The awards are jointly sponsored by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI); and International Exposition Company (IEC), producers and organizers of the AHR Expo.

The 2004 winners, selected from products submitted in eight categories, are:

Heating: Rheem Manufacturing Co., Air Conditioning Division - Rheem and Ruud 90-Plus gas furnace

Cooling: York UPG - SunLine MagnaDry® rooftop unit

Refrigeration: Danfoss - Type TN CO2 compressor

Ventilation: ebm-papst Inc. - EC-Giants motor

Indoor Air Quality: Lindab Inc. - Spiro®+AgION™ duct system

Energy Management: Ice Energy LLC - Ice Bear 50 distributed energy storage module

Tools and Instruments: Vulcain Alarm Inc. - VA-301RF refrigerant gas transmitter

Software: Wrightsoft Corp. - Right-Suite Residential HVAC Design and Sales Software

The winners received special placards to place in their booths as well as an award to be displayed at their company headquarters.

The 2004 AHR Expo Innovation Award winners were honored at a special presentation on Monday afternoon. The winners and award presenters are (left to right): David Pannier, 2004 chairman of ARI; Clay Stevens, president, International Exposition Company; Tom Huntington, president, Unitary Products Group, York International; Greg Tropsa, president, ICE Energy; Adam Schuster, product manager, Heating Products, Rheem Manufacturing; Larry Sunshine, vice president of Marketing, Lindab, Inc.; Jorgen Stannow, vice president, Central R&D, Danfoss; Jorgen Suss, Dr. -Ing. Danfoss; Bill Wright, president, Wrightsoft Corporation; Guy Gervais, president, Vulcain; Armin Hauer, product manager, ebm-papst Inc.; and Richard Rooley, president of ASHRAE.