NEW CASTLE, Pennsylvania, United States, 20 November: Air curtain manufacturer, Berner said it has added adaptive settings and true BACnet compatibility to its Berner AIR, to better support client sustainability goals. The Berner AIR is a smart controller and app platform that elegantly connects end-users to their commercial doorway air curtains via the Internet for programming, operating and monitoring, the company said.

The North American air curtain industry’s first app-based adaptive setting feature boosts energy efficiency by automatically calibrating the airstream performance, according to the weather, the company said. Berner AIR’s onboard Intelliswitch controller reports local weather conditions via the Berner AIR’s Internet connection, the doorway temperature via an onboard sensor, and air curtain model data every 20 minutes to factory servers, the company said.

Factory-engineered software then uses proprietary algorithms to determine the best volume, velocity and uniformity (VVU) balance for the given moment and adjusts the fan speed based on the current weather, the company said. Pinpointing the most energy-efficient of 10 available air curtain fan speeds helps buildings meet energy conservation, sustainability and carbon footprint goals, while also supporting thermal comfort, the company added.

According to Berner, the BACnet feature allows control of:

• Preset programming (Comfort Plus, Auto, and PureAir);
• Fan speed;
• Time delay; thermostat temperature set point and type;
• Time/day set;
• Lock PASScode;
• Start/stop time.

Berner said its advanced technology platform began a decade ago with the development of the Intelliswitch, a digital controller that later served as a foundation for the 2017 introduction of Berner AIR, the North American HVAC industry’s first air curtain mobile app. Berner AIR 2.0, it said, was added last year. The new secure, fully-encrypted platform provides the Berner AIR app for Android as well as Apple devices, and allows over-the-air system updates, it added.

According to Berner, other newly added benefits include:

• Adaptive settings set-up, which simply requires a smartphone, Berner AIR app download, a secure wireless Internet connection, pairing the app to the air curtain Intelliswitch and the location’s zip code
• OpenWeather API, which provides local real-time wind speeds and eliminates sensor installations building and envelop penetrations
• BACnet feature, which enables management of multiple air curtains across multiple facilities
• BACnet capabilities, which comply with ANSI / ASHRAE Standard 135
• Allowing factory technician secure access for calibration and troubleshooting