Absolute Control. Optimized Efficiency.
+1 (949) 559-6000
office location
+1 (949) 559-6000
1700 Barranca Parkway
Irvine, CA 92606
info@griswoldcontrols.com

Meet Our Founder

Our Founder, David Griswold

In Memory of Mr. David Griswold

David Griswold’s legacy lives on through the strong foundation he built for our company. His spirit will continue to be the spark of passion and inspiration for innovation. The story of Griswold Controls begins long before the company’s inception on October 16, 1960 and continues to drive our true north to this day.

Innovation at an Early Age

Before age 5, David Griswold watched and helped his father develop hydraulic products. David and his brother would leave the lawn sprinklers running too often and long so David’s dad developed the first diaphragm valve (Clayton Valves) and timer control which became the first automated lawn irrigation system. David’s future as an engineer with a never-ending passion to solve the world’s problems began.

David began his journey as an entrepreneur at age 8 raising cocker spaniel puppies.  At age 11 he supplied the family with goat’s milk. In the seventh grade, after reading about Robert Fulton, he asked his father to build a steam engine for a go-cart. This led to a project of building a radial steam engine that turned into a hydraulic motor product line (with no go-cart) and a new company. David left college as a sophomore to continue his work with this company.

In 1948 his father acquired the Clayton valve division and formed Cla-Val Company. David worked closely with his father as the number two in command until they became “two cooks in the same kitchen”.  David resigned in 1956 to form an independent but complementary company however, the “two cooks” situation led to turning this company over to Cla-Val at the end of 1959.

David Griswold
David testing flow control valves at fire hydrant
Griswold Controls Original Building Costa Mesa, CA

Griswold’s Early Years

David started Griswold Controls early in 1960 with a staff of 3 ½ employees out of his home in Costa Mesa, CA. He incorporated the business on October 16 of that same year. Every room of his house served as a different functional area with the garage serving as R&D as he developed the stainless steel automatic flow limiting cartridge, the heart of Griswold Controls automatic valves. Since the water pressure in his home wasn’t high enough to fully test his design he “borrowed” water from the nearby fire hydrant and the cartridge designs were perfected!

Beginning with a line of automatic flow limiting valves built around David Griswold’s automatic cartridge, the company became universally known for its state-of-the-art, quality product used in hydronic HVAC systems.

Start

1960
ACCURACY
1960 in California, David Griswold introduced the stainless steel cartridge for automatic flow control (balancing). This innovation became the key element of a line of single and multi-flow control valves. The stainless steel design resulted in ±5% accuracy due to the strength and consistency of the materials.

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1979
SCOPE
After years of success with their original line of valves, Griswold broadened their horizons with the introduction of the Combo Valve. This was the first valve to feature double union endpieces, making the flow cartridge easily accessible for changeout.

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1984
VALUE
Hose kits were incorporated in 1984, offering a complete solution to specific piping needs. The kits featured one valve and one connector piece joined by a selection of flexible hoses and pipes. These kits were the beginning of Griswold’s complete supply service.

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1991
COMBINATION
1991 Marked a shift in thinking from return to supply. This shift was brought about by the addition of the Griswold Ultra-Z Valve. This 3-in-1 valve incorporated an isolation ball valve, a strainer, and an automatic flow cartridge in the same valve body, making supply-side flow control more cost-effective than return side. This product was followed by multiple combination valves from 1999 through 2007.

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1995
INNOVATION
Griswold’s next innovation was the Hi-Flow cartridge. This gave engineers two things: more flow and a lower pressure drop across the automatic flow control valve.

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1995
CONVENIENCE
Griswold realized early on that multiple sources can be a headache for the contractor.  That’s why we introduced the concept of Coil Piping Packages.  These packages consist of pre-plumbed components that connect to a coil or terminal unit.

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1998
VISION
The Optimizer was Griswold Controls’ next technology. The Optimizer provides Equal Percentage control in ball valves so that the heat output at the coil is linear when compared to the open area of the valve. The parabolic shape (based on the parabolic openings in the Griswold stainless steel cartridge) delivers a smooth, responsive flow curve during valve handle rotation.  This entered Griswold Controls into both the manual balance valve market as well as the temperature control market.

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2003
CHOICES
Pressure Independent valves are Griswold Controls’ latest innovation and expansion into the temperature control market. The parabolic optimizer insert was combined with a flow limiting valve to create a true pressure independent valve that has 100% authority all the time.

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2007
EVOLUTION
Griswold Controls was the first to recognize changes in the chemicals in HVAC systems as well as changes to installation practices and therefore introduced our field repairable stem.

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2014
GLOBAL
After a successful 21-year relationship between David Griswold and Bjarne Ibsen, president of FlowCon International, the ownership was shared in 2014 between David Griswold, Bjarne Ibsen, and Torben Ibsen. This merger made the company the largest specialized manufacturer of balancing valves and pressure independent valves for the HVAC market in the world.

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2015
INNOVATION
2015 marked a shift in thinking about how to control the flow at Griswold Controls. Borrowing technology from the plumbing industry, Griswold Controls launched its first ceramic disc flow control valve in the HVAC industry. The durability of the ceramic disc was now available to the HVAC market.

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2018
EXPANSION
Pressure Independent valves are well accepted in the HVAC market but many end-users want not just pressure independence, but also temperature independence! Griswold Controls introduces the EPIC System that combines both features and allows end-users to control temperature drop across their system.

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2018
GLOBAL
In 2018 Bjarne and Torben Ibsen became full owners of Griswold Controls and FlowCon International

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2020
Today
Today FlowCon International and Griswold Controls boast 60 years of HVAC market experience. Our offices in Irvine, California (USA), Brazil, Singapore, Dubai and Denmark handle all sales and marketing world-wide to over 60 different countries.

FlowCon International and Griswold Controls hold the biggest installation base of balancing valves and pressure independent control valves with significantly more than 10 million valves installed in the market, some of which have been installed for more than 25 years.

Like our founder David Griswold, FlowCon International and Griswold Controls are 100% devoted to flow control, balancing, and pressure independent temperature control. We think “balancing” 24 hours a day and cannot suppress all of our exciting new ideas. Both groups build on innovation together and shift from idea to action very rapidly. Our goal is to offer a better product range and up-to-date Application know-how. Hence, we will be able, in cooperation with our distributors and other business partners, to offer the optimum solution for a well-balanced HVAC system.

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