Industry News

Carrier Cobra™ Units Provide Movie Theater With “Great Escape” From Energy Costs

Sept. 26, 2003

New Albany, Ind., September 16, 2003 – It’s not uncommon for people to go to the movies to escape the heat of the summer months, but how can movie theaters escape the high-energy costs of providing patrons with comfort cooling?When Aliance Entertainment’s new 16-screen Great Escape Theater opened here on June 15 – with a digital sound system and 3,000 stadium-style seats –20 Carrier COBRA™ rooftop units played a leading role in the design-build project. One of Carrier’s latest innovations, COBRA was designed –combining a high-efficiency rooftop unit, an energy recycler unit and controls – to arrive on the job site as one factory-integrated packaged unit.According to, Rod Bachman, Vice President of Bachman's Inc., the Batavia, Ohio-based HVAC contractor responsible for selecting the equipment, Carrier’s COBRA units were a perfect match for this customer.“The Great Escape Theater project was going to require a high ventilation load for a high concentration of people,” Bachman noted. “The COBRA units’ energy efficiency and the fact that they arrived completely factory assembled, as well as being easy to maintain, were big influences.” For enhanced efficiency, Carrier's COBRA uses an exclusive technology to recycle the energy of the unit’s unwanted return air as it is exhausting. COBRA then uses that energy to help cool or “pre-condition” the new incoming supply air. Simply put, with preconditioned supply air, the COBRA units don't have to work as hard and ultimately reduce their own operating costs for the building owner.Bachman's Inc., a Linc Service^®Contractor, was subcontracted for the Aliance Entertainment project through prime contractor Al Neyer, Inc. The team faced the challenge of having to complete this fast-track project in only 3 1/2 months in order to have the facility ready for Aliance's busy summer movie season. By choosing Carrier’s factory integrated COBRA equipment and controls, the team was able to reduce labor costs and expedite installation in order to meet their critical deadline."Just as promised, when the COBRA units showed up, they required no field modifications and had only one power connection,” Bachman reported.“With the COBRA units, we actually reduced the total equipment tonnage required for the job,” Joel Tiberghien, from Al Neyer, Inc., added.“Carrier’s proud to have been selected to be part of the team to work this great theater project,” Jeff Gries, the sales engineer for Carrier distributor Habegger Corporation, said.Carrier’s long history of providing economical cooling solutions for the movie theater industry can be traced back to 1925, when the Rivoli Theater, in New York’s Times Square, opened for the summer season with a brand new cooling system designed by Willis Carrier. It was the first theater in New York City to feature “mechanical” air conditioning. This unprecedented event ushered in an era of air-conditioned summer entertainment and started a trend in the movie theater business of attracting people to come inside and get cool. That trend continues today...For more information on Carrier, visit the company’s web site: www.carrier.com; e-mail [email protected]; or call 1-800-CARRIER.Celebrating 100 years of innovation and the invention of modern air conditioning by its founder, Willis Haviland Carrier, Carrier Corporation is the world’s largest manufacturer of heating, air conditioning and refrigeration systems and equipment. It is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX), provider of a broad range of high-technology products and support services to the aerospace and building systems industries.