Westport, Connecticut:  The International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition (AHR Expo) has announced its call for entries for the 2017 Innovation Awards competition to be held from January 30, 2017 to February 1, 2017 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The Innovation Awards, the announcement said, aims to honour the most inventive, useful and original products, systems and technologies showcased on the exhibit floor in the categories of: Building automation, cooling, Green Building, heating, indoor air quality (IAQ), plumbing, refrigeration, tools and instruments, software and ventilation, and also highlight the HVACR industry’s efforts to provide advanced solutions to its ever-changing needs.

The announcement specified that smaller or newer companies, including small start-ups and long-established companies with an inventive, useful and creative product can submit their entries.

Furthermore, the announcement revealed that all the exhibitors at the 2017 AHR Expo are eligible to submit a product for the Innovation Awards. Exhibitors, it said, may submit one product in each category, as long as that product has not previously won an award, and added that for the products to be considered, they must be exhibited at the Show and available for sale by the end of January 2017. Completed entry forms and a USD 100 entry fee, the announcement stated, must be submitted online at ahrexpo.com by August 3, 2016.

The show organisers informed that winners in each of the ten product categories will receive special recognition, including winning products being featured, along with detailed product descriptions, on the AHR Expo website, representatives from each winning company will also be asked to speak about their product and its contributions to the HVACR industry in short, professionally filmed videos. These videos, the announcement added, will be shared online, used in AHR Expo social media and shown at the Innovation Awards ceremony.

AHR Expo also mentioned that Product of the Year will be announced at the award ceremony, from the pool of winners, recognising an exceptional level of leadership in HVACR innovation.

AHR Expo listed the following criteria for judging the entries: Innovative design, creativity, application, value and market impact. All submissions, AHR Expo said, will be evaluated by a panel of third-party ASHRAE member judges from all facets of the industry, including but not limited to education/instruction, research, engineering management, design engineering, product development and manufacturing.

“These awards are a chance to publicly acknowledge the hard work companies contribute toward the future of the industry,” said Clay Stevens, President of International Exposition Company. “Selecting ten winners from a pool of hundreds of applications is never an easy feat. We look for entries that display exceptional utility, ingenuity and efficiency, and we are always amazed by the number of incredible options we receive.”

AHR Expo informed that more information on the 2017 AHR Expo or the Innovation Awards Competition is available at ahrexpo.com.