Saying that getting products certified instills confidence in customers and ensures a fair playground for different manufacturers, Umair Surani, Senior Certification Engineer, Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) speaks to Jerome Sanchez about AHRI’s VRF certification programme. Here’s what he said …

How is the VRF certification programme of AHRI doing? Are you seeing a continuous interest from the industry?

AHRI’s VRF certification programme is one of our most popular programmes. It began in 2011, with five companies: Panasonic, LG, Daikin, Mitsubishi, and Toshiba Carrier. Since that time, Fujitsu, Samsung and Trane have joined the programme. We continue to see global interest in the programme, majority of it originating from Chinese manufacturers.

At present, which equipment is included in the scope of the certification programme for VRF systems?

The programme includes air-cooled and water-source VRF multi-split air conditioners, heat pumps, and heat recovery systems ranging from 12,000 Btu/h (3.5 kW) to 760,000 Btu/h (222 kW).

Which characteristics/performance indicators of VRF systems do you certify? Which testing standards are followed in the process?

All testing in the programme is conducted as per AHRI Standard 1230, “Performance Rating of Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) Multi-Split Air-Conditioning and Heat Pump Equipment”. The certified ratings that are verified through tests are cooling and heating capacities, energy efficiency ratio (EER), coefficient of performance (COP), integrated energy efficiency ratio (IEER), and simultaneous cooling and heating efficiency (SCHE).

In your opinion, what value will certification add to products of participating companies?

AHRI’s globally recognised, industry-respected programme assists manufacturers in meeting ever-changing regulatory requirements, and helps contractors and specifiers provide assurance to their customers. The performance of AHRI-certified VRF products is measured and verified through rigorous testing at an independent third-party test laboratory, instilling consumer confidence and enabling fair product comparisons.

During the 1st Annual Middle East Variable Refrigerant Flow Conference, held in February in Dubai, HVACR industry players, spoke of a meeting with AHRI, which has the scope of forming a regional air conditioning association. Has there been development towards this direction?

AHRI continues to discuss the value of an industry advocacy organisation in the region, composed of local and global manufacturers. Those discussions are positive and hopefully will yield results in the near future.