Corporate and Technical Profile: Innovent Air Handling Equipment
Executive Overview
Innovent (operating legally as Innovent Air Handling Equipment) is a premier American manufacturer specializing in high-performance, custom-engineered heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Founded in 1981, the company designs and builds large-scale, energy-efficient air handling units (AHUs) tailored to demanding commercial, institutional, and industrial applications. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Innovent operates as a specialized subsidiary of the Greenheck Group, a global leader in air movement, conditioning, and control infrastructure.
Innovent is distinguished within the HVAC manufacturing sector by its focus on total dimensional flexibility, custom material configurations, and advanced energy recovery capabilities. The company constructs built-to-order systems capable of managing substantial airflow volumes, ranging from 250 to 250,000 cubic feet per minute (cfm). Its engineering models target facilities with intensive environmental control criteria, including educational institutions, healthcare complexes, pharmaceutical laboratories, aquatic centers, and research installations across North America.
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Core Technology & Engineering Specializations
Innovent builds custom infrastructure rather than standardized, cataloged units. Its core operations and manufacturing competencies center on several engineering frameworks:
1. Robust Cabinet and Casing Construction
Innovent units are designed for a 30-year operational lifespan under severe environmental conditions.
* Insulation and Strength: Features 2-inch (R-14 thermal resistance) or 4-inch (R-28 thermal resistance) double-wall, foam-injected panel construction. This expanding polyurethane foam injection increases structural casing strength compared to traditional fiberglass or foam board panels.
* Thermal Break Design: Panel layouts incorporate structural thermal breaks to eliminate metal-to-metal contact between the interior and exterior of the cabinet. This setup prevents outer casing condensation and internal thermal losses.
* Material Versatility: Casing linings, internal walls, and flooring sheets are selected based on localized environmental hazards. Available substrates include galvanized steel, painted steel, aluminum, 304 or 316 stainless steel, and heavy-gauge treadplate.
* Section Splits and Knock-Down Assemblies: For structural retrofits inside existing mechanical rooms, units can be manufactured with dedicated structural section splits or as knock-down frames. This engineering feature allows massive air handlers to be transported through narrow corridors, standard exterior doorways, or service elevators before final assembly.
2. High Outdoor Air (HOA) & Environmental Management
Standard air conditioning machinery struggles to condition 100% fresh outdoor air efficiently due to high sensible and latent heat loads. Innovent engineers application-specific coil configurations, complex oil management setups, and specialized compression systems optimized for high outdoor air intake. This focus allows facilities to maintain exceptional indoor air quality (IAQ) and fulfill strict regulatory air-change cycles without overworking localized central chilling plants.
3. Integrated DX Refrigeration Systems
While traditional custom AHUs often rely exclusively on localized chilled-water piping loops, Innovent maintains an internal Direct Expansion (DX) refrigeration engineering division. It builds custom, self-contained air-cooled and water-cooled DX systems up to 400 tons of capacity. Features include digital scroll or modulating compressors, integrated condensing sections with ultra-quiet serrated-edge fan designs, and variable-speed fan controls to ensure steady suction pressures under varying ambient air loads.
Product Portfolio and System Classifications
Innovent classifies its built-to-order machinery across modular, application-specific series targeting distinct environmental control demands.
1. C-Series: Custom Air Handlers
The C-Series represents the core custom air handling line, serving as a flexible platform for custom dimensions, layout configurations, and component placements.
* Fan Systems: Arrayed with direct-drive plenum fans, packaged with standard Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) or Electronically Commutated (EC) motor arrays arranged in single or multi-fan matrices for redundant operation.
* Heating Integrations: Accommodates direct or indirect-fired natural gas burners, hot water coils, steam distribution lines, integral face-and-bypass (IFB) coils, or multi-stage electric heating elements.
* Cooling Elements: Integrates chilled water coils, packaged or split DX refrigeration circuits, and direct or indirect evaporative cooling media.
* Sanitation Layouts: Available with fully welded stainless steel wash-down floors, sloped condensate drain pans, and integrated ultraviolet (UV-C) bacterial irradiation arrays for pharmaceutical and surgical cleanrooms.
2. E-Series: Energy Recovery Systems
The E-Series centers on minimizing facility operating expenditures by reclaiming thermal energy from building exhaust air streams before discharging it outside. Innovent offers one of the most comprehensive arrays of air-to-air energy recovery technologies in the industry:
* Enthalpy Wheels: Rotating porous matrices that transfer both sensible (temperature) and latent (moisture) energy between exhaust and supply air streams, delivering 70% to 90% sensible efficiency and 65% to 80% latent performance.
* Enthalpic and Sensible Flat Plate Heat Exchangers: Static, cross-flow or counter-flow metal or polymer plate matrices. Sensible plate designs eliminate moving parts and prevent cross-contamination, operating at 50% to 65% thermal efficiency. Enthalpic core variations capture latent energy using specialized static membranes, achieving up to 95% sensible performance without requiring a pre-heater in freezing conditions.
* Heat Pipes: Sealed copper tube systems filled with refrigerant that naturally evaporates and condenses to shift sensible heat between adjacent air tunnels without external pumping energy.
* Run-Around Coils: Closed-loop hydronic pumping circuits connecting isolated coils in separate supply and exhaust air ducts. This configuration allows complete physical isolation between air streams, rendering it ideal for laboratory exhaust applications where cross-contamination must be zero.
3. P-Series: Indoor Pool and Waterpark Dehumidification
The P-Series addresses the highly corrosive, chloramine-laden environments found in indoor swimming pools and waterparks.
* Ventilation Strategy: Dehumidifies the target perimeter by introducing high volumes of fresh outdoor air rather than heavily relying on mechanical refrigeration recycling. This methodology flushes out airborne chloramines, lowering structural degradation risks and eliminating distinct chemical odors.
* Corrosion Protection: Internal structures feature specialized chemical-resistant paint coatings, copper-tube/aluminum-fin coils sealed with anti-corrosion protective barriers, and fully wash-down aluminum or stainless steel interior panel linings.
4. D-Series: Desiccant Dehumidification Systems
When precise industrial requirements require spaces to remain below 50% relative humidity—or demand moisture tolerances beyond the physical cooling boundaries of standard DX or chilled water coils—the D-Series utilizes chemical desiccant technology.
* Mechanism: Employs a rotating solid desiccant wheel composed of silica gel or molecular sieve media to absorb moisture directly from the air stream at a molecular level. An integrated gas, steam, or electric reactivation heater continuously dries out the desiccant wheel matrix.
* Primary Venues: Deployed in ice rinks to eliminate fog and ceiling condensation, archives and museums for document preservation, and specialized cleanroom structures.
Services and Operational Infrastructure
1. Factory Testing and Control Engineering
Every custom air handler can be configured with an onboard, factory-programmed Direct Digital Control (DDC) platform. Innovent builds, wires, and programs its controls to communicate natively with existing Building Management Systems (BMS) via BACnet, Modbus, or LonWorks protocols. Prior to shipment, units undergo rigorous factory testing, including operational run-testing, electrical safety verification, and control sequence validation to streamline field installation.
2. Field Support and Technical Distribution
Innovent sells and services its equipment through an extensive, professional independent manufacturer’s representative network operating in more than 65 locations across the United States and Canada. This distribution network provides localized engineering consultation, application analysis, commissioning assistance, and ongoing aftermarket service support to mechanical contractors and consulting engineers.
