The Perfect Duo - Geniox + VRF

Geniox makes VRF projects incredibly easy and efficient

Stephen F. Gold Community Residences

The Liberty52, Stephen F. Gold Community Residences in Philadelphia, provides 24 affordable, independent housing units for disabled residents. Systemair's Geniox air handler with an ERV and VRF all-in-one-unit helped this building achieve a Passive House design.

Engineering a Better System

Systemair's ability to configure the Geniox unit and a third-party VRF system played a key role in this project's success

Built to Passive House Standards

This building is design certified and built to the Passive House Institute of the United States (PHIUS) 2018 guidelines

2020
Contractor

E.B. O'Reilly

Engineer

Kitchen & Associates

Developer

Liberty Housing Development

Completed in the Fall of 2020, the Liberty52, Stephen F. Gold Community Residences provides 24 affordable, independent housing units for disabled residents. And it does so by adhering to some of the highest standards of energy efficiency—the Passive House standards—which is one of the most stringent green building programs in the country.

A Fully Configurable Product

Liberty52 was originally designed with a fresh-air system featuring separate ERV and air handling units. Instead, sales engineer Rob Lowry, Executive Sales Leader of Pennergy Solutions, opted for what would become a more labor- and energy-efficient approach by using a Geniox air handler with an ERV and a VRF in one unit.

Because Liberty52 is one of the first applications of this technology, Lowry worked closely with contractor E.B. O’Reilly, engineer Kitchen & Associates, and Systemair to design the system.

He visited our air handling manufacturing facility to undergo in-depth training on the product, and then worked closely with his Systemair rep to configure a customized solution that would allow for use of the VRF with the Geniox system.

Liberty 52 2

Eliminating Excess

With everything all in one system, the Geniox VRF approach reduced the number of components, resulting in decreased installation time and labor along with chances for error. Having all equipment on the roof and avoiding pipes down to the third-floor heat exchanger also lessened labor needs while eliminating extra penetrations in the roof.

Fewer components also means fewer systems having to work in harmony; instead, the building has one unit to monitor and control.

Liberty 52 3

Samsung & Systemair

Systemair’s ability to customize the Geniox air handler with third-party VRF systems, including the coil and Samsung’s electronic expansion valve kit, played a key role in the project’s success. The Geniox system allows for the implementation of VRF equipment, and comes factory-equipped. Systemair’s engineering team was able to determine the control logic to make the customization possible.

“As a local supplier, it’s helpful for us to win projects if we can do things no one else can do,” Lowry adds, noting that the same system could have been achieved in the field, but would not have looked as nice and would have taken longer to install. With the Geniox approach, “You connect three pipes, lay two wires. It’s a completely VRF, self-contained unit with an off and on.”

For Pennergy and Systemair, the system at Liberty52 is a testament to their efforts to find solutions to project challenges and be on the leading edge of VRF, Lowry says.

“Day in, day out, call us and we have the answer versus having to get back to you.”

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