Johnson Controls has opened a new research and development complex in Central Pennsylvania, USA.
The chillers engineering and testing facility will enable Johnson Controls to deliver innovative and high-quality products to the HVACR industry.
The complex includes a 250,000sqft testing lab and support facility, which consolidates testing facilities from Johnson Controls’ existing Pennsylvania campus. In addition, the complex features a 107,000sqft engineering office building. The new facility complements the research and development facility in Wuxi, China, and its newly opened world-class Asia-Pacific headquarters in Shanghai, China, featuring industry-leading green and smart buildings.
Bill Jackson, president for global products, Johnson Controls said: “Our customers expect the best, and we will continue to deliver the best industry-leading HVACR equipment, such as our new York YZ chiller.
“This world-class facility enables us to advance performance levels for customers, thanks to more than 400 dedicated and driven employees, as well as business partners in the York County community.”
Other features of the new facility include a testing lab that rises to 60ft in some areas to accommodate York chillers, including the new YZ chiller, and York air handling units (AHU); more than 20 labs, including air-cooled and water-cooled, acoustic, power electronics, compressor, AHUs, and various other labs to spur innovation; and a training centre for variable refrigerant flow (VRF), chillers and other products and technologies.
Jacobs, a global company that served as the project architect, is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for the U.S. complex. LEED is a rating system that evaluates the environmental performance of a building and encourages market transformation towards sustainable design.
The complex is a joint venture between McCarthy Building Companies, PJ Dick and Stewart & Tate Construction.
Ryan Molen, LEED BD+C, project director for advanced technology and manufacturing at McCarthy Building Companies said: “As a one-of-a-kind, large-scale, advanced development and engineering lab facility, the Johnson Controls project had several unique construction challenges.
“In addition to balancing flexibility in systems and building components for technologies that are rapidly changing and advancing in complexity, McCarthy was focused on driving efficiencies in cost and schedule.”
