much for the budget. Blaine worked with the consulting engineer to design a system using 28 tons of Daikin VRV heat pumps, saving the church over $100,000 in equipment and labor, and thousands in annual energy expenses. Surprisingly, during the redesign, the church received a letter from the chiller sales team stating "Daikin should only be used for small spaces and residential work."

Blaine would disagree. "It's unfortunate that some HVAC professionals still believe that. Frankly, I can solve a lot more problems with Daikin. It's very flexible and absolutely scalable for larger commercial work. It's also incredibly reliable. I have installed hundreds of Daikin systems at this point, with only one minor part failure. I had installed other brands of VRF systems prior to Daikin, but they aren't as efficient or nearly as dependable as the Daikin products."

Blaine points to real-world examples of Daikin's efficiency. "The system at the YMCA is amazing. You can watch it respond to loads as they shift around the building. As usage changes, one zone will go to full capacity while another will ramp down for a minimum load. The units adjust to produce exactly what's needed. The energy goes where the load is. With a conventional DX system, even with VAV, you could never do that."

From practical experience, Blaine knows the benefits don't stop there. "It's the savings in the design of the whole building. You can use lower ceiling plenum heights. You don't need big mechanical rooms. The reduced weight and footprint of the condensers allow them to go almost anywhere. VRV allows more flexibility in design and saves a lot from a structural expense and space planning perspective."

The HVAC business is always competitive. Contractors will pitch lower-cost conventional systems against Blaine's VRV proposals, and sometimes they'll win the business. "It's an education process. So many building owners are wasting money because contractors present outdated equipment without showing the total cost of ownership," says Blaine. "Some claim they are doing exactly what I am, but they can't heat and cool different zones from the same system at the same time; they can't take full advantage of building diversity; and they don't include the energy-saving or comfort features of the Daikin system. The owner ends up paying for that in energy dollars and reduced comfort over the life of the system."

Small-town businesses commonly build strong relationships with their community. Blaine feels Comfort Service has done this by providing customers with solutions that deliver the absolute best value — not just because it's expected, but because it's the right thing to do. "We have to get contractors and engineers into the new mindset. I could convert all of my territory to VRV and I would be doing the community a big favor. The technology has been around for over 30 years. I guess I'm an early adopter, but I don't understand the hesitation."

So, what's the solution? "It's awareness and the willingness to change. Engineers and builders need to understand and recognize these systems as a viable alternative in their everyday designs. They represent the future, in my opinion, and you are doing your clients a disservice if you ignore the technology and just stick with what you know. They need to start thinking in terms of total cost of ownership."

Daikin is 20% of the Comfort Service business, but that number continues to go up. "With Daikin, building owners win because their tenants are more comfortable. The energy bills are less, which is good for everyone and good for the environment. It's the right thing to do from every perspective. Everybody wins."

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Daikin's Equipment, Training, and Tools Help Us Stand Out.

Owners: Scott Clark | Daikin Dealer Since 2009

As an established air conditioning contractor, Marlin James had a reputation for quality service, fast response, and overall good value. But the 20-year veteran contracting and plumbing company in Florida found growing the business challenging during a down home market. "When you're handling the same well-known manufacturers as almost all the other dealers, it's hard to get anyone's attention," says Scott Clark, Owner.

Daikin provided the perfect way to differentiate. By becoming experts on a technology that was still untapped in their market, Marlin James would more likely be considered for projects needing something outside the norm.

Marlin James had experience working with other ductless heat pump products, but chose Daikin for a number of reasons. Beyond making leading edge heat pump systems for over 50 years, Daikin invented the Variable Refrigerant Volume concept over 30 years ago. With greater experience and a broad product line, their technology consistently led against direct competitors, and was even stronger against domestic manufacturers. Daikin also had a strong training program to help Marlin James become experts in their market. Taking all this into consideration, Marlin James became a Daikin dealer in 2009. Today, 12 of their 38 employees have been trained on Daikin products.

"The best part about Daikin is that it's an entire system," Scott says. "There are other companies promoting this technology, but don't have the total home solution Daikin offers. Whether it's 6,000 Btu or a 12-ton system, I can do it with one manufacturer. There's technical support and a parts systems in place. So, I can go to a customer and talk about it with confidence."

With the Daikin partnership in place, Scott wanted to ramp up his promotional efforts. He had done one home show in the past and, while he didn't have anything operating during that show, he was impressed with the quality of traffic: a great audience mix of consumers, builders, designers, and even media. Partnering with a builder for the next show, he equipped a demonstration house with three different Daikin systems.

As Scott tells it, "We created a walk-through house, where the unit was running outside. People were feeling cold air, but there was no noise. People could adjust the thermostat and see the louvers on the grills moving. It was a hands-on experience. They could also see how much energy the Daikin system used compared to a flat screen TV and lighting, and they were amazed. We couldn't keep up with the number of people we needed to talk to. We gave out everything that we had: cards, literature. We had the news media's attention and they put us on TV and radio. Listeners still call us, six months after the show, to tell us they remembered us and want to talk to us about Daikin."

Marlin James sold multiple whole-house installs from that home show. "We didn't do the next show because we were remodeling the demo home. The news media was looking for us. They wanted Daikin, Marlin James and the contractors to be in their spots, but we weren't there We won't make that mistake again! It's an easy way to explain a fantastic technology. The home show is probably going to be our number one means of getting the Daikin name out there."

Demonstrating Daikin helped Marlin James get more traction with custom homebuilders, especially higher end custom homes. These builders appreciated being able to offer their clients something unique, such as treating each room as a separate comfort zone. Plus, Daikin's energy efficiency simply can't be matched by typical domestic systems. Marlin James includes Daikin on every new construction project they quote, and with the majority of sales in multi-zone systems, Daikin now represents over 20% of their business.

Ask about growing a business in a tough economy and Scott answers, "You have to find a way to be different. We would like to think it was enough to be a high quality company, but there are a lot of good contractors out there. We found an edge in being different. We took on Daikin and invested in the training to be experts on the technology. Then we stepped out and did something different to promote it and it's working."

"Because of their technology, what they're able to do, and the excitement that we're able to create around the product (especially in our home shows), Daikin will continue to help Marlin James grow, and help us capture more market share."

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Everywhere Hazelwood Schools Checked,
Daikin Got Straight A's

Facilities Administrator: Thomas Mangogna | Daikin Customer Since 2010

When writing an important research paper, it's essential to include references. That's exactly what Tom Mangogna had his district engineering staff do when it came time to research using Daikin for their district.

He approached school districts throughout the U.S. that had Daikin systems installed for at least one year, in schools of comparable size. After hours of rapid-fire Q&A over conference calls with these districts, Tom was convinced.

Tom runs facilities for the Hazelwood School District, north of St Louis, Missouri. The district includes 20 elementary schools; six middle schools; three large high schools; and some early child care centers — over 30 buildings in all. Since most of their HVAC systems were 15-25 years old, maintenance costs were rising. Tom knew there had to be more efficient systems on the market that could help reduce energy expenses.

While attending product seminars sponsored by Thermal Mechanics Inc., Tom and Steve Limas of KAI Design & Build in St. Louis learned about the concept of variable refrigerant volume (VRV) and, specifically, the Daikin product. KAI had done work for the school district in the past, and had also worked with VRF/VRV systems on prior projects. So Steve suggested it would be worthwhile for them to investigate the concept on some of the upcoming school projects.

"Daikin is at the forefront of efficiency and design flexibility," says Limas. "VRV's modulating compressor results in a more efficient refrigerant system, matching the load exactly and saving energy."

For Tom, it was all about proving performance. KAI had indicated they could take advantage of building diversity using the Heat Recovery capability to provide higher comfort levels with reduced tonnage, which would then translate to significant energy savings. However, Tom wanted his engineering staff to be completely confident in the concept. They reviewed the technical information and asked questions of the other districts around the country. "Our guys came away from those conversations saying we need to bring in this new technology — there are so many advantages. Maintenance will go down, the energy savings are there, and teachers will have more flexibility to set their own temperatures. How do we move forward?"

Once designs and specifications were complete, Tom had one more set of conditions. "We wanted contractors experienced with the technology. Bidding contractors were required to show successful installation in multiple schools with equivalent square footage. Even though the VRF/VRV technology had been in use worldwide for 30 years, it was new to some contractors here. We didn't want to be on their learning curve."

Hazelwood School District now has seven schools with Daikin air-cooled Heat Recovery systems installed, and three more set to be retrofit starting June of 2013. From a design perspective, Limas likes the greater modulation capability of the Daikin VRV system, the flexibility of having more steps in tonnage, and a wide range of indoor units from which to select in applying the technology. In the case of Hazelwood's Northwest Middle School, an energy and maintenance intensive 200-ton two-pipe system was replaced with a Daikin air-cooled Heat Recovery system. The decision to use Heat Recovery allowed Limas to take advantage of shifting schedules to maximize energy savings.

"We have reduced installed tonnage in some cases by close to 50%, with over 300,000 square feet installed. The reasons for going with these systems keep multiplying," says Tom. "Our guys have all been trained in commissioning and servicing these systems, but they don't have to spend a lot of time on them. The Daikin units are low maintenance; they're compact, and so quiet — the teachers love that — and they can adjust their temperatures within a certain range that keeps our energy savings intact.

"And they really love that we no longer are either in heating or cooling mode. One teacher on the south side of the building, who gets significant heat load from the sun, may want to cool their room while another teacher on the north side may want to heat their room. Daikin makes it possible to do both with the same system."

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