DUBAI, UAE, 11 June 2021: Emerson announced celebrating 2021 as the 100^th anniversary of its Copeland brand, a name it described as having become synonymous with leadership in the design and manufacture of energy-efficient and reliable compressors to power air conditioning and refrigeration systems. Making the announcement through a Press release, Emerson added that it is a milestone it will recognise over the next 12 months, as it continues to innovate advanced Copeland products to solve critical industry challenges.

Emerson revealed that it completed a multimillion-dollar expansion of its Copeland engineering facility in Sidney, Ohio, in the United States. The investment created 110,000 square feet of new engineering lab space for product research, development and testing of the next generation of compressors, electronics and other critical technologies for the global HVACR industry, it said.

Jamie Froedge

Much of the work in the Sidney labs focuses on innovative compressor technologies that enable more environmentally responsible refrigerants with lower global warming potential (GWP) to meet and exceed efficiency standards and regulations while empowering success in customer designs, the company said. The investment is the latest addition to Emerson’s global network of R&D and customer solutions centres, including in China, Germany and the United States, which fuel innovation and digital transformation across multiple industries and applications, the company added.

“The Copeland brand has a proud legacy and even brighter future,” said Jamie Froedge, Executive President, Emerson’s Commercial & Residential Solutions business. “Air conditioning and refrigeration technologies are increasingly crucial and necessary foundations of daily life around the world. Through our Copeland brand and our inventive approach, Emerson is using our stewardship position and deep history in this space to drive innovation for a more sustainable world.”

Edmund Copeland

According to Emerson, the Copeland brand traces its history to inventor, Edmund Copeland, who founded a company in Detroit, Michigan, in 1921, to transform the refrigeration industry with his unique inventions. When the business faced challenges during the Great Depression, its assets were sold and the operations were relocated to Sidney, Ohio, in 1937. In Sidney, four of the company’s enterprising young engineers envisioned the future of possibilities and purchased the business and its compressor patent, the company said. When Emerson acquired Copeland, in 1986, it continued to honour the spirit of enterprise and inventiveness embodied by the brand’s early founder and champions, the company added.

Emerson said it made significant investments in the development of a new scroll compressor product Copeland was working on at the time of the acquisition and, in 1987, introduced the first scroll compressor sold under the Copeland brand. The success of the product, the company claimed, helped revolutionise the air conditioning and refrigeration industries worldwide with highly efficient and reliable performance, leading to the introduction of a family of Copeland scroll compressors for applications ranging from residential and light-commercial air conditioning to refrigeration systems for the food and healthcare industries and marine containers.