Making a Difference in Our Communities

The American Lung Association has been an important partner in our
quest to create more Healthy Air homes and to promote healthy living.

The American Lung Association brings awareness to the causes of
lung disease and strategies for improving air quality to support lung
health. Until people face a medical issue involving their lungs, most
people feel safe in their homes and don’t worry about the air quality.
For patients and families learning of a diagnosis, the American Lung
Association brings comfort. Over the past 120 years it has become
the number one trusted source for information and support for those
facing lung disease. It underwrites and conducts scientific and
medical research, advocates for air quality improvements, and
organizes events raising awareness and millions of dollars annually to
fight lung disease.

Each year, its signature programs directly support more than 25
million people living with lung disease. A sampling of the educational
support available:

• Lung Disease Lookup: Learn about lung disease symptoms, causes
  and treatments, as well as advice for recognizing and managing
  lung diseases
• How Lungs Work
• Lung Health & Wellness

AprilAire supports the American Lung Association nationally by
reinforcing its position as the expert in lung health as a sponsor of its
Proud Partner program*. The program logo is prominently featured on
the packaging of all AprilAire high-performance, four-inch Air Filters.
In Wisconsin, we continued to sponsor the annual Fight For Air Climb
and added the Oxygen Ball. In total, these two events raised $700K
which will serve over 700K people with lung disease in our community.

Czar’s Promise is a popular new community partner. This unique organization joins our partners Coaches vs. Cancer and
the American Cancer Society in the fight to cure cancer.

Czar’s Promise is focused on supporting research on a type of cancer found in both children and dogs. It has identified three areas of impact:

• Grant funding for pediatric cancer research at UW Health Kids – American Family Children’s Hospital, Madison, WI
• Grant funding for companion animal cancer research at University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine,
  Madison, WI
• Financial, educational, and emotional support for families whose canines and felines have been diagnosed with
  cancer and are receiving treatment

AprilAire was a sponsor of the Czar’s Promise Inspiring Hope Walk, lending our Good Neighbor support to this cause and raising over $110K for cancer research and support. Forty employees, family members, and their dogs attended this fun event.

The annual back-to-school event in August was another big success! Employees, partner sponsors Complete Office of Wisconsin and Kramer Madison, and the company generously donated over 2,000 items to an elementary and a high school in Madison. The elementary school received backpacks stuffed with a water bottle and a variety of school supplies, classroom snacks, sleeping mats, and items from teachers’ wish lists. We donated gift cards and personal care items to stock the high school pantry.

AprilAire awarded one scholarship to a Poynette (Wisconsin) High School senior.

The Vernon G. Hellenbrand Memorial Scholarship was awarded to one Dane County, Wisconsin senior pursuing an associate or bachelor’s degree in business, or entrepreneurship.

Two scholarships were awarded to the dependents of employees pursuing college degrees.

The community of Sun Prairie—home of the AprilAire Innovation Center—continues to experience significant growth. AprilAire was a sponsor of the Love Your Library Gala celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Sun Prairie Public Library. Funds raised at this event support the Foundation reaching its $3.5M goal for the Next Chapter Expansion Project.

The ”Next Chapter” expansion will include many forward-thinking features including: a geothermal HVAC, a microgrid system with solar panels and battery energy storage, more study rooms, and a larger Friends bookstore and café.

Building healthy, safe homes reflects a shared vision with our new partner, Habitat for Humanity. Through its volunteer network, generous donors and sales from its Habitat ReStores, this organization helps families achieve strength, stability and self-reliance to build a better life through shelter. In Dane County alone, one in eight people live in poverty, including 16 percent of all Dane County children. Since 1987, Habitat for Humanity of Dane County has built 350 homes throughout the county.

In 2024, 90 AprilAire Good Neighbors rolled up their sleeves to frame an entire Habitat home to kick off our partnership. The AprilAire Sun Prairie Innovation Center was transformed into a Habitat for Humanity construction site with the Habitat Dane County Frame Up team calling this “The most successful Frame Up of all time.” This may have been predictable considering a surprising number of AprilAire volunteers reported for duty wearing their own toolbelts!

The experience was made richer by the opportunity to hear from a future Habitat homeowner who worked alongside our team through the Frame Up. The team signed the walls of the frame with well wishes for the family who would call this “home.”

Attendees of the AprilAire Path to Leadership National Sales Conference demonstrated our Good Neighbor value and their woodworking skills. The team built 35 beds to donate to area children in partnership with the Madison chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace. The organization brings together volunteers to build and deliver quality bunk beds to children and families in need.

“The Sleep in Heavenly Peace motto ‘No kid sleeps on the floor in our town,’ gets right to the heart of why this is such an impactful way to give back,” stated AprilAire President, Jimmy Pendley.

Good Neighbors continue to raise the bar during the holidays year after year, and 2024 was no different! The team brought the magic of the holidays to hundreds of local families with several toy drives, roller suitcases stuffed with winter essentials that were delivered to clients of the Luke House, and special help to a local Madison family going through a challenging time.

The AprilAire staff serves lunch monthly to approximately 80 community members—most of which are experiencing food insecurity and housing insecurity. The team packed roller suitcases with the most common items requested by clients of the Luke House, including blankets, batteries, flashlights, gift cards, and bus passes.

The DriSteem team again supported its community partner, Prism, throughout 2024. Prism is a Twin Cities, MN organization that provides dignity-centered resources for food, housing, and other basic needs. Once again DriSteem held a successful toy drive, donating hundreds of toys during the holidays.

The Toys for Tots drive was another huge success! Employees in Madison, Poynette, and Sun Prairie donated hundreds of toys.

We are proud to announce in 2024, AprilAire completed the transition of all Dehumidifiers to a refrigerant with 66% lower Global Warming Potential (GWP). All existing and new Dehumidifiers have now been upgraded to contain R-32 refrigerant. We project this improvement will avoid the release of almost 80 thousand tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere on an annual basis. This is equivalent to CO2 emissions from 8M gallons of gasoline.

In 2024, AprilAire launched the revolutionary 720 Fan-Powered Evaporative Humidifier featuring HydroCore™ Technology and industry-leading humidification capacity. It introduces a proprietary recirculation valve designed to recycle water while increasing performance resulting in lower utility bills with 60% less wastewater*, saving up to 15,000 gallons of water per year++.

The Operations team implemented a program in 2024 to reduce our waste stream. The first step was to buy and install equipment to bale all our shrink wrap and loose cardboard. Next, a service provider specializing in tailored recycling services was contracted to stage trailers on location.

We now focus our efforts on one recycling program, adding our separated and neatly baled shrink wrap and cardboard to other recyclable materials including extruded waste plastic, reground injection molding materials, electronics, and pallets. The entire program has increased the amount of waste materials recycled, and neutralized the cost paid previously for recycling and waste removal.

Operations also upgraded air compressor equipment in 2024 which is projected to increase manufacturing and energy efficiences.