Midea Partners with AHRI to Develop New Global VRF Standards

Recently, Midea Building Technologies held Midea V8 Global Launch Event in Dubai, UAE. As the overseas debut of Midea V8, there were a number of industry big names at the conference. The guest list included AHRI International Technical Director, Nabil Shahin, who attended as the representative and shared in detail AHRI and Midea’s partnership to develop new global VRF standards.

As a globally recognized certification body, AHRI has developed approximately 140 international standards for the HVAC industry, covering dozens of certification programs for over 1000 licensees, including 330 HVAC international players. AHRI is a recognized and accredited certification system that is acknowledged worldwide, developed to certify energy-efficient air conditioning products. As a leading HVAC brand with over 20 years of experience in the VRF sector, Midea has had product AHRI-certified, which means the quality of Midea products is internationally recognized. The certification also encourages Midea’s continuous innovation to achieve new breakthroughs in the global market.

Midea is one of the first international companies to have its products accredited according to international standards. As a key member of AHRI, Midea has maintained a stable partnership with the certification body throughout the years. Shahin explains in “Preparing for the Future” that AHRI is currently building a new operation in the Middle East centered around Dubai. The institution is strengthening its engagement with key industry players to develop a set of VRF standards that comes from the industry and serves the industry. Midea, with its strong R&D team and in-depth knowledge of new technologies, testing standards, and testing facilities, became one of the most suitable companies to develop industry criteria.

The VRF system, while a relatively new product on the market, is growing increasingly popular due to its numerous advantages – it is efficient, quiet, and eco-friendly. AHRI's first VRF standards, which date back to 2010, measured VRF efficiency and capacity and saw no updates for many years. To keep up with the changing times, AHRI decided to develop a new set of VRF standards in 2019 and clarified the responsibilities of the committee. Midea, with its rich industry knowledge and strong technology capabilities, has five members included in the standard development committee of AHRI.

The new VRF standards will be the standards at a global level, covering multiple regions and various environments worldwide. The new standards include several calculation methodologies for energy efficiency metrics, such as APF, EER, SCOP etc. The proposed BIN method will be used in the Standard for Cooling and Heating, allowing different regions to customize and calculate the seasonal energy efficiency according to their respective temperature profiles. The calculation can be conducted based on different temperatures to determine the energy efficiency and corresponding standards for equipment.

The development of the new standards is a collective process that aims to develop global standards with the voice of the VRF industry. Midea Building Technologies will work in a joint effort with AHRI to bring more value to the new industry standards. As a leading VRF provider, Midea will continuously innovate with the goal of becoming the first certified company under the new global VRF standards.