| Submission Entry: | 1.) What does 1.5 C/IEQ/food safety/fire and life safety/data centre reliability mean to you? What is the depth of your understanding of any one or more of the five, as relevant to the nature of the product(s) you manufacture or supply/or the service(s) you provide, and its/their implications for people and/or planet? (277)Answer: Rheem is committed and leading with actions on limiting global warming to 1.5 deg.C and reduce dangerous effects on climate change. Sustainability is key aspect in all stages of our Product-Development-Process(PDP). Early in PDP, we gather key representatives from our R&D, Sourcing, Manufacturing, and other teams for Sustainability-Strategy-Sessions. In these sessions, our teams consider eight factors focusing on product’s impact on environment, and four on its social impact. Our sustainability strategy wheel and PDP help us to integrate sustainability into final product(Attachments1&2). To make it clearer to our customers, the most sustainable products in our lineup will also bear Rheem’s Sustainability Standout Seal™ mark.
Rheem’s ProTerra® and Odin Hybrid-Heat-Pump-Water-Heaters are best example of Rheem’s focus on global sustainability goals like 1.5C. Available in 50&60Hz GCC markets, and with COPs up to 4.2, Rheem’s ProTerra® and Odin units have 75% lower carbon footprint in comparison to conventional electric water heaters(Attachments3&4).
2.) What profound innovation can you lay claim to? Describe in as much detail as possible. (Profound innovation is something that reflects shifting the ground from what is currently accepted as a normal offering or with baseline product features. Any deviation from that is profound.) (278)Answer: Rheem is the global manufacturer and market leader in Air-conditioning and Water-heating appliances. As a manufacturer of both products, Rheem had invested into creating a sustainable product which combined air-conditioning and water-heating systems into a single unique product delivering performances which are far superior to existing electric/gas type water heaters. Result of this investment was Rheem’s ProTerra® & Odin Hybrid-Heat-Pump-Water-Heaters. Rheem’s ProTerra® & Odin are built to comply/exceed Rheem & GCC sustainability goals(Attachment5).
Rheem has named group of its Hybrid-Heat-Pumps as ProTerra® which itself is a testament of sustainability of these units. The word “Terra” means planet earth, and ProTerra® means a product which is in favor of environment.
Rheem’s ProTerra® & Odin units were profound innovation in comparison to existing electric and gas tank type water heaters and other competitors’ hybrid heat pump units due to below reasons:
High Efficiency: With COPs up to 4.2, ProTerra® & Odin units are 400% more efficient than conventional water heaters and result in 75% lower carbon footprint. Rheem’s efficiency is currently highest among other competitors(Attachments6&7).
High-Ambient Operating Conditions: Units can run in ambient conditions up to 62degreesC due to highly efficient compressor and control logic used in unit. This ensures continuous supply of hot water throughout year. Other competitors in market offer hybrid heat pumps which can run in ambient conditions up to 49degreesC only(Attachment8).
Smart Wi-Fi Control: Units are equipped with EcoNet® & Rheem Smart Connect Wi-Fi smart control platforms which allow user to operate water heater through mobile application. Energy-Saving scheduling is one of the main features of this application. User can also set water temperature, track energy usage, observe error codes, check heating element and tank conditions, and choose between five operation modes of: Energy Saver, Heat Pump, Electric, High-Demand, and Vacation all through mobile application.
Water Leakage Prevention System: This is another feature that sets Rheem apart from its competitors. ProTerra® units are equipped with LeakSense™ and LeakGaurd™ which automatically shuts-off cold-water supply to prevent water leakage. When sensor gets activated due to leakage, notification is also sent to user on mobile application. This system will ensure that leakage will be limited to no more than 568 milliliters(Attachment9).
Large Tank Capacities: Rheem Odin units have capacities up to 400L which allows unit to continuously produce 1000L of mix hot water at 40degreeC. This is a unique offering by Rheem since currently there are no Hybrid-Heat-Pumps in market with such high capacities.
In-Built Circulation Pump: Rheem Odin units come with an in-built circulation pump known as Zero-Cold-Water-Technology which ensures that water is warm as soon as faucet is turned on. This is once again unique offering by Rheem in GCC market(Attachment10).
Low Sound Level: Rheem Odin units have special soundproof insulation which drops the operating noise level to 40dB which is lowest among different competitors. This will bring extra comfort to users during day and night operations.
Patented High-Temperature Heat Pump System: Another feature that sets Odin apart from other alternative options in market is capability of heating water up to 70degreesC by using only heat pump system. This is possible because of patented dual evaporator configuration of Odin units which alongside microchannel heat exchangers, it allows heat pump system continuously run even at high water temperatures such as 70degreesC(Attachment11).
Fast First-Hour Recovery: Equipped with industry’s largest compressor, these units deliver fastest first hour recovery in the market among other competitors.
AHRI Certified Product: Rheem ProTerra® units are AHRI certified which is a unique certification for water heating product in GCC market(Attachment12).
ESMA/SASO/UL/IEC Compliance: Rheem Hybrid-Heat-Pumps are ESMA-ROHS, SASO, UL1995, and SASO IEC certified, ensuring units’ safety and high performance throughout its lifetime(Attachment13).
For future, Rheem is planning to develop a water heating and cooling ProTerra® and Odin units which is a specialized product for GCC region. This will be beyond current standard industry offerings in market since it will be capable of cooling and heating water both. Another future development for this lineup is to have inverter-driven compressors for the system which can potentially result in much higher efficiencies. Rheem is also planning to integrate power of Artificial Intelligence in combination with available EcoNet® & Rheem Smart Connect platforms on ProTerra® and Odin units for predictive maintenance.
3.) What is the intrinsic value of the innovation? Where can it be applied? (279)Answer: The main value of this innovation is providing a sustainable solution to non-efficient product which is used in every household around the world. Europe and USA have already moved to heat pump water heater systems and now is GCC’s turn. Replacing conventional water heaters with COPs up to 0.9 with Rheem’s Odin and ProTerra® units which have COP’s up to 4.2 will result in more than 75% reduction in Carbon Footprint and Electricity Consumption in one single household. Another value of Rheem’s ProTerra® and Odin units are there different smart and energy saving features which takes these highly efficient products to the next level. The detailed values of ProTerra® & Odin for GCC end users, consultants, and contractors are mentioned in attached document(Attachment14).
This innovation can be applied in residential applications mainly which allows users to save energy costs and contribute to global sustainability goals in targeting global warming.
4.) How much did it cost you, and how much time did you spend to arrive at the innovation? (280)Answer: The process of arriving to this innovation took 18 months. Collecting Voice of Customers, Product Development, initial prototype review, safety testing, EMI/EMC & performance testing, Application design and development (UX/UI design) based on customer feedback, field trials, and continuous updates and improvements were all part of the 18-month timeline. The development of ProTerra® and Odin lineup has cost around 450,000 US dollars and involved cross functional Rheem teams from both Rheem USA and Rheem China engineering teams.
Based on VOC’s received from the region and considering GCC’s weather conditions, Rheem R&D team is currently working on expanding the ProTerra® and Odin range further, which includes development of a hybrid heat pump units that can heat and cool the water both, that is also inverter driven, and utilizes power of AI for predictive maintenance measures.
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