Like traditional central air conditioning systems used for residential and light commercial spaces, VRF HVAC systems are air-cooled and refrigerant-based, using outdoor condenser units and indoor units. But the similarity stops there.

Instead of one large, noisy unit pumping out air to the whole space, a VRF HVAC system features several smaller indoor units that can be individually controlled and piped back to one system. The term variable refrigerant flow, or VRF, refers to the system’s ability to control the amount of refrigerant flowing to each of these small indoor units.

This sophisticated VRF HVAC technology is capable of providing not only cooling, but also heat, and even both simultaneously to different areas within the space. The use of multiple indoor units provides the ability to create zones that can be individually controlled. What’s more, these VRF systems are very quiet and energy-efficient because the variable-speed compressor runs only at the capacity needed for the current conditions.