ABB Baldor-Reliance EC Titanium Motors Earn ENERGY STAR Emerging Technology Award

The ABB Baldor-Reliance EC Titanium motor has been recognized with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2024 ENERGY STAR Emerging Technology Award. This annual award recognizes products that meet stringent performance criteria in specific categories. By highlighting innovative solutions with the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the award promotes promising technologies that may not yet fully align with the ENERGY STAR certification requirements or may be relatively more complex to properly install and operate. The EPA’s efforts to raise awareness about these products contribute to increased demand, potentially reducing costs and expanding availability. EC Titanium has received the Emerging Technology Award in the category of commercial HVAC electric motors. Thirteen EC Titanium models, from 7.5 to 20 hp (5.5 to 15 kW) meet the technical requirements for the award.

EC Titanium is a highly efficient motor that combines synchronous reluctance and permanent magnet technologies. The rotor design incorporates non-rare earth elements, resulting in a motor solution that is highly efficient, quiet, reliable and easy to operate - all in an eco-friendly package. The EC Titanium motor is designed to be paired with a variable speed drive and is optimized for energy management and sustainability and ideal for fans, pumps, blowers, compressors, vacuum pumps, HVAC systems and other variable speed applications. Available as a motor only or integrated motor drive (IMD) unit, EC Titanium provides excellent performance across a wide speed load range and above base speed conditions. 

Forty-five percent of the world’s electricity is used to power electric motors used in buildings and industrial applications. By 2030, this cost is projected to reach $900 billion annually. This significant energy demand presents a substantial opportunity for efficiency improvements, contingent upon favorable market conditions and advancements in motor technologies. In response to a call for product category nominations, the EPA received a proposal to recognize electric motors that adhere to the International Electrotechnical Commission’s (IEC) IE5 efficiency level, currently the IEC’s most stringent efficiency performance standard.* In addition to energy savings from increased efficiency, there are other technology improvements associated with IE5 motors that offer advantages to users that could help speed adoption of this technology, such as quieter operation, lower operating temperature and longer equipment life.