Optimising indoor air Swegon

OPTIMISING INDOOR AIR

Swegon is a part of the Latour Group and a European leader in the development and manufacturing of ventilation and climate control systems. Philip Yorke looks at how the company has evolved to become a brand leader and its latest innovative products that are keeping it ahead of the competition.

Swegon is based in Sweden and is a global exporter of ventilation systems and indoor climate solutions. It has three factories in Sweden, as well as one in Finland and one in Italy. Furthermore, the company has its own sales offices located at 19 different locations worldwide. In addition to its factories and offices in Europe and Scandinavia, the Swegon Group has offices in the USA and the United Arab Emirates, with exclusive distributors in many more countries worldwide. Today the Swegon Group has more than 1250 employees and a turnover of more than €260 million. Advancing air-cooling technology

Swegon is one of the world’s leading suppliers of energy-efficient systems and solutions for ventilation and climatic control in buildings of all kinds. The company is well known for its supply of compact and complete air handling units, water-borne and airborne climate systems, demand-controlled ventilation and climatisation as well as for its flow control, acoustics and residential ventilation systems.

In October 2010 Swegon acquired all the shares in the Italian Blue Box Group, which is located in Cantara di Cona, Italy. This company currently has a turnover of €50 million and is a leader in the development and manufacture of industrial chillers and heat pumps.

The Blue Box Group was founded in 1986 and exports its products to over 30 countries worldwide. This strategic acquisition will complement Swegon’s product range and will furthermore improve the company’s position as a unique supplier of comprehensive solutions and systems in the ventilation and air-conditioning sector.

The Blue Box group’s advanced cooling technology will open up new business opportunities for Swegon and help it to meet its ambitious plans for future expansion.

Mats Holmqvist, president of Swegon AB said, “The Blue Box Group stands for innovative product development, dedicated research and development and the delivery of superior quality and service. These characteristics match our core values perfectly and we are very happy to have found a strong asset in the Blue Box Group. The acquisition is an enhancement to Swegon’s business platform and our objective now for Blue Box is to double its turnover by the year 2014.”

Swegon plans to gradually introduce Blue Box Group’s products through its existing international sales organisation. Severino Veggian, the founder of the Blue Box Group commented, “Swegon is an internationally known and successful company with a strong brand and market position. With such a strong owner we will be able to focus even more on international growth and expansion.”

Investing in greater energy efficiency

Swegon’s product development and production capability is split between different product areas at each of its five factories. All aspects of production are highly automated and the company has consistently invested in new technology to improve the energy efficiency of its products and manufacturing processes.

In summer 2011 the company built a new Salvagnini-line in its factory in Kvanum, Sweden. This investment significantly increased Swegon’s production capacity of air handling units. The company’s factory at Tomelilla is also extending its facilities, while at the Kaarina plant in Finland, it is installing a new assembly line. All the company’s work is focused on creating ever more energy-efficient systems that also offer added value to its customers. This means providing more efficient indoor climate management systems, combined with improved operating economy.

Swegon’s main challenge is to produce increasingly environmentally friendly, energysaving systems for the benefit of everyone. In addition to its full programme of on-going research and development, it undertakes full-scale testing of its ventilation systems designed for specific customer projects. As a Swegon customer, it is also possible to carry out individual test programmes to discover which system is best suited to a client’s specific climatic needs.

Expanding global presence

Swegon is planning further expansion outside its traditional markets of Europe and recently entered into new, exclusive partnerships with companies in New Zealand, Taiwan and South Africa. The company has plans to extend its global reach even further in the years to come. Ms Gonna Petersen, Swegon’s marketing director commented, “We have ambitious aims and want to become the world’s biggest supplier of energy-efficient and holistic ventilation and air conditioning systems by 2015. The year 2011 has been a milestone for us as we extend our sales network and bring the Blue Box product range into our sales portfolio. In addition, our other main area of focus is the US market where we were first active in 2008 with a major project in Boston and where we are now expanding our sales network significantly.”

New generation ‘Gold’

Swegon has launched its latest ‘Gold family’ series of complete ventilation units with built-in ‘IQnomic’ control systems that now offers low profile (LP) configuration in its latest generation D models. Swegon’s Gold LP product is extremely slim, its rotary heat exchangers offer outstanding performance data and excellent energy efficiency. The Gold LP’s heat recovery wheel is angled, thus presenting more contact surface and thereby increasing heat recovery levels and reducing pressure losses. The latest model’s innovative, ‘super-silence’ function splits airflows, keeping noise levels in sensitive frequency ranges extremely low and allowing the Gold LP to be used freely in even the busiest office environments.

Further ground-breaking technology can be found in all other Swegon products, from its water-borne climate systems and air diffusers, to its chillers, heat pumps and air handling units. In addition, Swegon’s Flow Control Systems achieve the most efficient climate system outcomes available today with its ‘demand controlled’ ventilation and variable air-flow technology. n