Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI), the global leader for smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, announced that its YORK® AMICHI™ YMPA air-cooled scroll DC inverter reversible heat pump, featuring low-Global Warming Potential (GWP) R454B refrigerant, has won Heat Pump Product of the Year in the 2021 ACR News Awards competition. Johnson Controls also won the 2021 CRH Innovation Award for the premium residential YORK YVAG heat recovery pump at the China Refrigeration Expo.

The YORK AMICHI heat pump was one of 11 award winners in the annual competition, which celebrates the best products, businesses and people from across the air conditioning and refrigeration sectors. The YORK YVAG was one of 112 products submitted from 52 companies covering residential and commercial heating. The superior energy-saving heat recovery system offers an exceptional solution for year-round residential heating applications.

“These awards further showcase our dedication to innovation and sustainability, recognizing products that deliver a step change in standalone performance. When integrated with our OpenBlue platform, they deliver outstanding improvements in sustainability and energy efficiency,” said George Oliver, chairman and CEO, Johnson Controls. “Our European and China teams invested countless hours, conducted multiple field tests and incorporated customer feedback to create these truly groundbreaking products.”

The awards also support Johnson Controls commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 and enhance customers’ opportunities to reduce their carbon emissions. Johnson Controls recently announced it plans to slash operating emissions by 55 percent and reduce customers’ emissions by 16 percent before 2030. Its OpenBlue platform for optimizing building sustainability will be central to fulfilling these goals and ultimately creating an environment for healthy people, healthy places and a healthy planet.

Oliver said the awards reinforce Johnson Controls commitment to OpenBlue and its full suite of connected technologies, products and services for customers and partners. Launched in 2020, OpenBlue includes tailored, AI-infused service solutions such as remote diagnostics, predictive maintenance, compliance monitoring and advanced risk assessments.

Answers growing market demand for heat pumps in Europe

On a global scale, Europe has been leading the way to become carbon neutral by 2050. It has already committed to at least 40 percent cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (from 1990 levels) by 2030 and is proposing to increase this ambition to 55 percent under the European Green Deal (EGD). More recently, Europe has put climate change and the energy transition at the heart of its economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, providing economic incentives for the implementation of low-carbon technologies and energy efficiency. Heat pumps are an important part of the equation.

Jeff Williams, president, Global Products, Johnson Controls noted that the YORK AMICHI and YVAG heat pumps are only two of Johnson Controls industry-leading heat pumps. Over the past 40 years, Johnson Controls has developed an extensive portfolio of heat pumps for residential, commercial and industrial applications. These heat pumps serve as a carbon-neutral heating source while relying on low-GWP refrigerants, such as ammonia. The breadth of the Johnson Controls portfolio from a size, efficiency and temperature range is world-class, and continues to help customers reduce their carbon emissions. Since 2002, Johnson Controls has reduced its own greenhouse gas emissions intensity by more than 70 percent.

“Heat pumps have always been in the DNA of industrial refrigeration, and they’ve been adapted in food and beverage, dairy and other process industries for reclaiming waste heat and turning it into low-cost, high-temperature heat,” Williams said. “Our technologies are helping meet the growing demand for heat pumps in the European and Chinese markets and beyond.”

Johnson Controls recently provided heat pump solutions for more than a dozen district heating and cooling applications in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy and Norway.

To learn more, visit: https://www.york.com/insights/amichi-series.