Hastings Air Energy Control Inc., an industrial ventilation distributor, installation and service company headquartered in New Berlin, has launched its Intelligent Ventilation Energy Control (IVEC) system, a control system designed to coordinate and optimize the ventilation systems the company sells and services.
Hastings sells, installs and services point-of-use ventilation systems designed for welding, woodworking or other work stations that generate smoke or fumes. The firm also sells equipment that filters or scrubs material or fumes from the air before re-circulating the air into the plant.
The IVEC system is designed to coordinate multiple systems, maximizing efficiency to lower energy bills. It can also lower fan speeds and reduce noise, as well as increase the longevity of an existing system.
"Today, (customers) are buying the Hastings Unit, an energy management control system for ventilation,” he said. “We’re not just collecting air, we’re filtering it and re-circulating it back into the plant while we are measuring the fans and speed to save (customers) money.”
The IVEC system, available in four different configurations, is able to automatically turn fans on and off, automatically clean filters when they are dirty, open and shut ducts to multiple ventilation stations, and can even communicate and control multiple devices.
Hastings began selling the IVEC system early this year, but the company’s employees have been working on it since early 2006. The system marks the evolution of Hastings’ 40 years in the air handling business, said Kevin Rohde, general manager of the company.
Hastings recently sold the first full version of the IVEC system, which it will install in Chrysler’s Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit.
“We’ve been piloting this for 18 months in their concept facility and we’re moving toward the full production area in this single plant,” Rohde said.
Hastings also has prototypes of its IVEC system in Milwaukee-area companies such as Sentry Equipment Corp. in Oconomowoc and Bradley Corp. in Menomonee Falls. Hastings has installed four of its largest IVEC systems, named the Steward series, in four companies to date, and has achieved significant energy reductions.
“We’ve taken about 500 horsepower and reduced it to about 50 horsepower over all four (facilities),” said David Bohrer, president of Hastings.
“By creating a 50 percent reduction in usage we can create an 87 percent reduction in energy usage,” Rohde said.
Hastings Energy has about 32 employees in its facilities in New Berlin, Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis, Bohrer said. Although its overall sales are slightly down year to date, the company believes the introduction of IVEC will help it increase sales this year.
“IVEC will carry us through this time,” Bohrer said. “We’ve kept all of our sales people on, and we’re bullish on the second half of the year.”
For more, visit www.hastingsairenergy.com.
