Knowing AMCA- Air Movement And Control Association
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Knowing AMCA- Air Movement And Control Association
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AMCA International i.e. (Air Movement and Control Association) is one of the most highly regarded international, not-for-profit organisations in the air movement and control industry. Headquartered in Illinois, USA, AMCA came into existence in 1955 when the National Fan Manufacturers Credit Association (NAFM) and Power Fan Manufacturers Association merged together to form AMCA. but subsequently expanded to encompass AMCA Asia and AMCA Europe. The boards of directors for these organisations are located in Singapore and Brussels, respectively, and they operate independently. With a more than 100-year-long history, AMCA was initially focused mainly on North America but has recently expanded its reach to other regions, namely the Middle East, Europe, and Asia. The association has worked hard to create awareness about the importance of using certified products to ensure higher energy savings and better air quality.
What is AMCA?
AMCAis a not-for-profit organisation that serves as a beacon, acting as a driving force to better overall standards and levels of the global ventilation marketplace. It strives to make the industry rise as a whole. AMCA membership is open to any company that manufactures or holds the design of a product that falls under the AMCA scope :-
“The goal is to enhance the air movement and control industry's competence by creating a holistic development program.”
A lot of people are intimidated by AMCA name, but not many people know that the main goal and mission AMCA is supporting the ventilation industry. AMCA constantly strives to support manufacturers of all sizes, big and small all over the world to support and improve quality and performance standards of the products and industry as whole.
Work of AMCA:
AMCA primarily focusses on:-
Advocacy
Education and Knowledge Promotion
Certification & Evaluation
Engagement
Aside from the advocacy and rating programs it also also offers freely accessible library of more than a dozen white papers that address subjects like sizing standards, energy efficiency, acoustics, fan system design, and fire and smoke control. AMCA also closely works with other bodies like AHRI, ASHRAE, and the US DOE to develop and maintain newer standards..AMCA Certified Ratings Program (CRP) and the Process of CertificationThe AMCA International Certified Ratings Program is a globally recognised third-party program that gives buyers, specifiers and users assurance that manufacturers’ published data are accurate per standards mentioned in the certification documents.
Products are tested for energy efficiency, sound, and overall performance and a variety of factors including turbulence, fan balancing, air density, speed, efficiency etc.
Once the product is tested and the manufacturer's stated ratings are approved by AMCA then the manufacturer is allowed to display the AMCA certifications in literature and on equipment in the form of labels and ratings.
AMCA International offers different types of CRP certification, for different equipment like blower, air curtains, damper and louvre. Each type of certification has its specific testing requirements and standards.
Fan and blower certification, for example, involves testing the product's performance in areas such as airflow, sound, and energy efficiency. Air curtain certification, on the other hand, involves testing the product's ability to prevent the infiltration of air and dust particles.
Additionally every three years, manufacturer get the product retested to maintain the certification,. This ensures that the products continue to meet industry standards and that the certification remains valid.
CRP violation:
AMCA views CRP violation pretty seriously and even calls out violators publicly.
The most frequent offences include misrepresenting a product as certified.
Modifying a product or its performance with no prior notice.
Performance deviations from what is disclosed in the test documents
Failure in updating the catalogue following the withdrawal of a product line
Neglecting to fix a product after an inspection assessment goes wrong
AMCA International publishes over 64 publications and standards, including testing methods, application guides, educational texts, and safety guides. AMCA is an accredited American National Standards (ANSI) standards developer.
AMCA Test Laboratories:
The AMCA's purpose is critically dependent on establishing a trustworthy, impartial process for testing HVAC systems. In order to select, apply, and utilize AMCA-accredited and designated products safely and effectively, clients, specifiers, and users need trustworthy and precise data from AMCA testing methods and services. It serves as the reference point for all autonomous AMCA-accredited laboratories in USA< North America Europe, Asia , Australia, United Arab Emirates, Korea etc. The inspection facility uses the most up-to-date technology and conducts tests in compliance with international standards as well as AMCA International's test guidelines. Every piece of equipment in the facility is routinely calibrated and compared to scores of AMCA International-accredited labs all over the world. AMCA is making a lot of effort to persuade regulators to adopt a uniform strategy for regulating fans so that industrial fan manufacturers, code officials, system designers, and system owners can reduce the regulatory burden while maximizing the energy savings that regulation seeks to achieve.Kimberly Delort Associate executive Director, and Lisa Cherney Education Manager both from AMCA International have given amazing insights into the mission and core work of AMCA and how AMCA strives at various levels to raise the bar for the ventilation industry that holistically benefits, users, manufacturers, specifiers, regulatory bodies and society as a whole. To listen to the episode click here.
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