With the acquisition completed in November last year, FläktGroup’s new CEO David Dorney is set to guide the company through an exciting chapter. A seasoned industry executive, Dorney brings more than 20 years of global HVAC leadership experience with a focus on driving growth across key industrial sectors.

Samsung Newsroom sat down with Dorney to hear more about his vision for the future, the opportunities ahead and what the acquisition means for FläktGroup.

Q. Tell us about FläktGroup and its biggest strengths.

FläktGroup has deep roots with a story that goes back to 1909. We’ve pioneered ventilation systems for commercial and industrial buildings, clean rooms, marine applications and fire safety.

We are proud of our teams, their expertise in their chosen fields and the immense effort they put into their work every day. We want our FläktGroup employees to grow in the best way possible. We aim to ensure this happens by continually investing in training and developing our people. This will be coupled with the delivery of top-quality solutions from each of our 14 global manufacturing facilities, backed by our field-trained after-sales service engineers, so that our many loyal customers can enjoy continued satisfaction and peace of mind.

One area of deep expertise is in data center cooling — since introducing our first computer room air conditioning (CRAC) unit in 1964, we’ve been delivering solutions for more than 60 years. That experience means we understand every detail, from precision cooling to energy efficiency.

Q. How do you see the HVAC market today and in the future?

The HVAC market is strong and growing, driven by energy efficiency mandates, rising urbanization, adoption of smart technologies such as IoT and AI and increased focus on indoor air quality (IAQ), with projections showing significant expansion through 2030-2035. Key trends include demand for heat pumps, low-GWP refrigerants and smart connected systems.

Obviously, we are seeing rapid innovation in liquid cooling technologies, and globally, demand for energy-efficient HVAC systems is rising in regions like North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The outlook for our industry is positive and we’re ready to adapt and lead.

Q. What are some of FläktGroup’s recent successful projects?

Our recent important projects span both new-build and turnkey retrofit solutions across a range of essential industries. For instance, we’ve onboarded a number of new data center customers and have provided on-site support for AI and cloud services globally. We have also delivered a turnkey solution in Sweden for a customer building a CO2-free steel production plant, and we completed several defence projects within our marine business, for various countries including India and the US.

This year, we achieved our first cross-selling success in the US, where we delivered FläktGroup Air solutions together with Samsung modular chillers¹ for controlling the environmental conditions in an aerospace application.

Q. Where do you see synergies between Samsung and FläktGroup?

We are looking at cross-selling opportunities, supply chain integration and joining forces when it comes to R&D, to accelerate the time to market with our key new product introduction (NPI) roadmap.

By combining FläktGroup’s HVAC expertise with Samsung’s technology leadership, we can create smarter, more connected solutions. For example, integrating our HVAC systems with Samsung’s SmartThings Pro and b.IoT platforms will open doors to advanced energy management and smart building solutions. Samsung also brings strong AI capabilities, which we can use to optimize performance and efficiency.

Q. Which regions or industries will you focus on next?

Our priority is to build on our new partnership with Samsung and continue the collaboration between our teams that started in 2025. We’re focusing on coolant distribution unit (CDU) technology and expanding our FläktEdge smart control systems, while investing in R&D to speed up delivery and support partner projects.

The planned plant in Korea will be a template for all future FläktGroup factories, and it is essential to the expansion of our presence in the wider region. We’re also investing in new production facilities and field services in India and the US, where we see significant growth opportunities in data centers and indoor climate solutions.

Q. What is your vision as CEO, and what are your key goals?

Our vision is clear: we want to move forward with Samsung in 2026 and beyond, becoming a global leader in HVAC. That means working closely with our customers and partners alike, addressing their key challenges such as reducing their carbon footprint. It’s a big mission, especially with climate change and its impact on wellbeing.

Our goals focus on innovation, quality and sustainability. We’ll keep developing energy-efficient solutions and smart technologies that make buildings healthier and safer. FläktGroup has already been doing this for more than 100 years, leveraging our broad product portfolio and also investing in new solutions, and now we are taking it to the next level.

Q. Looking ten years ahead, where do you see FläktGroup?

I see FläktGroup, together with Samsung, as a global leader in HVAC and a trusted name everywhere. We’ll be known for sustainability, smart technology and energy efficiency.

Some examples of our current focus areas are expanding environmental product declaration (EPD)² coverage to 95% of products by 2026, launching FläktEdge specifically for key mission-critical vertical markets and embedding circular economy principles into design and packaging.

Through these efforts, we hope that FläktGroup will establish itself as a company that contributes to creating a more sustainable global society.

1. A modular chiller system consists of multiple smaller, independent chiller units that link together and operate as a single, scalable system, offering a stable supply of cooling and heating loads for buildings or facilities. ︎
2. An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is an independently verified document that provides transparent and comparable information about the life-cycle environmental impact of a product. ︎

Researchers, who had previously focused only on how to improve functions of the TV when it is on, began to think outside the box. The black screen of the TV when turned off is an eyesore to many. Some users even hide their TV sets in a cabinet. These observations prompted TV developers to act.

Concentrating their attention on the TV screen, they eventually came up with the inspired idea of making the screen “transparent” when not in use. Users can choose to use this transparent screen to display pictures, news or weather forecasts, or make it seamlessly blend with the background. Creators from Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Division explain how they developed “Ambient Mode” below.

Samsung Electronics’ Visual Display Division who planned, designed, and developed Ambient Mode. (from left) Dongheon Shin, Yoojin Choi, Suwon Shin, Hana Kim, Soohong Kim

The TV is Gone! The TV Screen Blends in with the Background

At the First Look 2018 New York, held on March 7 (local time) at the American Stock Exchange, the SmartThings app was used to take a picture of the wall in front of which a QLED TV was positioned, and then the TV disappeared. It was now in Ambient Mode, one of the features of 2018 QLED TVs. When this simple but innovative feature was revealed for the first time in the world, the audience burst into applause.

Ambient Mode analyzes the pattern and texture of the wall where the TV is mounted and displays the result on screen, leaving only the TV frame visible. Contrast and brightness can be adjusted for the best result.

Ambient Mode can also display news and weather forecasts in real time. It is a far cry from a simple screensaver, which uses images to cover the blackness of the screen. “Bringing the data in real time, Ambient Mode puts truly ‘live’ content on the screen. This is what differentiates Ambient Mode,” said Suwon Shin from the R&D team.

This innovative change was born through observing customers continuously. “My team researched lots of customers’ behaviors. Many users did not want to see the black screen in their living rooms when the TV was off. That’s when we came up with this idea.” said Yoojin Choi, a UX designer at Samsung Electronics. The division developed an algorism that generates patterns after analyzing the background.

This is not the only thing they learned through consumer research. According to Samsung Electronics’ survey, about 70 to 80 percent of households had bright wall colors without complicated patterns. They therefore added various plain background options so that customers could just choose one of them, fine-tune the color and brightness, and enjoy Ambient Mode.

Ambient Mode combines varied content on the transparent screen. In order to make the home more comfortable, developers built around the concept of nature. At six o’clock in the morning when the sun rises and lightens the house, the white luminance display level increases. When indirect lighting, such as a fluorescent lamp, is turned on, yellow has the highest luminance value. Birds sing at noon and crickets chirp in the evening. It is perfection down to the smallest detail.

Hana Kim from the Product Strategy Team said, “Ambient Mode, which has become part of the house, will show you useful information in the busy morning or in the evening when you are home from work. It doesn’t require any user interference. Ambient Mode does it on its own.”

Only 10 out of 900 Sketches Survived… An Endless Struggle for Agreement

The process of creating an unprecedented experience, including content moving as if it were alive, was a series of twists and turns. In addition to developing technology that could read and respond sensitively to every situation, the engineers had to figure out what customers have in common. “A still picture would not work. We had to make it seem alive and in harmony with its surroundings. Over the past year, I made more than 900 sketches. Only 10 of them survived. It was such a difficult a mission,” said Choi.

The Ambient Mode sensor stylishly hidden in the bottom logo of the 2018 QLED TVs

There were many technical hurdles. Soohong Kim, a hardware developer at Samsung Electronics recalled the days struggling to satisfy both engineers and designers. “Sometimes function and design do not go hand in hand. The sensor had to be placed in front for fine readings of the TV’s surroundings, but it didn’t look very good. Eventually, I put the sensor in the “Samsung” logo at the bottom of the screen. It is not visible to the naked eye.”

How to reach a consensus among planners, developers and designers was another hurdle to overcome. Since they were going where no one had gone before, endless meetings and discussions between departments became routine. “We were all greedy because we were taking the first step in a new field,” said Donghun Shin, a UX designer at Samsung Electronics. “We spent a lot of time in development and also made a lot of changes. We combined all the creative things together. It was a bumpy road, but we ended the journey satisfied.”

Ambient Mode Connects with Users, Complementing Lifestyles

Conventional TVs consume electricity while not in use. However, in Ambient Mode, 2018 QLED TVs detect when users are not around or when the lights are off using Bluetooth Low Energy and turn themselves off. The key is connectivity between the TV and the user. This function reduces energy consumption and extends the life of the TVs.

They look forward to seeing how Ambient Mode changes in the future. Hana Kim (pictured above) said, “There are various devices such as smartphones and tablets, but the TV has its own unique value in that it has a big screen for content sharing. Ambient Mode can encourage the media market to craft a range of content.”

“The Ambient Mode created an opportunity for the TV to be a warm and welcoming hub at the center of the living room,” said Yoojin Choi. “We will develop it so that families can communicate more and share a pleasant atmosphere in their living space.”

“Now the market is seeing the thinnest and largest TVs ever. We need new values to open a new market and I think Ambient Mode is the answer. 2018 QLED TVs with Ambient Mode bring the family together in the living room to have quality time. We don’t know where the end of the journey is, but one sure thing is that we will not stop here. We’re already wondering what the next innovation will be.”

With Ambient Mode, the creators realized what was only a wild imagination to someone else. And the team will continue their endeavor in bringing the unimaginable to reality.

Samsung Electronics’ newest QLED TVs will offer an unrivalled viewing experience when they are revealed in New York, USA.

The First Look in New York will take place on March 7 at the American Stock Exchange in Manhattan and will form part of Samsung’s global launch event for its 2018 QLED TV lineup. Throughout the continuous evolution of its technology, Samsung always designs its products around the lifestyles of its customers. The new QLED TVs will do this in brand new ways for 2018.

Samsung will mark the launch of the 2018 QLED TVs at 11 a.m. EST on March 7, 2018. Real-time content sharing of the First Look in New York will be available at news.samsung.com, instagram.com/samsungtv and facebook.com/SamsungTV.