The website surpasses most HVAC and foodservice websites by utilizing mobile-friendly responsive design, which automatically resizes screen resolution to a visitor’s smartphone, tablet, laptop, PC, or theater size conference room monitor. “Having a mobile-friendly website is important as our customers are increasingly using smartphones and tablets when they’re outside the office,” says Georgia Berner, president.
The new Berner website is now organized by industry, such as restaurant, retail, institution/facility, and manufacturing/warehousing. Berner has replaced its renowned model names such as the MaxAir, Mark, Aristocrat, or K-Zone with category names they target, such as Industrial, Commercial, Architectural, and Sanitation Certified. The website easily cross-references today’s models to their past names through the search function or the “Renamed Page.”
The website’s intuitiveness includes an air curtain selector program, which uses product and case study application photos to help the user navigate toward a model selection that fits the door opening. Each individual product page includes tabs for heater types, accessories, specifications, related products, and other options. Each product page also includes a building information modeling (BIM) tab for links hosted by architectural online product catalogs, ARCAT, and AutoDesk. There is also an easy-to-find “Contact Sales” page that offers the user assistance and/or pricing.
“Google’s April announcement of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal coincides with Berner’s website reorganization,” says Berner, who launched the air curtain industry’s first website in the 1990’s. “We wanted the new site to continue to be a resource for those who want to know more, and at the same time, make it simpler to select a Berner air curtain from our many designs”
Future website improvements will include an energy calculator that surpasses previous text-only versions with a graphical user interface and intuitiveness that directs users to a more accurate energy savings and payback figure.
Published in the February 2016 issue of HVAC Products.
Berner International Corp. has recently introduced the Berner Air Curtain Energy Savings Calculator, a user-friendly, online energy savings estimation tool accessible by any web browser for quick payback calculation and air curtain selection.
The time-saving energy-savings calculator is the most powerful air curtain energy savings computational tool in the industry because it also incorporates air curtain selection and return-on-investment calculations. Thus, the user gets energy savings, a payback in years, and an air curtain model choice, all automatically calculated and saved to a URL for revisits, sharing with colleagues, or making client presentations. Each calculation allows for the comparison of two or more Berner air curtain models’ effectiveness ratings and ROI energy savings for comparative purposes.
User- and Mobile-Friendly
The program’s user-friendliness enables facility managers, architects, consulting engineers, contractors, and Berner’s manufacturers’ representatives to input door dimensions, use times, local energy rates, and other data. Users can choose between National Weather Data (BIN Data) and associated utility rates or manually enter their own weather data. Users can manually select an air curtain model or use the embedded air curtain selector program.
Another feature is the Berner website’s mobile-friendly responsive design, which automatically resizes the program for scalable viewing use on smartphones, tablets, conference room screens, or any other web-browser capable device.
The final energy savings estimate is typically a conservative number because the program applies penalized energy scenarios for mounting height, building opening location, and wind resistance ability. Therefore, building owners will many times find more favorable air curtain energy savings than the program’s pre-installation calculation.
Developed in-house throughout 2015 by Berner’s engineering, marketing, and sales departments, the program is based on loads calculated from generalized customer input, TMY2 weather data, and ASHRAE calculations. The air curtain efficiency used to determine the payback period is based on generally accepted theory, laboratory and field tests.
Other program benefits are:
- Inputs are easily revised by reopening the URL and changing input data or using a different air curtain model.
- Inquiries are sent confidentially to the location’s respective manufacturer’s representative for sales follow up.
- Includes a wide variety of drill-down opening selections ranging from exterior to interior doorways and walk-in cooler/freezers. Doorway types range from food service, hospitality, education, healthcare and retail to industrial dock doors.
While the program is ideal for energy savings calculations, it doesn’t account for the many other benefits of air curtains offers, such as protecting occupant comfort and the infiltration of flying insects, dirt, fumes, cigarette smoke for optimum indoor air quality and air comfort.