Dadanco Opens New Facility in Westfield
WESTFIELD — Dadanco, a manufacturer of commercial hydronic-based heating and cooling products, including active chilled beams, induction units, and induction diffusers, announced the grand opening of its Luxton-Reed Center, with an open house to be held on Sept. 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Luxton-Reed Center is aptly named after two industry pioneers for heating and cooling technologies: professor Russell Luxton of Australia, the co-founder of Dadanco, and John Reed of Westfield, the founder of several hydronic heating companies, including Sterling Residential & Commercial Hydronics, which are divisions of Mestek Inc., the largest manufacturer of finned-tube baseboard radiation in North America.
The Luxton-Reed Center (LRC) is a unique facility focused on research and development and specific high-efficiency equipment testing utilizing a thermal-scenario test chamber which accurately measures air and water flow, temperature, and capacities. The test chamber is highly configurable and can simulate actual real-life application conditions. Alongside the LRC corporate offices are several live-fire training and showcase spaces. Each space meticulously represents an actual real-world installation, including a hotel suite, hospital room, and laboratory. The hotel suite is one of the most technically complex demonstration spaces in the LRC facility, as the room features a thermal wall with glass façade which simulates outside conditions and three different types of hydronic cooling solutions, so guests get to compare and contrast without leaving the room.
LRC’s main mechanical room is host to multiple high-efficiency products produced by other Westfield-based Mestek companies, including condensing cast-iron boilers from Advanced Thermal Hydronics, flexible small-duct air distribution, and reverse-cycle chiller systems by SpacePak, direct outside air systems by Applied Air, hydronic fan coils by Airtherm, and integrated control systems by HeatNet. The facility is a fully operational showroom and research center for high-efficiency indoor comfort equipment and integrated control platforms.
Every room, including the offices, the classroom/training room, the videoconferencing room, and the kitchen/break room, houses various mediums of high-efficiency air-distribution equipment. LRC is green throughout, protecting the environment with high-efficiency, low-emission equipment in operation while producing power through the use of 408 solar panels installed on the roof, generating approximately 100,000 kWhr annually. Each panel generates up to 245 watts of renewable energy annually, resulting in more than 120 days of facility operation at net zero.
