Copeland Solutions Team Tackles Leading-Edge Technological Challenges

More than any time in recent history, the HVACR industry and its related markets now face a spectrum of technological, operational and business challenges. Sustainability initiatives are driving changes to traditional equipment platforms while uncovering the need for innovative solutions to emerging opportunities. Responding to these challenges requires a new approach to ideation, engineering and solution development. Copeland’s cross-functional Solutions Team was assembled with these goals in mind.

As Albert Einstein once said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them.” This is the driving philosophy of the Copeland Solutions Team. Some corporate environments and organizational structures can limit collaboration and result in the development of solutions along and within established channels. This approach serves an important purpose and delivers predictable results.

But because today’s challenges require new thinking and resource flexibility, Copeland has taken a different approach to problem-solving. By assembling a diverse group of subject matter experts (SMEs) — collectively with more than 450 years of HVACR experience and projects, market research and solutions development. It’s a team built to explore the leading edge of technological capabilities and pursue emerging and future market needs.

The Copeland Solutions Team was born out of necessity and began to take shape more than a decade ago. Many of our customers faced the prospect of a refrigerant transition in HVACR, while their lists of operational concerns grew — from managing sustainability goals, energy-efficiency, reliability and safety to adapting to an increased reliance on electronic controls. We needed a multidisciplinary team capable of addressing and solving these issues from multiple perspectives.

Fortunately, Copeland has a deep pool of SMEs in a variety of product, research and development roles from which to choose. Areas of expertise include:

• Emerging refrigerants (CO₂, A2Ls, R-290)

• Enterprise management

• Energy optimization and sustainable technologies
• Electronic controls (architectures, algorithms and network integration)
• Software and application programming interfaces (APIs)
• Systems development and integration
• Field service and technician considerations

In addition, many Solutions Team members devote a significant portion of their time to industry stewardship, providing guidance and education on emerging HVACR trends, refrigerants and equipment technologies. Many are also active participants in industry organizations, national labs and research centers, while contributing to the cross-functional staff at Copeland’s Helix Innovation Center. For customers and industry stakeholders who may be familiar with the supermarket test labs, our Solutions Team played integral roles in the development of these facilities.

One of the key functions of the Solutions Team is to serve as a liaison between customers and our internal functional groups — from engineering and product development to sales and marketing. In this role, we act as technological collaborators(OEM), end user, contractor and wholesale customers while connecting the dots to all the relevant resources within the Copeland organization. As such, the Solutions Team is often engaged during the discovery of atypical customer requests or research projects.

Recent examples of the Solutions Team projects include:

• Proof of concept for an air-cooled EV charging cable
• CO₂ climate study
• A2L sensor development and case control testing
• Development of next-generation, distributed CO₂ refrigeration systems
• Total cost of ownership (TCO) research

Depending on the specific customer project or industry requirements, the Copeland Solutions team pulls in relevant SMEs to provide guidance and accelerate technology development. By having a diverse pool of resources dedicated to exploring new market needs and fleshing out emerging product requirements, the Solutions Team can quickly adapt to incoming requests and shift SMEs where they’re needed most.

Over the next decade of transition, HVACR industry stakeholders will likely encounter a myriad of unexpected technological challenges. The Copeland Solutions Team is poised to tackle them head on. To learn more about the Copeland Solutions Team or inquire about engaging them for your next project challenge, please contact [email protected].