Geniox+ Liberty52 Case Study
Geniox + VRF. The perfect duo makes VRF
projects incredibly easy and efcient.
When the Liberty52, Stephen F. Gold Community
Residences is completed this fall in Philadelphia, it will
provide 24 affordable, independent housing units for
disabled residents. And it will do so while maintaining
some of the highest standards of energy efciency,
meeting Passive House standards, one of the most
stringent green building programs in the country.
With everything all in one system, the Geniox VRF
approach reduced the number of components, decreasing
installation time and labor along with chances for error.
Having all equipment on the roof and avoiding pipes down
to the third-oor 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.
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, factory installed.
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 eld,
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 nd 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.”
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-efcient approach using a Geniox air
handler with ERV and VRF in one unit.
Because Liberty52 is one of the rst 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
congure a customized solution that would allow for use
of VRF with the Geniox system.
www.systemair.net
Success Story