Timeline of United States inventions (1890–1945)
Air conditioning is the cooling and de-humidification of indoor air for thermal comfort. Using a system of coils as a solution to cool and remove moisture from muggy air in a printing plant that was wrinkling magazine pages, Willis Carrier invented and manufactured the world's first mechanical air conditioning unit in 1902. Carrier's invention – encompassing the first system to provide man-made control over temperature, humidity, ventilation and air quality, was first installed as a solution to the quality problems experienced at a Brooklyn printing plant, Sackett-Wilhelms Lithographing and Publishing Company. Air conditioning not only spawned a company and an industry, but also brought about profound economic, social and cultural changes.
Povl Ole Fanger
Povl Ole Fanger (July 16, 1934 – September 20, 2006) was an expert in the field of thermal comfort and perception of indoor environments. He was a senior professor at the International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy at the Technical University of Denmark. He was a visiting University Professor at Syracuse University when he died at the age of 72 from an abdominal aortic aneurysm. His work is credited with demonstrating that poor air quality in homes can cause asthma in children, and that poor air quality in workplaces decreases productivity. His contribution to the research on thermal comfort still defines the state of the art in HVAC technology and the basis for international standardisation. He is also known for creating indoor air quality (IAQ) units of measurement known as the olf and decipol.