The USC Stevens Center for Innovation is pleased to announce that Daikin Applied Americas (Daikin Applied) is now a licensee of a groundbreaking technology, invented at the university, that enables the reduction of indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and supports indoor CO₂ capture, contributing to cleaner, healthier, and more energy-efficient buildings. The technology is a regenerative family of CO₂ adsorbents originally developed in the USC Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute laboratories by Nobel Prize–winning chemist George Olah (1927–2017; Founding Director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute); Surya Prakash, Director and Distinguished Professor and George A. and Judith A. Olah Nobel Laureate Chair in Hydrocarbon Chemistry; Dr. Alain Goeppert, Senior Research Scientist; and others.
“We are delighted that Daikin Applied has chosen to license USC’s adsorbent technology for its next generation of indoor air quality solutions. This agreement marks an important first step in the broader adoption of the Loker Institute’s CO₂ adsorbent platform. Looking ahead, we see transformative opportunities, for example, coupling our direct air capture technology with datacenter cooling to capture CO₂ at scale while reducing energy use. Today’s milestone shows what is possible when industry and academia work together to advance technologies with global impact,” commented Prof. Prakash and Dr. Robert Aniszfeld, Managing Director of USC’s Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute.
This month, Daikin Applied announced that it has acquired exclusive rights to Sorbent Ventilation Technology® (“SVT®”) from enVerid Systems Inc., USC’s original partner in the commercialization of the university’s technology. Daikin Applied maintains a broad national and international footprint, delivering advanced HVAC technologies and services across North America and into key global markets. By leveraging SVT, Daikin Applied is positioned to deliver even more energy-efficient HVAC solutions at scale, helping customers worldwide meet energy efficiency and sustainability goals.
“This is an exciting milestone for USC,” said Dr. Rosemary Kiser, Director of Technology Licensing at the USC Stevens Center. “Licensing this technology to a leading HVAC manufacturer such as Daikin Applied represents a meaningful milestone in bringing USC’s regenerative adsorbent innovation to broader markets.”
SVT enables buildings to maintain healthy indoor air while reducing the cost and carbon emissions associated with heating, ventilating, and air conditioning. The technology can capture a wide range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ozone, and carbon dioxide (CO₂) from indoor air using a highly-engineered, proprietary sorbent media blend housed inside a module that easily integrates with all types of commercial HVAC systems. SVT can also be used in combination with other building strategies, such as energy recovery and demand control ventilation, to further reduce load and improve performance. Currently, SVT is the only technology independently tested and validated to meet all contaminant requirements in ASHRAE Standard 62.1.
At USC, our mission is to ensure that university innovations deliver real-world outcomes,” said Dr. Erin Overstreet, Executive Director of the USC Stevens Center. “This transition—from early development at the university to a small commercial venture and now to a global manufacturer—demonstrates how strong technology-transfer practices can advance translational research into the hands of companies capable of scaling it for broad societal benefit.”
USC celebrates this important step in advancing sustainability-focused technology and looks forward to Daikin Applied’s continued development and deployment of this innovation. This licensing agreement illustrates the university’s broad IP portfolio and its mission to commercialize technologies that improve lives, transform industries, and solve the world’s most complex challenges.
Photo credit: Silent Power-AG