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In the USA truckers often spend the night in the driver's cab and use the engine during these rest periods to heat or cool the cab. This practice leads to environmentally detrimental pollutant and noise emissions as well as high fuel consumption. This prompted Behr GmbH & Co. to develop a device which eliminates these negative side-effects. Under normal driving conditions energy is extracted from the exhaust gas and stored in a zeolite reactor. When the vehicle is stationary for longer periods of time this stored energy can be used for cooling or heating the cab. In a variation of this system the exhaust gas heat exchanger is replaced by a fuel burner which is used to charge the zeolite reactor for the cooling process and which also serves as a direct source of heat for the cabin. Moreover, the materials used in the device are non-poisonous, ecologically compatible and recyclable.

Our field study showed, that more than 50 % of the car drivers have problems in operating the car conditioner correctly. This article gives you an overview of different failures and recommandation how to improve the ease of operation of the control panel.

Next to air temperature, humidity, and air quality, it is sound emission that exerts a significant impact on the driver's and passenger's comfort. Major progress in vehicle acoustics has motivated vehicle manufacturers and systems suppliers to evaluate HVAC systems no longer by their air conditioning performance alone. Sound emissions and sound quality have become additional important criteria for the development of new HVAC systems. In the initial conception phase, where systems and packaging considerations are made, acoustic optimization must begin with preliminary system studies and feasibility studies. In this phase acoustics should be based on fairly general systems specifications which describe the desired degree of acoustic comfort. In the subsequent design phase follows the specification of the acoustic goals and the optimization of the HVAC unit. Detailed analysis and optimization of air flow and blower are the common targets for improvement at this time.