By Betty Stephens
McQuay International is a global corporation that designs, manufactures and sells heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) products, systems, parts and services for commercial 
buildings. Since 2006, McQuay has been a subsidiary of Daikin Industries, Ltd. McQuay world headquarters are located in Minneapolis, MN, USA. Products are sold by a global network of sales representatives and distributors.
McQuay was incorporated in 1933 with manufacturing and headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Initial success was built on the first classroom unit ventilator and the first hermetic compressor for air conditioning use. During 1941-1945, McQuay manufacturing facilities were converted to support the U.S. war effort. In the later 1940s and 1950s, McQuay products and sales grew as the demand for commercial air conditioning increased. The U. S. manufacturing facilities were expanded to meet this demand.
McQuay became a multi-national corporation during the 1960s by beginning overseas sales and licensing operations in Canada, England, Scotland, and Australia. In 1965, McQuay established a new division in Italy, McQuay Europa, to manufacture 50 Hz equipment.
Through mergers and acquisition in the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, the McQuay product line grew to include more types of commercial HVAC and large capacity equipment, as air conditioning became viewed more as a requirement than a luxury in buildings of all types. In 1984 it was acquired by Snyder General.
In 1992 McQuay, received the Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in recognition of McQuay being the first to design and manufacture chillers with HFC-134a, a refrigerant with no ozone depletion potential.
In 2006 McQuay, was acquired by Daikin Industries, a global manufacturer of both commercial and residential air conditioning equipment based in Osaka, Japan. Daikin had annual sales of $13 billion in 2009. Daikin was named one of the 100 most sustainable corporations for three years in a row by Corporate Knights, Inc., from 2007 through 2009. As a Daikin Industries group company, McQuay is part of the largest HVACR Company in the world.
With more than six million square feet of manufacturing facilities and offices in more than 75 countries, they are uniquely positioned to make sure their products and services are always within Customers’ reach.
Hermetically Sealed Compressors used in refrigeration systems are often described as being hermetic, open or semi-hermetic, to describe how the compressor and motor drive are situated in relation to the gas or vapor being compressed. In hermetic compressors, the compressor and motor driving the compressor are integrated, and operate within the pressurized gas envelope of the system. The motor is designed to operate in, and be cooled by, the refrigerant gas being compressed. The hermetic uses a one-piece welded steel casing that cannot be opened for repair; if the hermetic fails it is simply replaced with an entire new unit.