A Pictorial of our Company’s History and Milestones

Both Kuul and Condair are belonging to the same owner; however, the transition will bring two great brands together where they can benefit from numerous synergies and the continued common ownership and direction from Silvan Meier. Both companies have successfully built a data center business and developed them to equal size. Together, we will be even stronger.

In 2024 a further strategic decision was taken, to establish a new production site in the United States to expand our evaporative technologies business and move closer to our customers.

The new production site has been located in Richmond, Virginia. As the Virginia area has become the epicenter for the data center business, with this important step we aim to boost our growth in this business segment.

Consolidation affected production, too. Prior to it, the Condair Group operated four factories in Europe, one in North America and one in China. An analysis found that in addition to Canada and China, one manufacturing plant in Europe alone would be enough; i.e. such a configuration would provide sufficient access to Condair Group’s markets. But where in Europe would be the best location? A use-value analysis examined the potential of 22 different sites, evaluating logistics, the possibility of serving markets with the greatest revenue potential, availability of qualified human resources, cost of labor and currency risks. The decision for the new manufacturing and logistics center went to Norderstedt, north of Hamburg, Germany. Besides the proximity to the airport, a distinct advantage was that nearly all the current work force, 50 individuals, from the former subsidiary Draabe could remain employed, ensuring continuity and retention of knowhow.

In May 2017, the new hub began operations. Simultaneously, the Condair Group implemented the vertical integration of all sales and service organizations in all the important markets.

The new Condair logo with three waves as the anchor element is a distinctively designed logotype. From the bottom up, the wave symbolizes the transition of water in its liquid state to water vapor in its gaseous form.

The wave expresses dynamism as well as motion and drive. We use a blue tone for the corporate color, which mirrors the most important themes:

Water & Air as well as Humidification & Cooling

Draabe has a long history with Defensor. It began at the end of the 1950s when the company founder, Hans-Jürgen Draabe, became the exclusive importer of Defensor air humidification products in Germany.

His son, Uwe Draabe presented in 1982 the company’s first own product, the highly innovative, portable purified water container UO. ‘UO’ indicates reverse osmosis, which removes minerals from the water and permits hygienic, residue-free misting of water. Water purification became Draabe’s calling card.

In 1986 Draabe introduced BioSafe, the first combined water purification and air humidification system, which the DI Puls, with its world-first high-pressure pulsation system, replaced in 1996. Draabe was a technology leader, but for international marketing and sales, it required a strong partner, which Walter Meier Holding becomes in 2002.

Walter Meier, in return, receives for its AxAir company, besides 1000 rental accounts in Germany, extensive knowhow in the field of integrated water purification and air humidification.

AxAir’s Condair DUAL marks yet another milestone in the history of air humidification. For the first time, two adiabatic humidification techniques operate together: atomization and evaporation. This design allows the Condair DUAL to deliver air humidification with unmatched hygiene and efficiency.

A post evaporation made from ceramic, an extremely hard material whose surface is highly resistant to corrosion or degradation, yet disposes of without problem, is one reason for the exceptional hygiene.

The other is a cartridge specially-designed by AxAir that releases silver ions into osmotic water and kills germs. Complementing the system, smart circuitry keeps waste water at an absolute minimum and ensures reliably maximum efficiency.

Walter Meier Holding, a heavy-weight in the Swiss building industry, suffers under the crisis, too.

The fusion of both subsidiaries Defensor and Condair offers significant synergy potential, with each having its own engineering, manufacturing and sales organization to answer the demands of the air humidification market.

The merger of the two equally potent companies, who had been competitors for many years, was potentially explosive. Which was another reason for a new company name: AxAir (not to be confused with the previously established service company AxAir Schweiz AG).

The Defensor headquarters in Pfäffikon SZ was the choice for the new company’s home, because of the availability of sufficient space. The Condair facility in Münchenstein closes. The fusion yields the world’s biggest air humidification company with around 200 employees and a turnover of 50 million Swiss francs annually. Both brands, Condair and Defensor, continue to exist on the product and system level.

Thanks to continuous innovation and its burgeoning business, Defensor AG grew rapidly in the 1980s. In fact, so quickly that the facility in Zurich Binz exceeded facility capacity.

December 1985 saw the ground-breaking ceremony for a new facility in a field on Talstrasse in Pfäffikon SZ. A 16-meter high and wide, high-bay warehouse that extends through all the levels divides the building into office and production sections. The new facility cost 18 million Swiss francs, including a new data-driven enterprise resource planning system from IBM with 20 monitor screens and a state-of-the-art, climate-controlled test laboratory with very challenging construction specifications as to temperature and humidity insulation.

In March 1987, it was time to move into the new facility.

Defensor PH5 is the market’s first multipurpose device. It embodies the union of air humidification and air purification in a single unit. A four-fold filtration system, comprised of a large particle filter, fine particle filter, electret coat and active carbon filter make the multifunction possible. ETH Zürich and Eidgenössische Prüfanstalt EMPA tested this highly efficient filter with excellent results.

No wonder, the Turmix company has successfully sold the unit, under the name Turmix TopAir, on the Swiss market for many years.

Defensor expanded its presence on the market thanks to its larger PH26 and PH14 models (1987 and 1991, respectively), which enjoy great popularity in museums, galleries, libraries, churches (organs) and large, openspace office applications. Today, the bigger multipurpose unit Defensor PH15 provide still an ideal indoor climate for artwork and people in various museums.

Jean Guay und Michael Leicester established Nortec in Ottawa, Canada in 1974. The company manufactured air humidifiers and also sold humidifiers from other companies, such as Lumatic and Condair products from Plascon AG. In 1978, Nortec placed an order with Plascon AG for 30,000 dollars’ worth of humidifiers to be paid in Swiss francs. As the value of the Canadian dollar plummeted suddenly and drastically, Nortec’s liability to Plascon tripled. Nortec and Plascon were able to reach an agreement to pay the open invoice with Nortec shares, making Plascon AG a stockholder in Nortec.

Plascon’s share of Nortec continued to grow and by 1983 Nortec belonged completely to Walter Meier Holding. The benefits are manifold: Since Condair (previously Plascon) like Defensor belonged to Walter Meier Holding, Defensor now had also a strong sales organization for Canada and the USA. In addition, Nortec had a manufacturing facility near Ottawa, Canada that was set up to produce air humidifiers in compliance to North American standards and demands.

With Condair ES, Plascon AG hit the jackpot. The device featured the first auto adaptive control system, i.e. it possesses a replaceable steam tank and water management control that are capable of producing odor- and mineral-free, hygienic steam regardless of tap water chemical properties.

But wait a minute, Condair ES?

Yes, that’s right. In 1976 Plascon relinquished the brand name ‘Lumatic,’ and returned to the, since 1955, patented tradename ‘Condair,’ due to litigation with Luwa AG, a ventilation and heating company. The case went all the way to the Swiss federal court. The decision reached by the court prohibited Plascon from using the brand name Lumatic. At the 1976 international plumbing and heating trade show in Frankfurt, Fachausstellung Sanitär- und Heizungstechnik ISH, the Lumatic logo is visible; whereas a little later at an exhibit in Münchenstein, the Condair name appears, with distinct similarity to the Lumatic logo.

Defensor launches its first resistive steam-based humidifier, Mk1. In contrast to the competition’s product (Lumatic), Mk1 uses a resistance technology, like that of an immersion water heater, not electrodes. With the introduction of this product, Defensor became the only manufacturer with expertise in the three areas of evaporation, atomization and vaporization. Mk1 is suitable for indirect humidification by means of a steam distribution pipe in an air duct. Thanks to continuous innovaion, the Mk1 series became Defensor’s backbone for commercial and industrial applications. Today the product, now called Condair RS, remains a popular seller in Condair’s range.

A coincidence? The first Lumatic steam humidifier for home use goes by the same name as competitor Defensor’s: Junior. And just like the Defensor Junior, the Lumatic Junior won a very prestigious award, the IF Design Award from International Forum Design. But Lumatic Junior offered a hygienic advantage: It employed steam produced by boiled water as opposed to Defensor’s Junior, which used cold water. Migros sold the Lumatic device and it quickly took off, selling in the first year 58,690 Junior 600 units and 30,737 of the 1000 models!

Disinfection remained in Defensor’s focus. In 1957, Defensor launched on the market a portable high-capacity atomizer for use in high-volume disinfectant aerosols, for applications such as grain mills where the atomizer combats moths and beetles. Persistently, the company looked for scientific proof for the disinfection benefits of aerosol atomizers. The German bureau for crop protection issued a report in 1959, "Nachrichtenblatt des Pflanzenschutzdienstes", stating that tests showed "the Defensor Microjet 109 produced good extermination results".

More and more scientists, like Professor Grandjean, ETH Zurich, confirm the health effects of maintaining a sufficient level of relative humidity. That is the best and most convincing advertising Defensor could possibly have. The Junior model was the first aerosol humidifier to hit the market for home use. Designed by Karl Flury, the rotation atomizer not only impresses with its technical prowess, but its aesthetic design captures the eye, as well. In 1956, the apparatus received the distinction „Die gute Form“, i.e. an award for timeless design and function, at the largest Swiss trade fair, MUBA. Junior’s technology and function are indeed so timeless and long-lasting that it became a true evergreen, and the 505 successor model continued to sell for Condair until 2024!

On June 21, 1948, Defensor AG was registered in Zurich’s trade registry. Principal shareholder was Dr. Bernhard Joos, chemist and entrepreneur. Joos developed in the early 1930’s PYRIDACIL®, a preparation for the disinfection of kidneys and urinary tracts, and started in 1936 the pharmaceutical company Cilag, today Janssen. Disinfection remained Joos’s main focus. In 1946, he applied for a patent for ‘method and apparatus for the spray distribution of liquids.’ Its utility was to apply ‘liquid disinfection media in a fine mist.’ Whether livestock stalls to combat animal disease or hospital and operating rooms, the atomizer apparatus provided ‘defensive’ protection against infection, hence the name Defensor AG, whose technology constituted Bernhard Joos’s patent.