As South Korea is one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change, the government is stepping up efforts to incorporate more sustainable solutions in its cities, particularly in the built environment sector. With buildings accounting for around 23 per cent of direct and indirect energy-related CO2 emissions, the government is focusing on reducing emissions and optimising energy use in buildings as part of the country’s Green New Deal.

Smart cities initiatives such as South Korea’s U-City projects complement such efforts through intelligent technology to support greener urban growth, including prioritising more efficient use of resources such as energy and water.

Multi-purpose pumps are playing a major role in a variety of different applications in areas including cooling and heating in commercial buildings, with demand growing especially in South Korea as a result of these smart city and sustainability initiatives. To address this growing demand in South Korea for advanced pumps, Danish company Grundfos, the world’s largest producer of electric pumps, has launched a new ranges of pumps in South Korea incorporating smart technology for integration with smart building, smart city and environmental applications.

The new long-coupled end-suction pumps feature industry-leading energy efficiency, with the premium NKE range utilising smart technology to bring ease of use, monitoring capabilities, and greater connectivity.

The NKE range incorporates intelligent features such as an integrated permanent magnet MGE motor with variable frequency drive, and built-in pressure sensor. These features work together in detecting and adjusting water pressure and flow intuitively, ensuring optimum conditions 24/7. With intelligent components built directly into the solution, NKE removes the need to install any external components such as controllers, frequency-converters, and sensors, which can add further complexity and costs to the process.

The NKE range also combines cloud connectivity and digitalisation, allowing for remote monitoring and access over the system, enabling intelligent control right at your fingertips. This makes NKE compatible with modern building automation and building management systems.

Users can monitor, control, and schedule water use from their smartphone with the Grundfos GO REMOTE app, available for both iOS and Android operating systems. With the ability to manage tasks anytime when in range, NKE lowers operating costs.

Kenth Hvid Nielsen, Grundfos’ Regional Managing Director, APAC, Commercial Buildings, said, “Climate change and demographic shifts in South Korea are key drivers for the need for smarter and more sustainable solutions to build more resilient future cities. As the first company in the water solutions sector to receive full validation of our 2050 net-zero target from the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), we are proud to launch the new NK and NKE range, which not only contributes to the country’s development of smart cities, but also aligns with Grundfos’ climate commitments. With the new offering, we look forward to delivering more sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective pump solutions with shorter lead times and locally supported services in South Korea.”