Canadian manufacturer steals the spotlight and brings home prestigious award from the 2008 Hearth and Home EXPO

Apr 29th, 2008 12:07 PM

Canadian manufacturer steals the spotlight and brings home prestigious award from the 2008 Hearth and Home EXPO The Renaissance Rumford™ 1000 is the first open air fireplace to win gold (St. Jerome, Quebec, April 2008) A Canadian company has won gold at the 2008 HPBA Expo (Hearth Patio and Barbecue Association) in Atlanta for its revolutionary design. Rumford Fireplaces Renaissance Rumford™ 1000 won Best Wood Fireplace, The Daniel J. Melcon Award for Best-in-Show and the Vesta Challenge - Low-Emission Wood-Burning Fireplace.* The Renaissance Rumford™ 1000 has several features which allow it to be both clean burning and easy to use. The highly insulated firebox and chimney heat up very quickly making it easy and quick to light. In fact, it only takes two minutes to begin burning brightly and there is no visible smoke from the chimney. Another feature which was lauded at the EXPO was the hideaway or guillotine door that drops down to seal off the fireplace. This allows owners to enjoy the bright fire while leaving the attractive herringbone brick design exposed. Ray Bonar, Vice-President of Marketing at ICC, observed, “I knew we had an excellent product, our designers and skilled fabricators are among the best in the business, so winning the category for best new fireplace wasn’t entirely surprising. However, winning Best in Show was a thrill. It was like we spread glue on the floor, retailers wouldn’t leave our booth – it was that beautiful!” Mr. Bonar added, “I am most proud of winning the Vesta Challenge Award. Three years ago Richard Wright, the editor of Hearth and Home magazine issued a challenge to the industry – offering a prize to the first company that could develop and deliver a Low-Emission Wood-Burning Fireplace. For two years the prize went unclaimed, our company took this as a personal challenge.” The Renaissance Rumford™ 1000’s performance is nothing short of amazing. Independent certification testing shows with the door open, emissions were 68% less than a typical fireplace, and a whopping 88% less with the door closed. Delivering a clean burning fireplace with these performance capabilities is extremely important to the future of the wood burning industry and the environment – all the while providing a renewable wood fuel option for urban environments. “Wood-burning is poorly understood by the public and as manufacturers we need to do our part and provide clean, functional units. Wood is a renewable fuel – you can think of it as stored sunshine. Wood burning does not contribute net green house gases because burning releases no more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than would be released if left to break down in the forest. Using renewable wood means less fossil fuels burned fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and a healthier environment,” said Mr. Bonar. To arrange interviews or to secure high resolution images of the HPBA award presentation or the Renaissance Rumford™ 1000, contact: Jonathan Laderoute, e|c|o, 416 -972-7401 The Vesta Challenge award is given to manufacturers who are able, for the first time, to create a low-emission, wood-burning fireplace and/or wood-fired retrofit technology for existing wood-burning fireplaces (www.hearthandhome.com). Industrial Chimney Company was established in 1991 by a small group of partners with over 75 years combined experience in the chimney industry. From the beginning their objective has been to engineer products which enable better, faster installations while using fewer parts and improving installation efficiency. They manufacture the most complete line of high efficiency, clean burning fireplaces on the market (http://www.icc-rsf.com). *Vesta Challenge: Offered for the third year, the Vesta Challenge award is given to manufacturers who are able, for the first time, to create a Low-emission, Wood-burning Fireplace and/or Wood-fired Retrofit Technology for Existing Wood-burning Fireplaces (www.hearthandhome.com).