TEC (The Energy Conservatory) was founded in 1980 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA by Gary Nelson and Gary Anderson, and manufactures residential and commercial building performance testing tools. TEC distributes its products world-wide and has distributors in the United States, Canada, Europe, China, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Thailand.[1]
History
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TEC was founded in 1980 by energy auditor Gary Anderson and engineer Gary Nelson; the blower door was their first planned product. TEC was initially located in a garage, where the partners worked to create TEC's first blower door model. By the mid-1980s TEC had outgrown the garage and had moved into a larger facility. In the summer of 1999 TEC moved into its current location in the Greenway Building in Minneapolis. MN.[2][3]
Branding and Logos
editFor the first 10 years the company was in business it was known as the Minneapolis Blower Door Company by many customers, even though the name of the company was The Energy Conservatory. The company underwent a re-branding in the early 2000s, adopting a new logo and using the acronym TEC. The logo shown to the right is the previous logo for The Energy Conservatory and is currently the product logo for the Minneapolis Blower Door.
Products Manufactured by TEC
edit- Minneapolis Blower Door System (Including two commercial building testing systems)
- Minneapolis Duct Blaster System
- TrueFlow Air Handler Flow Meter
- Exhaust Fan Flow Meter
- FlowBlaster Capture Hood Accessory
- TEC WiFi Link
- DG-500 Pressure Gauge
- DG-700 Pressure and Flow Gauge
- TEC Trainer Airtightness Training Simulator
- DuctMask Temporary Register Sealing Tape
- April 2014 - Released the iTEC-700 Android mobile app for wireless air leakage testing using an Android mobile device
- February 2014 - Released Ring 4 for the Minneapolis Duct Blaster for measuring air flow down to 2.4 cfm
- January 2014 - Released TECLOG3 Data Logging Software with wireless air leakage testing capabilities
- May 2013 - Released the iTEC-700 iOS mobile app for wireless air leakage testing using an iOS mobile device
- May 2013 - Released TECTITE 4.0 WiFi for wireless air leakage testing using a computer
- May 2013 - Introduced the TEC WiFi Link to wirelessly connect a DG-700 or DG-500 to a computer or mobile device
- April 2013 - Introduced iTEC RESNET Blower Door App for Android
- April 2012 - Introduced iTEC RESNET Blower Door App for iPhone and iPad
- January 2012 - Introduced the FlowBlaster Capture Hood attachment for the Duct Blaster
- November 2011 - Introduced the TEC Trainer Airtightness Testing Simulator
- November 2010 - Introduced TECLOG2 data logging software which includes multi-fan airtightness testing features for commercial blower door testing
- June 2007 - Introduced the Cruise feature on all DG-700 Pressure and Flow Gauges. Allows Minneapolis Blower Door fans to automatically adjust to and maintain a building pressure of 0, 25, 50 or 75 Pascals
- April 2003 - Introduced the DG-700 digital pressure gauge
- April 2001 - Introduced the Exhaust Fan Flow Meter
- March 2001 - Introduced the TrueFlow Air Handler Flow Meter
- July 1998 - Introduced TECTITE PC based software
- February 1997 - Introduced the Automated Performance Testing (APT) system and TECLOG software
- March 1994 - Introduced the DG-3 digital pressure gauge
- November 1992 - Introduced the DG-2 digital pressure gauge
- November 1992. Introduced the Minneapolis Duct Blaster system
- January 1991 - Introduced Model 3 Minneapolis Blower Door system with wood frame and Magnehelic gauges
- January 1984 - Introduced Model 2 Minneapolis Blower Door™ system with wood frame and Magnehelic gauges
TEC Registered Trademarks
editThe Energy Conservatory holds registered trademarks for the following products
- Minneapolis Duct Blaster ("Duct Blaster" is a registered trademark)
- TrueFlow Air Handler Flow Meter ("TrueFlow" is a registered trademark)
- FlowBlaster Capture Hood Accessory ("FlowBlaster" is a registered trademark)
Patents
editDistribution
editThe Energy Conservatory has distributors located throughout the United States and in other countries. This is the current list of TEC Distributors world-wide (as of 2-1-2015)[7]
UNITED STATES
edit- Conservation Strategies
- Energy Federation Inc – EFI
- Fire Safety Technology (Enclosure Integrity Testing)
- Flick Distributing Company
- Inspector Tools
- Ivy Tools
- Monroe Infrared Technology
- TruTechTools
- Service Partners
CANADA
edit- Air Solutions
CONTINENTAL EUROPE AND RUSSIA
edit- BlowerDoor GmbH
UK AND IRELAND
edit- BSRIA Instrument Solutions
CHINA
edit- Beijing JT Science and Technology
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
edit- Pro Clima New Zealand Ltd
- Pro Clima Australia Pty Ltd
SOUTH KOREA
edit- Withus
THAILAND
edit- Asia Fan Test
References
edit{
- ^ http://energyconservatory.com/distributors/
- ^ http://www.homeenergy.org/show/article/year/1995/id/1171
- ^ http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/blower-door-basics
- ^ http://energyconservatory.com/about/
- ^ http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=%22energy+conservatory%22&OS=%22energy+conservatory%22&RS=%22energy+conservatory%22
- ^ http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6439061.PN.&OS=PN/6439061&RS=PN/6439061
- ^ http://energyconservatory.com/distributors/