In this podcast from the AIA conference in Las Vegas, Christoph Trappe speaks with Ron Schumacher of LG Electronics about their new air condition unit used in commercial buildings that is functional and also has the look.
This AC unit can be controlled through LG Electronic’s ThinQ app and is Wi-Fi-enabled. Listen to their discussion:
Rather read the transcript?
[Start transcript]
I’m joined by Ron Schumacher, LG Electronics. Ron, thanks for joining us.
Ron Schumacher: Thank you, Christoph. Appreciate you having us.
Christoph: So, the reason you got my attention is because you showed off this air conditioning unit that doesn’t even look like an air conditioning unit. So, talk about what problem are you solving? What’s the product?
Ron: Well, we have this wonderfully, cosmetically appealing art cool gallery that comes in 9,000 and 12,000 BTUs. The really neat thing about this is you can interchange a picture of your choice with a 20 x 20 picture. And it’s removeable very easily, just by removing the screen in the front. It supplies conditioned air, out three sides and returns on the top.
It’s used in multiple applications: assisted living, you could put it in a doctor’s office foyer, we have it in our MULTI F product lineup single phase systems. We also have it in our 3-phase commercial applications. So, it’s very versatile.
Christoph: Hotels was another one, maybe?
Ron: Hotels, absolutely. Yes.
Christoph: So, what’s interesting about this, the product here is, so first of all, it’s about functionality, right? So, you have an air condition for a reason. We’re in Las Vegas. It was like 102 degrees when I got here yesterday. So, we want air conditioning.
But it’s also about the look. So, if I’m a building owner or facility manager, I might think, “Hey, do you have your air conditioning unit?” End of story.
Ron: Right. Yeah. The neat thing though is it can be paired up with other indoor units. So, it’s part of the system, it’s not the system. And you can put it in separate conference rooms or wherever.
So, it just definitely offers that specialized comfort for that specific location or zone if we will.
[Pair AC Unit Design with this: Chairs for Public Areas in Commercial Spaces]
Christoph: And makes it look a little nicer.
Christoph: How hard is it to switch out the photo?
Ron: Very simple. Within literally a 3-minute period from start to finish.
Christoph: So, if you have a conference room, you could put things on there that are maybe—we’ll call it functional.
Ron: Yes. And you what we see is in a conference room or even like the foyer of an office building. People will put a picture of maybe the president or something of that company.
I’ve seen them put new people coming in, they’ll say, “Welcome, this particular vendor of the day,” or whatever. And it’s right there in the foyer. So, there’s many applications that you can put in there.
Christoph: So, our parent company actually does that. Every time somebody comes into the headquarters, they put that up and then they switch it out, depending on how many people come in that day.
So, this is even another step of that. You put it in the conference room you’re in. You can say, “Welcome LG Electronics,” or whoever is coming in.
Ron: Yes. Absolutely. And we’ve actually seen some larger foyer entrances where they had multiple art cool galleries in there.
Christoph: Great. What else have we not covered on the topic?
Ron: Well, I think just the ease ability of it, the fact that it’s so multi-friendly, if you will, with our MULTI F product as well as our commercial VRF product line. I think it’s just its functionality, ease ability and cosmetic appeal.
Christoph: So, obviously, we talked about the commercial. Most of our listeners are in the commercial space. But you know how it goes, other people listen as well. So, you can use this in residential as well.
Ron: Yes. And I’ve seen it used in high-end apartment complexes, condominiums, office buildings, like I said, doctors’ offices, etc.
Christoph: Great. Ron, thanks for joining us. Thanks for the overview. Highly appreciated. Christoph Trappe here. Thanks for listening for another express listen of our podcast.
If you’re listening on iTunes or another channel, check us out on Buildings.com or interiorsandsources.com. We’ll be covering the AIA Conference in Las Vegas for the next couple days.
[End transcript]
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