Price
Research Center North

A unique facility that provides you with the opportunity to test in real-time environments.

Price’s continued commitment to customer service and superior technology led us to construct Price Research Center North (PRCN), the only facility of its kind in North America. Measuring over 29,000 sq. ft., PRCN is a state-of-the-art laboratory and testing facility providing the most accurate and reliable test data in the industry. Originally comprised of only two rooms, PRCN has expanded numerous times since its inception in 1978.

Flow Visualization Room

The Flow Visualization Room allows you to experience a range of Price products, from our wide selection of overhead grilles, registers and diffusers (GRDs) to our most innovative displacement and underfloor air distribution technologies.

Highlights

  • Smoke tests of a number of Price GRDs can be demonstrated with the click of a mouse
  • Highlights Price hydronic products, including active & passive beams, and chilled sails
  • Air patterns can be examined as they interact with heated mannequins and additional measurement tools
  • The instrumentation tree is equipped with seven velocity and nine temperature measurement locations

Mock-up Rooms

PRCN houses two mock-up rooms that are designed to replicate real-world installations in a controlled laboratory setting. The ability to experience a facility in a mock-up setting gives you confidence that the space will perform similarly in the field.

Highlights

  • Customizable Overhead Ceiling Systems
  • Controllable Perimeters and raised floors
  • Solar Simulator Wall
  • Ability to test specialized niche products for critical spaces like firing ranges, healthcare areas and laboratory spaces
  • Dedicated air handlers with automated controls allow supply air to be conditioned to precise design specifications
  • Testing in accordance with ASHRAE Standards 70-2006, 55-2010, and 129-1997 (RA 2002)

Isolation Room

The Isolation Room allows for the testing of room pressurization controls and monitors, and is used extensively in the ongoing development of Price’s healthcare controls solutions.

Highlights

  • Fully controlled mechanical system
  • Price Room Pressure Monitor (PRPM) and Controller (PRPC) in conjunction with Price Venturi Valves
  • Real-time, interactive measurement displays
  • Isolation Room Size – 275 ft2
  • Anteroom Size – 54 ft2
  • Toilet Room Size – 54 ft2

Laboratory Demo Room

The Laboratory Demonstration Room is a fully operational laboratory demonstration space. The room is outfitted with a variety of fully functional fume hoods, each of which are integrated with Price’s laboratory control solutions. This allows Venturi Valves, blade dampers and other critical environment solutions to be tested under strict conditions.

Highlights

  • Venturi Valves
  • Fully controlled mechanical system
  • Real-time fume hood performance and room pressurization displays
  • Smoke demonstrations
  • Ability to test in accordance with ASHRAE 110 standards
  • Room Size – 380 ft2

Operating Theaters

PRCN houses two operating theaters: the OR Demonstration Chamber and the OR Test Chamber. Together, these spaces facilitate Price’s operating room air distribution research.

Highlights

  • Can be supplied with HEPA filtered air
  • Flexible ceiling layout for HORD/LFD grid sizes up to 15 ft. x 20 ft.
  • Fully controlled mechanical system
  • All testing in accordance with ASHRAE 170, DIN 1948-4:2008-12, and HTM 03-01 standards
  • Test Chamber Size – 470 ft2
  • Demo Chamber Size – 435 ft2

Hydronic Test Chamber

The Hydronic Test Chamber is designed to quantify the thermal performance of Price’s Active Beams and Radiant product lineup. The chamber has proven to be one of Price’s most productive test areas, playing a vital part in the development of 12 product lines within the past two years alone, as well as calculating the entirety of Price’s thermal catalog data for chilled beams and radiant panels.

Highlights

  • Extensive automation means test results that take our competitors three days can be done at PRCN in less than one day
  • Test a wide range of radiant products, including chilled beams, sails and panels
  • Testing in accordance with EN standards 14037, 14240, 14518, and 15116, as well as ASHRAE standards 138 and SPC 200
  • Designed and built by Price engineers
  • Room Size – 191 ft2

Noise Control Sound Lab

The Price Noise Control Sound Lab is a state-of-the-art acoustical test facility. Great care was taken to ensure that the noise data produced by the lab would be accurate, repeatable, and the most reliable in the industry. The lab is NVLAP Accredited for ASTM-E477 (NVLAP lab code 200874-0).

Highlights

Sound Source Chamber

  • Completely insulated to minimize breakout noise
  • Generates over 100 dB of sound pressure

Fan Room

  • Vane axial fan capable of over 25,000 CFM at 4 in. static pressure

Reverberant Sound Chamber

  • Chamber measures over 20,000 ft3 and is completely isolated from the surrounding building and mechanical systems.
  • Accurate for measurements from 50 Hz to 10,000 Hz

Fan Coil Test Chamber

The Fan Coil Test Chamber tests all of Price’s Fan Coil products, providing precise and real-time test results. The chamber uses dedicated humidity and temperature control to condition the incoming air. Water temperature and flow control are achieved by using a standalone hot/chilled water system that incorporates heat exchangers, an inline heater and water pumps. These features make it possible to test products in a precise, simulated environment.

Highlights

  • 100% automation, hands-free operation
  • Instrumental in the development of Price’s Fan Coil and Chilled Beam lines
  • Real-time simulation identifies products that will provide optimal functionality
  • Testing in accordance with ASHRAE Standard 79 and AHRI Standard 440
  • Room Size – 157 ft2

Terminal Testing Lab

The Terminal Test Area evaluates all Price Terminal Units based on variables such as temperature mixing, fan curves, and flow sensor accuracy. We can also mock-up terminal units to examine their performance in non-standard or critical conditions, demonstrating firsthand how the unit will work on the job site saving you time and money.

Highlights

  • Hundreds of Price Terminal Units tested to ASHRAE and AHRI standards every year
  • User-defined testing capabilities
  • Includes two supply/exhaust drops complete with temperature control capable of delivering up to 10,000 CFM
  • Multiple power supplies capable of supplying any voltage from across the world up to 600V
  • Testing in accordance with ASHRAE Standard 130 and AHRI 880
  • Room Size – 1,033 ft2

Price
Technical Centers

We have over 10,000 face-to-face meetings with customers and engineers each year.

Price Technical Centers (PTCs) are state-of-the-art technical facilities that provide an exceptional educational and informational experience for customers. Located in Suwanee, GA, and Casa Grande, AZ, our PTCs are designed to represent real-world conditions in exquisite detail. The facilities feature more than a dozen different product and application spaces, including flow visualization rooms that use theatrical smoke for GRD and Displacement products, an Air Purification display showcasing various technologies, displays for Healthcare solutions, and Noise Control product demonstrations. Each interactive space demonstrates Price products under real-world conditions and provides visitors with a better understanding of overall system integration.

Product Innovation

At Price, when we say “the sky is the limit”, we actually mean it.

Our customers have come to count on a consistent and ever-increasing stream of new products and enhancements.  Price has a large team of experienced and talented engineers who are consistently working on breakthrough ideas.  We are not afraid to move into whole new product categories if we believe we have a contribution to make.

Custom Solutions & Specials

Every special request is both a positive challenge and an opportunity. Our design engineers take pride in creating innovative solutions that are aesthetically pleasing and provide the performance you demand.

Custom Anodizing & Finishes

Anodizing is an electrochemical process that grows a protective coating of aluminum oxide (anodic layer) on the surface of any aluminum product. This creates a surface that is much harder and more resistant to corrosion and abrasion than raw aluminum.

Computational Fluid Dynamics

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) provide a means for an engineer to validate a design before a building is built. Having the performance of a product or system analyzed and validated at the design stage and/or prior to installation mitigates the risk of costly field modifications.

Training Philosophy

Continuously providing the most innovative training programs in the industry.

The Price team welcomes you for a variety of training opportunities, targeted discussions and design mock-ups in facilities that support the exploration of air distribution technologies through hands-on interaction with dynamic displays and firsthand witness testing.

Technical Tours

Join us for a high level overview of Price and tour our plant and demonstration facilities as you familiarize yourself with Price systems and solutions.

Training Classes

Training programs are taught by our experts and augmented by dynamic hands-on displays, flow visualization and environmental simulations at our facilities.

Targeted Discussions

Meet with our product specialists for a targeted discussion and view new technologies in action via dynamic displays and smoke demonstrations.

Mock-up Testing

Validate project designs through firsthand witness testing using mock-ups and simulation rooms. Reduce your risk and improve product performance.

“I think the tour was very good, and all the people were obviously very knowledgeable and very engaged, it’s a very impressive company.”

Peter Basso, Peter Basso Associates Inc.

Have a question? Contact Product Support