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VOL. 13 NO. 12 DECEMBER 2018
A photo feature on the 8th Annual Climate Control Awards, showcasing its most exciting moments...
In Climate Control Middle East’s traditional coverage of The Big 5 Dubai, we present a overview of the general sentiment among industry stakeholders and profiles of the exhibitors during the first edition of HVAC R Expo.
2nd edition
The 2nd edition of The Consultant Contractor Conference
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December 2018
Ludger Bökmann, Member of the Extended Board, Head of International Business, Europe Middle East and Africa, TROX GmbH, discusses the move to invest in a Middle East production facility for regional activities, the company’s global expansion strategy and the need to enhance technical know-how to improve IAQ
page
38
A comprehensive report outlining key takeaways from the Second Edition of The Consultant Contractor Conference, where speakers touched on challenges plaguing the MEP contracting and consulting space in a bid to seek solutions that will help move the industry forward.
4
‘The Middle East and Africa offer huge potential’ INTERVIEW
POST-EVENT REPORT
HVACR Expo, part of The Big 5 Dubai
44
REGULARS eDItor'S note
The perils of shorttermism 06 Regional News
46 Global News
77 MARKET PLACE
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EDITOR’S NOTE
The perils of short-termism
F Surendar Balakrishnan Editor @BSurendar_HVACR
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rench President Emmanuel Macron boldly went where almost no leader of a nation had gone before – of starting the process of introducing a measure he knew would not be received kindly by the electorate. And the common sentiment is that he is paying the price for it. The move to pursue a higher fuel tax from January 2019 to combat climate change has hit his ratings hard. In fact, the damage is significantly higher. Protests broke out in the country in November and, at the time of writing this note, have taken a turn for the worse, with rioters burning down buildings and automobiles in Paris. And this despite the government deciding to postpone introducing the tax by six months. The uniqueness of the measure is that it is not fuelled by a national agenda but stems from Macron’s underlying belief that it is important to put the interests of the planet ahead of other concerns. The singular nature of the measure is also in the fact that it has been instigated by a democratically elected leader. Politicians the world over have one things in common – they never take their eyes off their electorate while taking decisions. Every move has to be weighed with votes in mind, and even the subtlest furrowing of the brows is a signal for them to beat a hasty strategic retreat. George Berbari, the CEO of UAE-headquartered DC PRO Engineering, in his book, The Energy Budget, makes an interesting observation that US presidents in the past two decades performed underwhelmingly when it came to tackling emissions. “The lack of planning was owing to a lack of vision, knowledge and a misconceived notion that a possible solution to ‘the energy conundrum’ was beyond their political terms and as something that would take decades to evolve,” Berbari says. His allusion is to the predominantly short-term mindset of global leaders and a frustrating policy of not looking beyond their possible full quota of years in office. Their thinking is that they would rather focus on measures that would show immediate results and define their legacy. In that context, Macron’s move can best be described as counterintuitive, and it remains to be seen if he is willing to steer the ship through the entire intended course or will speedily seek to lower the anchor at a populist port. Now, there are other political structures that offer a way out, at least in the context of combating short-term thinking. The political framework in the GCC region, to cite an example, is such that the opportunity exists to bring about significant change to tackle emissions. One such move would be to introduce cost-reflective utility tariffs, as a means to lower fuel consumption. Yes, there is a compulsion to offer as business-friendly a structure as possible to attract foreign direct investment, but the scope definitely is there to act unilaterally in the best interests of the nation and the planet. In the case of some instances, the absence of electorate-restraints can perhaps offer the world a glimmer of hope in tackling a vexingly long-sustaining problem.
Co-Founder & Commercial Director Frédéric Paillé | fred@cpi-industry.com Assistant Editor Hannah Jo Uy | hannah@cpi-industry.com Associate Editor K E Priyamvada | priya@cpi-industry.com Advertising Enquiries Frédéric Paillé: +971 50 7147204 fred@cpi-industry.com
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The Consultant Contractor Conference, second edition
A CALL FOR CHANGE Speakers at the Second edition of The Consultant Contractor Conference attempted to analyse, understand and seek solutions to the issues plaguing the MEP contracting and consulting space. Here are the key issues that were discussed... By Ranjana Konatt
T
he survival of a product depends on its ability to infuse confidence in an end-user, said Sekhar Reddy, Head MEP, Meydan One Mall, MS Construction, while setting the tone at the second edition of The Consultant Contractor Conference, held on October 16, in Dubai. “As custodians of the MEP industry,” he said, “it is the responsibility of MEP consultants and contractors to safeguard this belief.” He recalled that the time after the year 2008 was when the contracting and MEP space was affected by issues, such as poor cash flow. “The market has undergone dramatic change over the years and yet it continues to regress in the manner in which contracts are conceptualised, developed and delivered,” Reddy said. Echoing him was Sameer Daoud, CEO, MECIC Contracting, who said, “When we speak of delivering on a project and mitigating risks in contracts, on the part of the MEP contractor, it eventually comes down to project selection.” The way in which an MEP contractor positions himself, Daoud said, can influence project delivery. Balachandran Senthilraj, Vice President, Engineering and Projects, Southern General Contracting and Real Estate, echoed Daoud and reiterated the importance of efficient project selection. He said, “Introspecting on whether the client has the ability to pay and whether the MEP contractor can deliver as per the stipulated time frames is crucial.” In certain cases, Senthilraj added, even though the clients might be big names in the market, their payments do not match the expected standard. “As many as 90% of the contracts are back-to-back and with
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December 2018
Sekhar Reddy
Sameer Daoud
Balachandran Senthilraj
limited budgets, the deliverables are often high but the budget is low,” Senthilraj said. Unlike the main contractor, he added, the day a contract is signed, the sub-contractor is expected to pump in the money to begin work on a project. Supporting the thought was Dr Bishoy Edward, COO, Dhabi Contracting, who said, “It is difficult to secure a project, and negotiating on the price can get tough.” However, AR Suresh Kumar, General Manager Business Development, Voltas Limited, highlighted that in addition to price, the difficulty lies in selecting a project in stressful situations. “Today’s market is all about learning to say no to the main contractor and the client,” he said. “If the sub-contractor cannot say 'no', then it is as good as running into a trap,” Kumar added. In search of possible solutions, Daoud reiterated the underlying concern of delayed payments and posed a question, “After signing a project, how best can an MEP contractor mitigate risk and avoid the need for arbitration?” Proposing the use of technology as a possible solution, Andrew Schumer, MD, Black Wit Cyber Solutions, pointed out that delayed payments indicated an issue of trust and traceability. He said, in such a scenario, the application of blockchain technology to the business might help. “Blockchain will help put traceability into context,” he said. For instance, if an MEP contractor has made the delivery as per the contract, the payment process can be automated, Schumer said. However, raising a vital point, Schumer added that even though blockchain can do a great deal, in terms of securing a business and
▶ Prabhakar Kesavan, Commercial Director, International
Operations Business Group, Voltas
improving traceability, for it to reap good results, it must be done right. “The foundation in the technology is important and needs to be perfect," he said. "Once you have the foundation right, yes, then you need not worry about trust as a factor." Dr Bishoy Edward Edward’s take on the subject was, “Blockchain can be a good method to increase trust and traceability.” However, he said that one cannot overlook having a good relationship with the client and consultant, which is the best course of action. Pointing to a relevant issue with regard to trust, Kumar AR Suresh Kumar highlighted how halfbaked contracts need to be dealt with appropriately. “Getting into a half-cooked detail document often puts the sub-contractor and the contractor directly at an argument stage.” For blockchain to work, he said, the client, consultant, contractor Rob C Gregory and supplier need to be at the same level of trust, in order to have the right understanding in terms of project delivery. Elaborating,
Reddy pointed to the need for simplification in contracts. He said, “I have seen people go through tonnes of pages when a conflict can be settled in less than five minutes across the table.” Reddy added that battles are not won by arguments; instead they can be won through diplomacy. However, Daoud said that, so far, the biggest challenge is to get the stakeholders on the same page and working towards the same objective.
GOING BEYOND THE CONSULTANT AND THE CONTRACTOR However, ‘trust’ between the consultant and the contractor was not the only factor being referred to as the missing link; there was another ‘C’ to the equation. Both contractors and consultants pointed to the ‘client’ as an important stakeholder to the success of a project. Scott Coombes, Director, AESG, said that the client was the root of many existing problems. He said, “Clients do not develop enough detail related to the brief, which leaves consultants confused, with regard to what they are designing against.” As a result, he added, not only does trusting the consultant become an issue but also the fact that they are approached by clients who work with other consultants to peer-review their work. “Peer reviewing is bad and often leaves consultants criticising each other,” Coombes said. Pointing to another issue, he said, clients often push prices down, which reduces the quality of MEP products being used and the design work being done, which then results in poor deliverables. Responding to the statement, Rob C Gregory, MEP Technical Director, Aurecon, highlighted that what you get is what you’ve paid for. “The reality is that due to the lack of time there is pressure on design and delivery, which leads to design issues,” Gregory said. Echoing him was Hassan Younes, Director, Griffin Consultants, who said, “Mistakes in design happen due to the lack of time; in addition, there are other issues such as faulty installation and commissioning, where the consultant does not have enough manpower and the contractor lacks the bandwidth to do the job well.” Darrel Strobel, Managing Director, MEP Engineering, Design Division, KEO International Consultants, pointed to design as an intent. You can show a design on a drawing, but there are instances
December 2018
9
Consultant Contractor Conference 2nd edition
Darrel Strobel
Daniel Xu
where the contractor does not understand the intent of the drawing, he said. Reiterating the thought was Coombes, who said, “It’s terrible when you forget the specification within the project.” A part of the issue, he added, is when the main contractor squeezes the MEP contractor to make compromises on quality. As a result, it leads to faulty installation and commissioning of equipment. Gregory, however, asserted that contractors have their own pressures, and they are pressured to do a project at a particular cost. He said, “It is often a twoway street and not just a contractor issue.”
LACK OF CLARITY IN CONTRACTS AND LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS In addition to competitive pricing and irregularities Shawn Davis in cash flow, another issue addressed at the conference was the need for MEP consultants and contractors to have a good understanding of the contracts they are signing. Daniel Xu, Partner, King & Wood Mallesons, MENA, said, “We see a trend towards competitive pricing.” With regard to contracts, Xu highlighted that MEP contractors must have a look at the contract and introspect on whether the clauses within the contract are acceptable, before going ahead with the project. Shawn Davis, Partner, King and Wood Mallesons, MENA, stressed the importance of using contract drafts as the number one step to avoiding pitfalls. “You don’t need to start a contract from scratch,” he said. “There are plenty of contract drafts available by industry organisations, and it's always a good practice to find an existing template that fits.” Inconsistencies, he added, especially relating to definitions, can lead to confusion and disputes.” If you put a contract before two to three people, he asserted, you want to make sure they all have the same interpretation of the contract, he said. In addition, Davis stressed the importance of striking a fair and reasonable balance with regard to limiting liability. “Not only should contractors be able to have a cap on their liability, which is often 100% of their contract price, but there should be exclusions; some of the obvious ones are fraud, negligence and high-level breaches,” Davis said. Rachel Ewin, Director, Contract Services, Turner & Townsend
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December 2018
International, sharing her experience as an arbitrator, said, “When contractors work on a project for 15 years, it becomes more about personalities and not so much about what’s written in black and white.” The challenge, she said, is to sit down with the parties and try and take Rachel Ewin the emotion out of it. With reference to the contract, she said, it comes down to knowing what’s written, in terms of the timescales, notice periods, etc. Arbitration, she said, is becoming increasingly popular and is being written into majority contracts. By way of speaking on another legal aspect vital to Peter Anagnostou contracts, Davis highlighted the need for version control. “Suppose you are working on version seven of a contract, others must also have version seven and not a version five,” he added. Pointing to the lack of version control as a common issue, he said that such a miss can set the project back considerably and involves a lot of risks. “Eventually, the counterparty will lose faith,” Davis said. Pointing to a crucial aspect, he added, “Contracts must have a provision for priority, which indicates that in an event of inconsistency the contract will highlight which part of the agreement takes priority.” Highlighting a few other challenges, Peter Anagnostou, Senior Construction Lawyer, DLA Piper Middle East, shifted focus to the need for legal consultation before a contract has been signed. “Clients always call us when it’s too late to change or make amendments to a contract,” he said. "But it is important to understand that the tribunal will look and judge based on what the contract says, making it crucial for the MEP contractor to understand how the contract will operate and what the clauses mean in a legal set-up." Understanding both legal and commercial risks, he asserted, is the first step to protecting oneself and, hence, it is important to reach out to a legal consultant for advice before a contract is signed. With regard to termination, Anagnostou highlighted two ways. “One is where the owner has the ability to terminate it on notice, and the other where there is a cure period awarded to the other party,” he said. “You want to ensure that if you are going down the path of termination, you take into account the cure period so that you can send follow-ups. If the matter is escalated to court, you want to ensure that the terminating party has acted in good faith and in accordance with the contract.”
HAVE YOUR SAY! We welcome your views on the article. Write to editor@cpi-industry.com
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ver the years, the Climate Control Awards have stood for an honest appraisal of efforts to safeguard people and planet and to ensure good health and support for industries and other wheels of the economy. This year’s Awards exercise ual Clima ate Conttro ol Award ds honored outstanding is no different. The 8th Annu performance by individuals and businesses directly and indirectly associated with the HVACR industry. Following diligent evaluation carried out by the distinguished members of the jury, winners took home the iconic CCA trophy for their exemplary service to society and commitment towards excellence. We bring you highlights of the dazzling night that was‌.
December 2018
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SNAPSHOTS.... DINN NER, ENTERTAIINMENT AND RAFFL LE DRAWS
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December 2018
December 2018
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THE PRODUC CER RS
Frr FFrédéric Frédé Paillé, Co-Founder Co-Fo and Commercial C Director, Direc CPI Industry In
SSurendar uren Balakrishnan, Co-Founder and Co-F Editorial Director, Edito CPI Industry I
THE CPI IN NDUSTRY TE EAM M
Rao Ali Akbar
Muzzammil Hameed
Ranjana Konatt
Chris Lopez
Doveine Panii
Leanirni Pedroso
Maq Quisay
Kanika Saxena
Ruqiya Shariff
Manzoor Usman
Ana Liza Valino
Judy Wang
MASTER OF CEREMONIE ES Hannah Jo Uy, Assistant Editor, CPI Industry
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December 2018
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17
MEMBER RS OFF THE JURY
L-R: Surendar Balakrishnan, Co-Founder and Editorial Director, CPI Industry; Bjorn Ostbye, Project Development Manager, Lulu Group International; Sougata Nandi, Founder & CEO, Energy and Environmental Efficiency Advisory (3e Advisory); Robert Davies, Head of Fire & Life Safety Middle East, WSP; Kandasamy Anbalagan, Managing Partner, Proleed Engineering Consultants; Sarfraz Dairkee, Secretary to the Board, Emirates Green Building Council; Majd Fayyad, Technical Manager, Emirates Green Building Council; Jagath Gunawardena, Senior Manager, Projects & Building Development, Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Jeรกn van Loggerenberg, Partner, CKR Consulting Engineers; Krishnan Unni Madathil, Chartered Accountant, Audit Partner, Bin Khadim, Radha & Company Terry Johnson, Senior Fire Services Advisor, Dubai Civil Defence and Mario Seneviratne, Managing Director, Green Technologies could not attend the ceremony due to pressing commitments
Sougata Nandi, Chairperson of the Jury, addresses the audience
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December 2018
Third-party moderator: Krishnan Unni Madathil, Chartered Accountant, Audit Partner, Bin Khadim, Radha & Company
SPECIAL AW WARD D RECO OGN NITIO ON
Hi Excellency His E ll Ludovic L d i Pouille, P ill FFrench hA Ambassador b d to t the th United U it d Arab A b Emirates, E i t receiving i i a special i l award on behalf of French President, His Excellency Emmanuel Macron. The award was in recognition of the government's leadership and commitment towards mitigating climate change and making "our planet great again".
December 2018
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8th ANNUAL CLIMATE CONTROL
AWARDS 2018 GCC Region Manufacturer of the Year
SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Hira Industries LLC Kingspan Insulation
WINNER:
Kingspan Insulation
Dominic de Sousa Award For Innovation SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Carrier Middle East Eco-Structures International PCFC Trakhees QTM Technical Services Taqeef
WINNER:
Carrier Middle East
20
December 2018
8th ANNUAL CLIMATE CONTROL
AWARDS 2018 Manufacturer/Supplier of the Year (standalone DX) SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Daikin Middle East & Africa Johnson Controls
WINNER:
Daikin Middle East & Africa
Manufacturer/Supplier of the Year (VRF systems) SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Daikin Middle East & Africa Taqeef
WINNER:
Daikin Middle East & Africa
December 2018
21
8th ANNUAL CLIMATE CONTROL
AWARDS 2018 District Cooling Company of the Year
SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Emaar District Cooling (EDC) L.L.C Voltas Limited
WINNER:
Voltas Limited
MEP Contractor of the Year SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Emirates Falcon Electromechanical Co. L.L.C. (EFECO) Voltas Limited
WINNER:
Emirates Falcon Electromechanical Co. L.L.C (EFECO)
22
December 2018
8th ANNUAL CLIMATE CONTROL
AWARDS 2018 Commissioning/Re-commissioning Company of the Year
WINNER:
AESG
Editor’s Choice Award
WINNER:
Al Saeed Group
December 2018
23
8th ANNUAL CLIMATE CONTROL
AWARDS 2018 District Cooling Utility Provider of the Year SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Emaar District Cooling (EDC) L.L.C. Tabreed
WINNER:
Tabreed
O&M Company of the Year (chilled water plant)
SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Emaar District Cooling (EDC) L.L.C Voltas Limited
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December 2018
WINNER:
Emaar District Cooling (EDC) L.L.C.
8th ANNUAL CLIMATE CONTROL
AWARDS 2018 Innovative Manufacturer/ Supplier of the Year (chillers) SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Al Salem Johnson Controls Carrier Middle East Daikin Middle East & Africa Johnson Controls Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Inc.
WINNER:
Daikin Middle East & Africa (joint winner)
Innovative Manufacturer/ Supplier of the Year (chillers)
SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES:
WINNER:
Al Salem Johnson Controls
Johnson Controls Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Inc.
Carrier Middle East Daikin Middle East & Africa Johnson Controls Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Inc.
(joint winner)
December 2018
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8th ANNUAL CLIMATE CONTROL
AWARDS 2018 Manufacturer/Supplier of the Year
(chilled water system equipment & components, less chillers)
SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Herz Middle East FZE MSA Middle East Nalco Water
WINNER:
Nalco Water
Building Performance Services (testing and certification) SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Dubai Municipality (Construction Materials Unit) SKM Air Conditioning LLC
WINNER:
Dubai Municipality
(Construction Materials Unit)
26
December 2018
8th ANNUAL CLIMATE CONTROL
AWARDS 2018 Manufacturer/Supplier of the Year (air treatment) SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Carrier Middle East Limited Mekar Air Handling Units
WINNER:
Carrier Middle East Limited
Manufacturer/Supplier of the Year (air movement, ventilation) SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Eco-Structures International Maico Gulf LLC Kingspan Insulation Leminar Air-Conditioning Industries Oxycom Ziehl-Abegg
WINNER:
Eco-Structures International (joint winner)
December 2018
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8th ANNUAL CLIMATE CONTROL
AWARDS 2018 Manufacturer/Supplier of the Year (air movement, ventilation) SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Eco-Structures International Maico Gulf LLC Kingspan Insulation Leminar Air-Conditioning Industries Oxycom Ziehl-Abegg
WINNER:
Oxycom (joint winner)
HVACR Accessories Manufacturer/Supplier of the Year SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Doby Verrolec Hira Walraven AC Industry LLC HVAC Industries Leminar Air Conditioning Company LLC
WINNER:
Doby Verrolec
28
December 2018
8th ANNUAL CLIMATE CONTROL
AWARDS 2018 Manufacturer/Supplier of the Year (fire safety) SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Ateis Middle East FZCO Central Ventilation Systems Leminar Air Conditioning Industries LLC
WINNER:
Ateis Middle East FZCO (joint winner)
Manufacturer/Supplier of the Year (fire safety)
SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES:
WINNER:
Ateis Middle East FZCO
Leminar Air Conditioning Industries LLC
Central Ventilation Systems Leminar Air Conditioning Industries LLC
(joint winner)
December 2018
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ADVERTORIAL
LEMINAR AIR CONDITIONING INDUSTRIES ENDS 2018 ON A HIGH NOTE Company introduces a wide range of products, establishes partnerships and wins two awards of great significance
L
eminar Air Conditioning Industries, a leading fire safety, noise control and air distribution products manufacturer, has expressed optimism going into 2019, on the back of much progress in 2018. Elaborating, the company said the year started well, with it finding a spot on the coveted ‘Great Places to Work’ list. Leminar, a member of Al Shirawi Group of companies, is the only local manufacturing company to have bagged the award, which reflects its employee-friendly policies and the great work culture it has created, the company said.
In 2018, it became a member of the US-based National Air Filtration Association (NAFA), it said, and set the ball rolling for the inclusion of new products into its portfolio under the Galloway brand. It said it will formally launch Galloway Air Filters in the first quarter of 2019. According to the company, it will offer around 13 types of filters, all of which will conform to ISO 16890 standards. Leminar’s investment in Lean Manufacturing Practices (LMPs), the company said, yielded tangible business benefits, and is driving its environmental sustainability
WHY LEMINAR FOR FIRE DUCT SYSTEMS?
WHY GALLOWAY ACOUSTICS FOR SILENCERS?
• Only company with comprehensive range of coated and non-coated fire-rated ducts • Fenland (coated) and Flame-Safe (non-coated) ducts have valid civil defence approvals for Type A & Type B for un-insulated and insulated duct systems, including kitchen-extract applications • Third-party certification from LPCB (UK), Exova Warringtonfire (UK), BRE (UK) and Applus (Spain) • Fenland fire duct system provides up to three hours insulation resistance for temperatures up to 350 degrees C without application of any external insulation • Fenland coating is tested and approved by Dubai Central Laboratory for its VOC content
• Silencers at the Leminar factory are manufactured as per specifications of Galloway Acoustics (UK) • Attenuators are tested to BS 4718 and ISO 7235 standards • Attenuators are tested in an independent laboratory on an UKAS-accredited test rig • Comprehensive range of sound attenuators, louvres, enclosures and screens • Fire-rated attenuators for two hours rating available for fire ducts • The Rectangular silencer has a variety of 110 models and datasheets for normal and melinex lining options for the healthcare and food sectors and for clean room applications • The Cylindrical Silencer Range has eight different data sheets, plus five types of Crosstalk Silencers, specifically designed for non-ducted applications • 123 data sheets in total
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December 2018
Dipak M Bhadra, Executive Director, Leminar Air Conditioning Industries
agenda. With the same manpower as in the past, it added, its production increased by 25% to over 10 million square feet. Equally remarkable, the company said, it minimised waste by six per cent. More recently, to meet the growing demand of its flagship FFC-UK fire-rated ducts, Leminar signed a sub-license agreement with Saudi-based Sharqawi Air Distribution Systems Company Factory, it said. The agreement, it added, will allow customers in the Kingdom to have easy access to the fire-rated ducts, which have been supplied to hundreds of projects across the UAE and even Oman. Not surprising, then, it said, it earned the rare honour of winning the coveted Climate Control Awards trophy for ‘Manufacturer of the Year (fire safety)’ for a second time in a row. Leminar operates out of its 325,000-squarefoot facility in Dubai Industrial City. According to the company, it produces high-quality HVAC sheet metal GI ducts, with CGF 1-type flange system, fire-rated ducts, spiral round ducts, sound attenuators, acoustic louvres, volume-control dampers, VAV boxes, fire dampers, air filters and other accessories that are distributed across countries in the GCC region.
8th ANNUAL CLIMATE CONTROL
AWARDS 2018 Project of the Year (Outdoor Cooling Systems)
WINNER:
MistAmerica Outdoor Comfort Solutions L.L.C
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December 2018
8th ANNUAL CLIMATE CONTROL
AWARDS 2018 FM Company of the Year (Energy Management and IEQ)
WINNER:
Voltas Limited
Building Envelop of the Year (Contributing Manufacturer/Supplier) SHORT-LISTED COMPANIES: Dow Eco-Structures International
WINNER:
Eco-Structures International
December 2018
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8th ANNUAL CLIMATE CONTROL
AWARDS 2018
MONITORED BY
SILVER SPONSOR
BRONZE SPONSORS
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December 2018
27 NOVEMBER ΠAL YASAT BALLROOM, RODA AL MUROOJ DOWNTOWN, DUBAI, UAE
COCKTAIL SPONSOR
HVAC FIRE SAFETY PARTNER
CATEGORY SPONSORS
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December 2018
35
Mike Hudema
VOICES
@MikeHudema
Levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached another new record high with no sign of reversal: https://buff.ly/2R6tjQY
Patricia Espinosa C. @PEspinosaC
COP24 @COP24
Secretary of State @KurtykaMichal: We are aware that @COP24 is a major challenge in terms of its content. It is in #Katowice that a full package implementing the Paris Agreement is scheduled to be adopted.
Thank you Norway for doubling your contribution to the #GreenClimateFund. We hope other countries will follow the lead for an ambitious and successful GCF replenishment, crucial to enabling developing countries to take effective #ClimateAction. #ParisAgreement #COP24
Rapid cuts in emissions are needed to avoid irreversible impacts on Earth. There is no time to wait. #COP24 @JustinTrudeau #climate
UN Climate Change @UNFCCC
Stefan Rahmstorf @rahmstorf
See how easily we could have solved the climate crisis if we had started in 2000! Only 4% reduction per year. Now we need 18% per year. You can thank climate deniers, lobby groups and cowardly politicians for this delay. From Global Carbon Project, http:// folk.uio.no/roberan/GCB2018.shtml …
Greta Thunberg @GretaThunberg This is what we have to do. This is what have to focus on every hour of every day. This is everybody’s moral duty. Starting today. #COP24
Euphoria in plenary of #COP24 as the #ParisAgreement Work Programme, the operating guidelines of the agreement, are adopted by all governments, three years after the historic agreement was clinched
Leo Hickman
@LeoHickman
This bit of #COP24 decision text is incredible. I'm amazed it got through, to be honest...
LDC Chair
@LDCChairUNFCCC
The world’s 47 Least Developed Countries wholeheartedly and unequivocally welcome the IPCC Special Report on 1.5C #COP24
Circular Economy Europe @EconomyEurope
RT EU_Finance: #COP24 has ended, but the work continues. At EU_Commission a group of experts on #sustainablefinance & #greenfinance just presented their work on green taxonomy and they need your input. wv http://europa.eu/!DP89Jx What is Taxonomy?…
Karoliina Hurri @HurriKaroliina
My thoughts from Katowice just published @Politiikasta_fi: https://politiikasta.fi/mitakatowicen-jalkeen/ … 36
December 2018
COP24
UN Climate Change
@COP24
Minister Henryk #Kowalczyk: The most important objective of the Polish #COP24 Presidency is to adopt a full implementation package for #ParisAgreement. We count on the support of all countries in achieving this goal.
@UNFCCC
Catherine McKenna
@cathmckenna
"Our children will look back at our legacy and recognize that we took the right decisions at important junctures — like the one we are facing today." Thank you for your leadership and determination, @KurtykaMichal. Our kids and our grandkids are counting on us. #COP24
World nations adopt a robust set of guidelines for implementing the landmark #ParisAgreement on #ClimateAction > https://bit.ly/2EwnUQn The implementation of the agreement will benefit people from all walks of life, especially the most vulnerable.#GlobalGoals #COP24
CNN
@CNN
Young people were among the strongest moral voices at #COP24, a UN summit on climate change. "You are not mature enough to tell it like is. Even that burden you leave to us children," 15-year-old Greta Thunberg told a group of negotiators. https://cnn.it/2PH0MzS
United Nations @UN
"Our fate is in our hands. The world is counting on all of us to rise to the challenge before it is too late." -- @antonioguterres calls for urgent and ambitious #ClimateAction. https://bit.ly/2oYV7Kl
Greta Thunberg @GretaThunberg
As soon as our politicians, the media and our society start treating the climate crisis as the crisis it is, we will no longer need climate conferences like the #cop24. Because then all our time will be spent on cutting emissions and changing our society into a sustainable one.
#COP24 was a significant hashtag that took over Twitter on December 15, 2018, alongside images of an ecstatic Michal Kurtyka, COP24 President, jumping with joy, as the final session of the summit concluded with the development of the Katowice Climate Package, implementing the Paris Agreement. The Package was the byproduct of tense negotiations that lasted for two weeks, in Katowice, Poland, taking into account inputs of representatives from 196 countries and the European Union, including many heads of state, government and Ministers of the Environment and Foreign Affairs.
UN Climate Change @UNFCCC
At #COP24, innovative partnerships have demonstrated how crosssectoral collaboration can step up #ClimateAction. Check out some of the highlights: https://bit.ly/2PDDrPC
Avaaz
@Avaaz
Goosebumps! 15 year old activist @GretaThunberg speaks truth to power at the UN #COP24 climate talks: "You say you love your children above all else, and yet you're stealing their future before their very eyes."
December 2018
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HVAC R Expo (The Big 5 Dubai 2018)
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opportunities. Kishore Deotarase, General Manager, Sales, Unigulf, added that while there are lot of projects in the pipeline, vigilance must be administered with regard to choosing them. “There are a lot of new contractors we have never dealt with in the past, and [we are] extending longer credit terms,” he said. “It is becoming difficult and checks keep bouncing. These are the challenges we face every day. There are jobs, but they want lower prices and they don’t pay us on time.” Deotarase stressed that Unigulf welcomes competition, but that it should be at an even playing field, adding that often contractors, who want to buy their products, which, he said, carry the necessary certifications in compliance with local authorities, would ask them to match the lower prices of competitors. Umair said that almost every project in the market is price-driven, because contractors are bidding heavily to keep the workforce busy, which trickles down to the subcontractors, suppliers and, eventually, HVACR providers. “Everybody is under that pressure to give the contractor the discount they gave to the owner to win the project in the first place,” he said, adding that this inevitably impacts the type and quality of products that goes into the projects. Deotarase added that while Unigulf would love to work with only certain contractors it has done business with in the past, this is not a luxury of choice afforded to it. “Sometimes, big projects are handled by newer contractors,” he said. “Sometimes, they are from outside, and they form JVs, so how do we choose? We still don’t want to give up, but it becomes a catch 22.” Deotarase added that while this challenge exists, particularly with smaller projects and some types of contractors, in projects of significant value and size, there can be no compromises in quality, and more awareness is exercised, especially in fire and life safety.
AN EAR TO THE GROUND
rawing an international profile of visitors, the objective of participating companies’ in HVAC R Expo included using the platform to enter the market, launching innovative solutions, reinforcing relations with existing customers, establishing new connections and enhancing their profile in the Middle East region. More importantly, the event provided stakeholders with ample opportunity to feel the pulse of the business environment. Ali Umair, General Manager, Doby Verrolec, was one such exhibitor, who said that he aimed to gain a deeper understanding of which direction the market is going through the company’s participation. Sharing insights in this regard, Ludger Bökmann, Member of the Extended Board, Head of International Business, TROX GmbH, said that Middle East and Africa offer huge potential, adding that growth may not be quick, but it will be continuous, if the political situation remains stable. Sachin R Mhatre, Partner, Sachins Impex, said that the economic slowdown in the Middle East does not affect the company, as there is demand from one country or another, irrespective. Bassel Abd El-Aziz, Sales Director, Middle East, Airchal Middle East, outlined opportunities in Oman, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, adding that Egypt, while of interest, is highly competitive and that the company is still awaiting the boost for projects in the UAE in view of World EXPO 2020. Mehmet banal, Chairman, Turkish HVAC&R Exporters’ Association (ISIB), also weighed in on the region’s growth potential highlighting Turkish firms’ continuous interest in the Middle East region, which has been identified as instrumental in ISIB’s bid to get at least 1.5% share in the global market, as well as commitment to the UAE, in particular, which, he said, is a constantly growing market that offers many
December 2018
What sort of challenges and opportunities does the global HVACR industry see in the Middle East market? Hannah Jo Uy provides a snapshot of the industry sentiment based on interviews Climate Control Middle East carried out during the HVAC R Expo, part of The Big 5 Dubai, held from November 26 to 29, at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre…
December 2018
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REPORT
Liju Thomas Eapen, Managing Director, Al Arif AC, echoed the same measure of optimism and added that certain customers are willing to invest in quality units in a bid to reduce lifecycle cost, owing to increasing electricity charges. “These customers know if they use a bad quality product eventually, over a period of 5-10 years, they will have to pay more, replace the unit and have the inconvenience of having a bad product in their project,” he said. Resource management was also something that Hans Reinders, CEO, Oxycom, touched on, emphasising that concerted efforts towards energy conservation will help pave the way for more efficient HVACR technologies in the market, given the massive requirement for cooling in the region, and the burden it places on electricity cosumption. This, he said, is already happening in Saudi Arabia, in a bid to conserve oil reserves for future generations and avoid the need to create more energy grids and power plants. Reinders added that governments will be the best partners for the advancement of greener and high-quality products. “If the government sets stricter rules, we will have a great future,” he said. “If the government does not do that, the industry does not particularly want to change.” Colin Bridges, Business Development Director, Belimo Automation, said UAE and Dubai government initiatives are helping raise awareness and stimulate the market's growing appetite for more energy-efficient products, particularly for the majority of poorly performing building stock. "Retrofitting with these new technologies now will deliver savings and demand reduction that will last for the life of the building," he said. "Our challenge is to help clients realise these benefits." Umair went further to add that with the amount of construction that has already happened, the scope and demand for better quality and specialised facilities management will also continue to grow and play a greater role in the industry moving forward.
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HVAC R Expo (The Big 5 Dubai 2018)
WHO WAS THERE Ranjana Konatt and Hannah Jo Uy present profiles of exhibitors at The Expo...
AL ARIF A/C SYSTEMS
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AERAULIQA
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erauliqa launched its highvolume, low-speed (HVLS) fans during its participation in HVAC R Expo, said Sabrina Roberti, Product and Marketing Manager. The HVLS fans, she said, can be applied in buildings with very high ceilings to ensure uniform air distribution among occupants. The Italian manufacturer, Roberti said, has a range of ventilation products for residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural applications. During the show, Aerauliqa showcased its expanding portfolio with the aim of enhancing visibility in the Middle East market and looking for distributors and dealers for its range of products.
l Arif A/C Systems highlighted ‘Chiller’ Fan Coil Units from Finland at its booth during HVAC R Expo. Elaborating on product features, Liju Thomas Eapen, Managing Director, said that the fan-coil units are ideal for the residential and hospitality sectors, owing to their energy-efficiency features and quiet operation. The fan-coil unit, he added, operates like a packaged unit with built-in controls. “You just need to connect the chilled water lines, and it is set to go,” he explained. “It also provides a very advanced controller, which works like a BMS, which will give the status of the unit -- the chilled water, temperature, the amount of work the fan is doing as well as the efficiency of the filters, whether it is clogged or needs any cleaning.” If there are multiple fancoil units in a room, he added, the units can be connected to the same thermostat, allowing operators to see how individual units are functioning. Al Arif A/C is the authorised distributor of RGF products and Chiller FCUs in the UAE.
AND WHY? (PART 1) BEIJING HOLTOP AIR CONDITIONING
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AMCA INTERNATIONAL
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MCA International aims to support its members in their desire to see the proliferation of specifications that include third-party certifications, said Mark Stevens, Executive Director, elaborating on the organisation’s participation in the Expo. “We are here to answer questions of contractors and specifying engineers to help them understand what it means to ask for a certified product and the added value of our certification programme,” he said. Providing insight on the organisation’s global expansion, Stevens stressed that currently, AMCA International has more members outside of the United States, and that the organisation has established steering committees in each region to ensure strategies are locally developed.
hina-based manufacturer, Holtop, showcased its airhandling units, which combined heat recovery and air purification devices at its booth during HVAC R Expo. Roy Young, General Manager, Overseas Division, highlighted the company’s wall-mounted energy recovery ventilators, which, he said, were suitable for residential and hotel applications. Young said that Holtop aims to position itself as a green company, committed to improving IAQ and creating better living environments, through the use of energy-saving technologies. He added that the company sees the Middle East as a big market, owing to its highambient conditions and drive towards energy efficiency to reduce cost. While Haltop enjoys a strong market share in China, Young added, the firm is seeking local companies and distributors for the Middle East region.
BELIMO AUTOMATION
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elimo Automation showcased its range of IoT products, in the connectivity booth at its stand, during the company’s participation in HVAC R Expo. David Stevenson, Managing Director, underscored the need for system transparency in order to achieve energy-saving targets – be it for individual projects or in relation to national objectives. Stevenson added that the company’s IoT actuators give building owners access to data from field devices, such as damper actuators or control valves. Colin Bridges, Business Development Director, said that he believes the Belimo energy valve, which the company highlighted, requires more attention, explanation and education in order for stakeholders to recognise the benefits it offers, and that through its participation in the Expo, it aimed to interact with both existing and new customers, and to enhance its profile in the country and region. Stevenson added that Belimo has identified the retrofit market as a key growth opportunity.
December 2018
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REPORT
HVAC R Expo (The Big 5 Dubai 2018)
ISIB
HARWAL GROUP
T
echnical Supplies & Services Company (TSSC), a member of Harwal Group, showcased its new pre-insulated ducting system and launched several new products, such as its pre-engineered building systems and the company’s complete MEP turnkey installations for cold rooms and cold stores, during its participation in The Big 5, said Viken Ohanesian, Executive Director, Harwal Group. Ohanesian added that the company continues to promote value engineering as an effective approach to building systems. “In addition to highlighting our diverse portfolio of products,” he said, “our presence at the show allowed us to throw the spotlight on our new Phenolic Duct boards and ducting system for the HVAC sector.” The Phenolic Duct Boards, Ohanesian said, are complaint with the new UAE Fire and Life Safety Codes and meet the certification and quality systems that adhere to the highest international standards. With HVACR systems being significant users of energy, Ohanesian said he believes there was a need for a dedicated venue through the Expo to highlight the advances in the field and to further promote their importance in achieving the overall energy-efficiency goals of a building.
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VAC R Expo is an important platform to reach out to countries across the Middle East region, said Mehmet banal, Chairman, ISIB, speaking on the organisation’s level of participation in the event. “The number of Turkish companies attending the fair has been steadily growing for the last eight years,” he said. “This year, Turkey is second to China in terms of the number of participants. Additionally, Turkey has been a sponsor of the fair for the last seven years. We will continue to work in partnership with the Expo to increase the number of Turkish visitors and participants.” banal added that thanks to its geographical location and its young workforce, Turkey currently enjoys a status as the production base of the European HVAC&R sector. “Turkish HVAC&R products also enjoy a growing reputation in the global market with an ever-increasing competitiveness,” he added.
MAKRO TEKNIK
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akro Teknik views Dubai as a very important market, said Onur Kuduoglu, Assistant General Manager, Export, owing to both the quantity and scale of projects being rolled out across the United Arab Emirates. Currently, Kuduoglu said, the company is present in 20 countries and has the biggest capacity in Turkey in the manufacturing of flanges. Speaking on recent enhancements, Kuduoglu said that, of late, the company has updated its machines to ensure the durability and strength of its flanges as, owing to economic constraints, more people are using smaller flanges in bigger ducts. Kuduoglu added that he believes there is strong potential for the company’s flanges in retrofit projects, highlighting the longterm opex savings that come with choosing better quality flanges that offer efficiency, despite potentially higher capex.
PROXCELO INDUSTRIES FZE
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roxcelo Industries presented its product range of evaporative cooling systems at The Big 5, in Dubai. Ziad Ibrahim, CEO and Partner, Proxcelo, said that evaporative cooling is a simple concept, the market demand for which continues to increase each year in the Middle East. He added that there are no problems with regard to liquidity in cash flow and payments from clients and the market for evaporative cooling is in an overall good shape.
RGF
R
GF, a manufacturer based in the United States, was reinforcing its commitment to expand in the Middle East region through its participation in HVAC R Expo, said Astrid Von Oetinger, International Sales Manager. Exhibiting alongside Al Arif A/C Systems, Oetinger said that the company was highlighting its indoor air purifier and other systems based on active air purification, which uses hydrogen peroxide to eliminate odours, VOCs and bacteria. Additionally, she said, the products uses ionization to reduce particles in the air. Oetinger added that the company has an extensive customer base in the UAE and that the new line of air purification systems, called Bioline, are ideal for hospitals, as it offers HEPA filtration combined with UV and carbon filtration.
SPC HEAT PIPES
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n addition to showcasing its product line of heat pipes, Rahul Shrivastava, Senior Sales Engineer, UAE and Oman, SPC Heat Pipes, highlighted a market trend and rise in demand for heat wheels as compared to that of heat pipes. He said, “The market is changing and the use of heat wheels is an energy-efficient alternative to the use of heat pipes.”
TIME CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES
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he product focus for Bahrainbased IoT company, Time Control Technologies, was its range of IoT-enabled sensors. The Expo worked as the ideal platform to speak to new and potential clients about the technology, Ghassan Yusuf, Co-founder and Hardware IOT specialist, said. “As an IOT company, we help companies save on time and money, while increasing productivity,” Yusuf said. The company, he said, works with MEP contracting companies to ensure worker safety and monitor efficiency levels and the work being done. “The Big 5 has been a wonderful experience, we had great hopes and have been able to do some good business,” he said. Yusuf added, “A lot of people have been dropping by and enquiring about the products, and this shows that there is a high acceptance rate for IoT and technology within the HVAC industry.”
TROX
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ROX highlighted three air-handling solutions in its booth during the Expo: The TROX Fan Coil Unit, TKM 50 HE air-handling unit and the X-cube airhandling unit. Ludger Bökmann, Member of the Extended Board, Head of International Business, Europe, Middle East and Africa, emphasised that the fan-coil unit and the TKM 50 HE air-handling unit were developed for the region and produced in the company’s newly opened production facility in Egypt. The new facility, he added, underscores the company’s focus and long-term investment in Africa and the Middle East regions to ensure that the company is closer to local market requirements. The booth also showcased a range of components and systems for ventilation and air conditioning systems as well as fire protection and smoke control solutions. Georg Hetzel, Innovation Manager, Air Handling Units, TROX, conducted a seminar on the growing importance on Air Quality and Indoor Life Quality, during the HVAC R talks.
December 2018
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Ludger Bökmann, TROX GmbH
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ould you tell us more about the local production facility in the Middle East? What was the driving force behind the decision to establish the facility?
‘THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA OFFER
The new production facility, for the regional activities of the TROX group, is a joint venture with TIBA Manzalawi Group in Egypt, and it is located very close to Cairo. For many years, the Manzalawi Group has already been producing several other products. We have now started to produce the air-handling units and the fan-coil units [in the production facility] and the next step, late summer/autumn next year, will be all our other air distribution devices and products. This is the path of our general MENA strategy. We have been in the southern African countries since 1974 with our subsidiary. We are working on the West African countries via TROX Spain. Since three or four years, we opened an office in Casablanca, and now our focus is on the Middle East and North and East Africa. Because we don’t have the local production expertise, we were looking for a joint venture partner and we believe that it’s better that we are closer to the market requirements, than just offering German, Spanish or United Kingdom products.
HUGE
Is the decision to invest in the facility indicative of how the company views opportunities in the Middle East? Yes, of course, this is one of our growth potentials in the world. We have quite mature markets in Europe, but when we look at the Middle East and Africa, [we see] huge potential. This is also seen as a long-term investment, because the market will not grow quickly, but it will grow constantly, for the next 10-15 years, if it’s politically stable. Besides the United Arab Emirates, other major markets [in the region] are Saudi Arabia and Egypt, because this has the highest growth potential, in our opinion. In Egypt, in new cities like New Cairo, you see [the construction of] a lot of hospitals, offices, also infrastructure projects, like tunnel systems, which are also a big part of the TROX business. Ludger Bökmann
POTENTIAL’
What are the key advantages the company aims to achieve by having the local production facility? First of all, we believe we will be quicker in the pre-sales, have quicker delivery times and be closer to the market-price level, by having a cheaper production location and shorter lead times. At the end, having such a plant in Egypt helps a lot to support our future aftersales activities, which we have not started in the region – we are just doing it in Europe at this time.
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December 2018
Ludger Bökmann, Member of the Extended Board, Head of International Business, Europe, Middle East and Africa, TROX GmbH, discusses the move to invest in a Middle East production facility for regional activities, the company’s global expansion strategy and the need to enhance technical know-how to improve IAQ. Excerpts from the interview with Hannah Jo Uy…
From what we understand, in Germany there is a steady move towards digitalisation and greater integration of automation features in HVACR equipment. Do you foresee the same demand for such solutions in other parts of the world, as well?
Yes, digitalisation is a big trend, and we have already provided many solutions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and United Kingdom. Now, we see the potential. We have this learning phase behind us, we know what we are doing, and now is the time to go ahead to other regions of the world. We are just preparing this step also for South Africa, West Africa and also for Asia Pacific and Latin America, so we are doing a lot of innovation for automation systems. We will also go in the Middle East for the system solution within the next 2-3 years.
There is a lot of talk on the need to install energy-efficient equipment, mostly driven by respective national
targets. Do you see the same level of investment for quality equipment in a bid to enhance IAQ in the Middle East and Africa?
fresh air and it’s too warm, automatically the people get more tired and productivity is reducing a lot.
Not at this time, but as you can see from our mission, 'TROX the art of handling air for indoor life quality', we want to bring this to the market. We want to work for this message because we believe people should have more of a healthy and comfortable and less noisy place to work, do sports and live in. This was the same when we started in Malaysia and when we started in China. It’s also our task, together with consulting officers and the investors, to increase the technical level of indoor air quality and increase the quality of the product and solution. We know that this takes years, but at the end it pays off for the TROX group. This indoor air quality or life quality is based on many years of research and development in different universities and you can also see when the temperature in office is beyond 26 degrees C, there is no
What is the company doing to ensure that energy efficiency and better IAQ do not have to be played off against each other? This is a question of the complete system. [It depends] how you design the system, prepare the chilled water for cooling the offices, how you manage the system and maintain the system. This is where TROX has its strengths. We are not manufacturing only chillers or air-handling units, we understand and produce the complete system ourselves, we have huge R&D departments, and we believe in this.
HAVE YOUR SAY! We welcome your views on the Q&A. Write to editor@cpi-industry.com
New findings & updated consumer advice on E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to romaine lettuce. We’ll continue to use advances in new & emerging technologies to further improve our ability to track & trace products through the supply chain. https://www. fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/ PressAnnouncements/ucm628400. htm …
Frank Yiannas @FrankYiannasFDA
December 2018
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NEWS REGIONAL
EmiratesGBC stresses the need to focus on IAQ in schools Body's representative highlights the importance of having baselines in analysing performance across schools in the United Arab Emirates By Ranjana Konatt
“W
hat does a Green School really mean?” was a question posed by Jason John, Technical Analyst, Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC), during the session titled ‘Evaluating the state and performance of schools in the UAE’, at the International Conference for Sustainable Construction Materials, from November 6 to 7, in Dubai. The main objective of a Green School or a Green Building, he asserted, is to place its occupants at the heart of the building experience. When given some thought, he said, we must realise that having a Green School is not only about maximising energy performance, but is also about enhancing Indoor Air Quality (IAQ).
can be traced back to bad IAQ. Emphasising on past research, Elaborating on the importance John said, “Research shows of understanding baselines in evidence that IAQ and IEQ in evaluating schools in the United a building has a tremendous Arab Emirates, he said, “There influence on the health of its are about 1,300 schools in the occupants.” However, he added, region, which are split into public when it comes to schools, the Jason John and private sector schools.” This, effects of bad IAQ on children he added, amounts to 1.2 million can be far worse, as compared to children studying in the region. Pointing to the health effects on adults. Elaborating, he the role of EmiratesGBC in contributing to said, “Children are different as compared to benchmarking the performance of schools, adults, anatomically, physically, psychologically he said that the EmiratesGBC has formed the and cognitively.” Children, he added, breathe Emirates Coalition for Green Schools, which in more air as compared to adults, and aims to work with stakeholders to discuss how according to The Center for Disease Control every child in the region can best learn in a and Prevention, asthma is said to be one of Green School. the leading causes of absenteeism, which
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December 2018
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Riyadh set to host HVACR Expo 2019 With the HVACR market in Saudi Arabia expected to reach a value of up to USD 6.36 billion by 2022, the HVACR event, which will run from January 28 to 30, continues to gain interest from companies looking to invest in Saudi Arabia By CCME Content Team
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to the Saudi Arabian market VACR Expo is and to offer the technologies scheduled to take capable of pushing forward place from January this promising sector. The new 28 to 30, 2019, at the regulations development and Riyadh International Convention the recent discussions between & Exhibition Center, in Riyadh, the big local market players and Saudi Arabia, the organisers authorities in the Kingdom will said in a Press communiqué. Roni El Haddad lead to better business relations The event is backed by support with all the international brands to enter the from the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Saudi Arabian market as well to expand local Quality Organization (SASO) and GCC production opportunities.” Standardization Organization (GSO), the The communiqué said HVACR Expo Saudi communiqué said. The fourth edition of is likely to host industry heavyweights from the event is expected to bring together China, Egypt, Italy, Singapore, Turkey and international and local HVACR players for United Arab Emirates, among other nations, three days of business and networking, the to showcase innovative industry solutions. communiqué further said. The event will showcase latest products by Roni El Haddad, Event Director, HVACR companies, such as Carrier, Zamil AC, JCI, Expo Saudi, said: “Saudi Arabia contributes Midea, Samsung, LG, SKM, VTS, Hitachi, close to two per cent of the global HVACR Haas, Gibson, Rheem, RIG and BNF, the market. and this has not gone unnoticed communiqué said. by major industry players abroad. We are Bringing these global brands even closer witnessing a growing interest from these to the local sector, the organiser, dmg events, brands to present the latest HVACR products
has announced that the event will run out of Riyadh going forwards, the communiqué said. The central region of Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh, represents more than a third of Saudi Arabia’s HVACR market, the communiqué further said. In addition, the free-to-attend and CPD (continuing professional development) certified workshop agenda will return at twice the previous size in 2019, the communiqué said. With two workshop theatres and over 40 sessions, attendees will leave updated on the latest industry trends and techniques from District Cooling to automated monitoring, the communiqué further said. In 2018, HVACR Expo Saudi welcomed over 6,000 industry professionals from more than 25 visiting countries and was 20% larger than the previous edition, the communiqué also said. Along with 75 exhibiting companies, the last event featured 20 workshop sessions, exclusive product launches and the EU-Saudi Arabia Energy Efficiency Meeting, the communiqué added.
Exhibitors highlight trends and opportunities in Saudi Arabia audi Arabia’s HVAC market is growing at a fast pace on account of growing construction activities in the residential and industrial sectors, said Faizal Babu Pallathody, Managing Director, VTS Clima. “Extreme climatic conditions in Saudi Arabia, changing lifestyles and rising number of government initiatives towards restructuring the country’s oildependent economy are expected to boost demand for HVAC systems in the country, during the forecast period,” he said. Pallothody said that more than 5,200 construction projects are currently [being] rolled out in Saudi Arabia. He added that growth in the market is anticipated to be driven by increasing integration of HVAC systems in smart products and continuously rising demand for energy-efficient HVAC systems.
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VACR manufacturers and suppliers must cope with the growing demand for equipment in Saudi Arabia, driven by a population growth rate considered one of the highest in the world, said Osama Alessa, CEO, Alessa Industries. Alessa added that demand is further driven by replacement of old units with newer, high-efficiency models. “Saudi Arabia’s HVAC market is projected to surpass USD 2.75 billion by 2023,” he said, “on account of growing construction activities in the country's residential as well as industrial sectors.” The trend, he said, is towards power saving and more controllable HVAC solutions, adding that this has created a gap for VRF technology. “The initiative taken by the government to promote high EER air conditioners will increase the retail segment and B2B opportunities for both RAC and HVAC products with high EER,” he said. Alessa further added that the private sector will focus more on the payback KPI when deciding the air conditioning solutions, with greater emphasis on HVACR solutions that offer long-term savings rather than merely lower initial cost.
▶ Faizal Babu Pallathody,
▶ Osama Alessa
Managing Director, VTS Clima
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CEO, Alessa Industries Co.
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Facilio raises USD 6.4 million Series A funding
The funding, led by Tiger Global and existing investor Accel, will help Facilio further strengthen its presence across Middle East, USA and Indian markets, as well as expand into new territories, says CEO By CCME Content Team
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acilio has announced it has received funding of USD 6.4 million, led by international venture capitalists, Tiger Global Management and existing investor, Accel, through a Press communiqué. The company has bases in Altanta, Georgia, in the United States and in Chennai, India. Founded in 2017 by Prabhu Ramachandran, Rajavel Subramanian, Yogendra Babu and Krishnamoorthi Rangasamy, Facilio offers real-time facilities management to commercial real estate owners, using IoT and AI to predictively optimise operations and sustainability, while providing a superior tenant experience, the communiqué said. Within a year of starting commercial product availability, the company has exhibited strong performance and market penetration across its global territories – Middle East, USA and India, the communiqué further said. Prabhu Ramachandran, Founder & CEO, Facilio Inc, said: “Buildings today need agility to adapt to a rapidly transforming landscape. Legacy systems, high upfront costs and long implementation cycles of traditional FM software vendors are bogging down clients with their inflexibility. There is a definitive shift towards embracing an IoT- and AI-led software system that empowers the built-environment with speed and agility to improve efficiencies. We aim to be
‘There is a need to commit to data collection’ Data collection is a must, in order to study progress and link design to outcomes, says Director of Research, HKS By Ranjana Konatt
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Facilio Founders (L-R): Yogendra Babu, Prabhu Ramachandran, Krishnamoorthy Rangasamy, Rajavel Subramanian
frontrunners in leading this transformative change in the industry.” Commenting on the funding, Lee Fixel, Partner, Tiger Global, said, “Bringing datadriven efficiencies to building operations and enabling a superior occupant experience is the future of commercial real estate and Facilio is well-positioned to lead this transformation.” Shekhar Kirani, Managing Partner, Accel, said: “Facilio has exhibited strong performance and growth over the past year. We believe Facilio will continue to make significant strides in transforming the Facilities Management industry, to emerge as leading new-gen technology vendors in this space.”
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The Smart Buildings and Facilities Management space is undergoing rapid transformation globally, with the global real estate and building management software market poised to grow to more than USD 7 billion by 2022, as per research consultancy Verdantix, the communiqué said. Locally, research agency TechSci predicts the UAE Facility Management Market to reach a value of USD 17 billion by 2021, the communiqué further said. Prabhu added: “It is an exciting time for us to have the two heavyweights of the venture capital world backing our idea. The funding will allow us to pursue our expansion and consolidation plans aggressively, while also investing in R&D for product innovation.”
he Middle East and Asia regions need to begin data collection, in order to study progress and link design to outcomes said Upali Nanda, Director of Research, HKS. She was speaking during her session at the Building Healthcare Innovation & Design Show in Dubai. “When it comes to innovation in the healthcare sector, we know that India Upali Nanda and Japan are doing some phenomenal work; however, in order to study progress, there is a need for data collection,” Nanda said. Statistics, Nanda said, can only be obtained and studied when project managers, designers and the construction industry begin to collect data in a systematic way. “The industry and the healthcare sector," she added, "needs to commit to data collection as well as cross-checking it.”
Leminar Customer Conference addresses key issues in the HVACR industry From a renewed commitment to product delivery to fresh perspectives on the economy, the Leminar Customer Conference proved to be a platform for engaging discussions. Here are the key takeaways from the event…
By Ranjana Konatt
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he call for sustainable solutions, the adherence to fire safety codes and the attentiveness to Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) were some of the key topics addressed at the ‘Leminar Customer Conference’, held on November 28, in Dubai. The opening session hosted by Ajith Abraham, Assistant General Manager, Building Services Product, Leminar Global, gave special attention to the importance of providing customised solutions for seismic-restraint systems and riser piping support. He said, “The strength of our service is the ability to provide technical support to contractors, clients and customers.” Providing technical support, he added, enables the company to achieve efficient product delivery. Echoing Abraham and elaborating on the need for a renewed commitment to project delivery, was Jeff Goss, Senior Manager, International Product & Business Development, Rheem. He said, “If we look at consumer data, people born between the 1950s and the 1960s are less attentive to sustainable solutions as compared to those born in the 2000s.” A consumer’s attentiveness to sustainability, he said, influences his or her decision to pay more for a product, which is sustainable. Pointing to the key drivers making sustainability essential, Goss said that the rising population and the increasing rate of energy consumption are key factors. “By the year 2090,” he added, “climate change will cost the US economy seven billion dollars on labour, eight billion dollars on heat-related deaths, 25 billion in coastal real estate and 30 billion in infrastructure upgrades.” In addition to the need for sustainable solutions, the conference addressed issues related to fire safety. Quresh Motiwala, Regional Manager – Sales & Marketing, Leminar Air Conditioning Industries, stressed on the importance of adhering to fire safety codes and steered attention to the requirements of fire-rated duct systems, especially in the light of the UAE Life and Fire Safety Codes. He said, “Fire safety is something we cannot take for granted and is a factor that must not be ignored.” Fires, he added, can happen at any time, and deaths in case of a fire mostly occur because of smoke inhalation. “It is important to have the right fire protection system,” which, he asserted, must be tested and approved for stability and integrity, along with good rating criteria. Kevin Gibson, Technical Director, Fenland Fire Contracts Limited, stressed on the importance of fire-rated ducts and selection criteria. He said, “Certain considerations, such as good design and proper testing and highquality equipment are essential.” The system you pick, he added, will influence your reputation. Coatings, such as the fire-resistant FFC250,
give stability and integrity of up to four hours, he said. Building the right construction environment and using the right solutions, he added, protects the reputation of the building. A key highlight of the evening was an address by Navin Valrani, CEO, Leminar Group. He provided a perspective on the economic situation in the United Arab Emirates and said, “There have been statements in the press stating that the economy is in a downcycle.” Addressing the idea, he pointed to the main driver of an economy, which is the country’s population. The United Arab Emirates, he said, has a population of 9.6 million and from the year 2017 to the year 2018, the country has witnessed a population growth of 1.5%. “Since the year 2000,” he added, "we have grown three times, which is 300% growth in 18 years." In addition, he said, the United Arab Emirates continues to attract people who wish to come for career opportunities and is blessed to have leadership from both Emiratis and expatriates. Valrani added that Dubai is a place which is sought after. Posing a question, he said, “So, what has caused this talk?” Pointing to technology and its role as a major disruptor, he added that the Expo 2020 will have a significant part to play in contributing to the progress of the economy. “Expo 2020 will host 25 million people from all over the world who will come to Dubai,” which, he said, will give rise to new opportunities. The significance of the Expo, he added, cannot be underestimated and no matter what model you run, Valrani asserted, there is always opportunity. Jordi Canet Casabayo, Export Area Manager, Soler & Palau (S&P), during his session on ‘The Future of Ventilation’, quoted Peter Ferdinand Drucker and said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” IoT, he asserted, has played a key role in good IAQ, and sensors, he added, help us integrate systems and connect devices, which bring in information. From monitoring CO2 levels, VOCs and humidity within an indoor environment, sensors have a crucial role to play in both smart controls and energy efficiency, Casabayo said. “Nowadays, regulations state that all motors must have an IE3 efficiency level,” he said, and the demand for the use of heat recovery units (HRU) and their role in demand control ventilation can significantly add to energy efficiency.
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Tabreed reports 10% increase in net profit Tabreed’s profit rose to AED 319.3 million for the year up to September 30, compared with the same period in 2017, company representative says
Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi
Jasim Husain Thabet
By CCME Content Team
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ational Central Cooling Company (Tabreed), the UAE-based regional District Cooling utility company, released its consolidated financial results for the first nine months of 2018, through a Press communiqué. Tabreed reported a 10% increase in net profit to AED 319.3 million for the year up to September 30, compared with the same period in 2017, the communiqué said. According to Tabreed, the rise in profit was driven by the acquisition, in March, of S&T Cool, a District Cooling provider on Reem Island, in Abu Dhabi, as well as income, in May, from a partial sale of Saudi Tabreed, following the investment by the IDB Infrastructure Fund II, reducing Tabreed’s total shareholding in Saudi Tabreed from 25% to 20%. Tabreed’s latest financial results follow its announcement last month that it successfully issued a USD 500 million (AED 1.8 billion) fixed rate senior unsecured US dollar
denominated RegS sukuk with a seven-year tenure, the communiqué said. The issue was 50% oversubscribed and saw strong institutional demand, both locally and in Asia and Europe, the communiqué further said. The sukuk was competitively priced, with a profit rate of 5.5%, underpinned by Moody’s Baa3 and Fitch’s BBB credit ratings, assigned to Tabreed and to the sukuk itself, the communiqué also said. Tabreed arranged new bank facilities of up to AED 1.5 billion, which along with the sukuk, will be used to refinance AED 2.8 billion of current corporate debt and provide a committed revolving credit facility, which is available to fund the business, as needed, the communiqué added. Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi, Chairman, Tabreed, commented: “We are pleased to report another strong set of both financial
and operational results, with a net income increasing 10%, reflecting our solid group performance. We also saw stable growth in our connected capacity, adding over 29,000 of new customer connections in the first nine months of this year. Additionally, in Q3 we received new investment grade ratings from Moody’s and Fitch, which is a strong endorsement of Tabreed’s strong utility business model.” Jasim Husain Thabet, Chief Executive Officer, Tabreed, added: “These solid results follow our successful raising of a 500 million dollar sukuk, which was 50% oversubscribed, receiving strong institutional demand, both locally and in Asia and Europe. This, coupled with another quarter of consistently strong results, confirms Tabreed’s position as a leader in District Cooling in the region.”
Serck Services identifies rise in market demand for energy-recovery products Retrofitting main cause of uptake in market demand, says company's Operations Director Peter Kristensson
By Ranjana Konatt
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he market demand for energy-recovery products in the MENA region has grown over the past two years, asserted Peter Kristensson, Operations Director, Serck Services International, while speaking on Serck’s recent partnership with Klingenberg. “The uptake of retrofit projects has resulted in an increase in end-user demand for energyrecovery products,” he said. The situation, he added, has given the company the opportunity to participate in big projects in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Commenting on the recent partnership with Klingenberg, Kristensson said the agreement will facilitate representation of
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the company on the distribution side in the region. However, he added, the ultimate aim of Serck is to manufacture in the United Arab Emirates, as this will help the company serve clients better. Elaborating, he said, today an increasing number of HVAC and air-handling units are manufactured in the United Arab Emirates, instead of being imported. This, he said, has made the company consider opening its own manufacturing facility in the United Arab Emirates by the second quarter of 2019. Next-generation energy-recovery products, he added, will have sensors installed in them, which will enable real-time and continuous monitoring via IoT.
OCC to distribute हVWEHUJ¶V KHDW UHFRYHU\ ZKHHOV LQ WKH 0LGGOH (DVW Demand for energy has resulted in the need for efficient heating and cooling technology, says company’s representative By Ranjana Konatt
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eat exchangers are vital to reducing temperature (sensible load) and moisture (latent load), especially in the Middle East region, said Sourabh Bais, Products Manager, Oasis Coils & Coatings (OCC), while commenting on the company’s recent agreement with Östberg, the Swedish manufacturer of ventilation products. According to OCC, as per the agreement, the company will distribute Östberg’s heat-recovery wheels in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Highlighting the advantage to the tie-up with Östberg, Bais said, “Today, many consultants use twin heat wheels in fresh-air-handlers for better control of temperature and humidity.” The heat wheel, he added, is available in a single-piece rotor ranging from 500 mm in diameter to 2,450 mm, while sectored rotors, he said, have diameters ranging from 800 mm to 5,000 mm. “The demand for energy,” he added, “has resulted in the need for efficient heating, cooling, ventilation and dehumidification technologies.” And this, he added, has left every owner, engineer, designer and consultant looking for energy-efficient solutions.
Hamon, integrated cooling and air quality solutions for a cleaner environment Hamon is a multinational Group with over 100 years experience in the design and supply of cooling technologies (wet and dry cooling) and air quality systems to the power industry, as well as other energy intensive sectors. We engineer, manufacture, deliver and erect all cooling system types as well as dust, acid gas and NOx removal systems with over 50,000 references worldwide in all types of applications. Our local teams are ready to support you on the specifications of the project, its implementation as well as the maintenance of the equipment.
HAMON COOLING TOWER COMPANY Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority Building 4W B-Block, Office 649 P.O. Box 293647 Phone number: +971 4 6091672 info.hctc@hamon.com www.hamon.com
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Au Pure Solutions gives push to Plasma Ionisation technology for good IAQ When a building is constructed, attention must be given to dehumidification and solutions must be sought, says Sales Director, Plasma Air International By Ranjana Konatt
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iving due attention to sustainable HVAC design solutions in Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), Au Pure IAQ Solutions hosted a Business Breakfast session on November 27, in Dubai. Chris Russell, EMEA Sales Director, Plasma Air International and the company's regional representative, Jatin Sachdeva, General Manager, Au Pure IAQ Solutions, conducted the session. Russell highlighted the effectiveness of Plasma Ionisation technology in maintaining good IAQ. He said, “In Plasma Ionisation, there is a set of ionisation tubes, which strips the electron off the oxygen atom, while air passes over the tubes.” When this happens,
BricsCAD V19 to cater to HVAC aspects in the design phase of projects With BIM tools available in BricsCAD, the objective is that it should be easy and affordable to apply BIM on any type and size of projects, says company’s representative By Ranjana Konatt
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ricsCAD, a software application developed by the Belgiumbased company Bricsys, has received its latest upgrade. BricsCAD V19 has a new set of tools catering to the HVAC aspects in the design phase of projects, said Per O Gogstad, Business Development Manager, Bricsys. Elaborating on the workings of the software, he said, “When designing a building in 3D and BIM, you want to be able to add material properties as a part of the information model.” He added, you can also design your own library of products in BricsCAD or even import readily available products
the output is a positive oxygen atom and electron, which sticks to another neutral oxygen atom, resulting in a stream of positive and negative ions. Elaborating, he said, “When ions get into a particular space, they cause small particles, such as VOCs and contaminants in the air to stick to each Chris Russell other, while also getting rid of spores and moulds.” Pointing to moulds as a major issue in buildings today, he said, “When a building is constructed, it is essential that owners and project managers invest in efficient dehumidification solutions.” Maintenance in the case of plasma ionisation, he said, is rather easy, as the tubes need to be replaced every two years. Highlighting another application of the technology, Russell pointed to retrofit projects as an ideal space. “To be honest, if there is an IAQ issue, the technology can be applied anywhere,” he said. Today, however, people are only beginning to comprehend IAQ problems and not entirely taking measures to address the situation. Making the call for awareness, he said, “Building management companies today have no fundamental interest in solving problems.” The first step, he asserted, is to get as many people aware about the issue and move forward in terms of the application of the technology.
in 3D through the Internet. “With BIM tools available in BricsCAD, the objective is that it should be easy and affordable to apply BIM on any type and size of projects,” Gogstad said. Pointing to a major competitor in the market, he said, AutoCAD Per O Gogstad is widely used, especially when it comes to general 2D and 3D design. However, the challenge today, he said, is that industry professionals don’t want to change or improve their workflows and are often stuck using the same technology and products. “BricsCAD has not received the required exposure in the region and is not very wellknown,” Gogstad said. For the moment, he added, the focus is to grow the market in Europe and in the United States. While predicting the use of the software in the future, Gogstad said, it will most likely find best use in Dubai’s future plan of 3D printing buildings. Gogstad added, in the future, one can use the software to begin with a simple 3D architectural design and then move on to more complex detailing.
LOOKING FOR HVACR PRODUCTS?
www.climatecontroldirectory.com The region's comprehensive online directory for the HVACR industry y TO LIST YOUR COMPANY FOR FREE, VISIT: www.refrigbuyersguide.com/register FOR ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES, EMAIL: advertising@cpi-industry.com
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Dubai Chamber seminar highlights best practices for ‘Greening’ existing buildings More awareness and guidance is needed to support companies in retrofitting buildings and workplaces, industry experts say By CCME Content Team
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ubai Chamber Sustainability Network recently hosted an informative seminar, where industry experts highlighted best practices and benefits for businesses and organisations that invest in converting their existing buildings into Green Buildings, the body announced in a Press communiqué. Participating in the seminar were Marcos Bish, Managing Director, Summertown Interiors; Fatima Al Hebshi, Sustainability Engineer, UAE Ministry of Climate Change & Environment; Khaled Bushnaq, Vice Chairman, Emirates Green Building Council; Faisal Rashid, Director Demand Side Management; Supreme Council of Energy and Raji Hattar, Chief Sustainability & Compliance Officer, Aramex, the communiqué said. According to Dubai Chamber Sustainability Network, during the seminar, participants shed light on several important
aspects related to retrofitting buildings into Green Buildings, such as regulation governing such activities, case studies, return on investment and key challenges that should be addressed, in order to encourage more organisations in Dubai to adopt Green Building practices. Faisal Rashid, Director, Demand Side Management, Supreme Council of Energy, noted that the United Arab Emirates has built an enabling environment for Green Buildings, including required regulations and encouraging the major players of the sector to be engaged, the communiqué said. Several successful projects have now been completed, which serve as good examples for the business community, he said, highlighting the fact that the government has removed barriers that prevent companies from investing in Green Buildings and introduced regulation to support organisations in this area, the communiqué further said.
Fatima Al Hebshi, Sustainability Engineer, Ministry of Climate Change & Environment, explained that the Green Infrastructure Program coordinates and works with many buildings to reach sustainability, in terms of energy reduction, water usage reduction and waste recycling, the communiqué said. Khaled Bushnaq, Vice Chairman, Emirates Green Building Council, revealed that the Council is working on a benchmarking project, which is a part of the Energy Efficiency Accelerator Program. He pointed out that Dubai is the only city in the MENA region that is committed to it, and this benchmarking covers 100 buildings in Dubai, including hotels, malls and schools, the communiqué said. According to Dubai Chamber Sustainability Network, all participants agreed that a lack of awareness on Green Building standards and requirements remains a key challenge facing the business community that needs to be addressed, in order to encourage more companies to retrofit buildings. The communiqué said the participants outlined several steps and tips for companies that are keen to convert their existing buildings into Green Buildings, including certification programs such as LEED, existing codes for Green Buildings in Dubai and exploring the environmental, social and financial benefits of adopting Green Building practices.
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LOWE SETS ASIDE 50% BUDGET FOR COLD ROOM SOLUTIONS Working in harsh climatic conditions in the Middle East is the most pressing challenge in cold rooms, says company's Chief Operating Officer By Ranjana Konatt
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he market for cold rooms is the strongest in the Middle East, said Mark Wood, Chief Operating Officer, Asia, Lowe, while speaking on the company’s rental business for cold rooms and temporary storage solutions. Lowe is a company that caters to refrigeration, catering equipment and temporary kitchens, Wood said. Elaborating on the budget set aside for cold rooms, he said, “We have set aside nearly 50% of our budget only to cater to cold rooms in the Middle East region.” Maintaining the temperature and quality of dairy products in cold rooms in harsh climatic conditions is one of the most pressing challenges today, he said. “The environmental conditions in this part of the world pose major challenges during the day and night time,” he added.
Elaborating on the measures taken to deal with the harsh climatic conditions, he said, “We have been in Dubai for six years and have had a lot of modifications made to the motors and compressors, for them to work specifically in the region.” However, he said, Lowe refrains from using new cooling technologies, as most of its projects are in remote conditions that demand tried-and-tested equipment, rather than cutting-edge equipment. Elaborating on a recent project, Wood said that the company has been providing a temporary cold room and kitchen solution to the British army in the Oman desert and, hence, it needs solutions that will work. In addition, he said, the company has a cold storage and kitchen in Abu Dhabi that caters to meals for 700 crew-members and also provides cold rooms for Formula One (FI) Grand Prix events.
Iraq’s HVAC sector has growth potential Industry representative outlines immediate growth opportunities driven by government investment in construction and restoration projects By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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Haçaduryan added that since most of the industrial ollowing years of geopolitical turmoil, Iraq has facilities were shut down during the war, the ministries set itself on a path towards restoration, driving are working hard on activating them, to support growing comprehensive growth in construction projects, infrastructure. which could provide massive opportunities for On whether the potential is cost-competitive or HVACR stakeholders with presence in neighbouring quality-driven, Haçaduryan said that it varies upon the countries. “It is the right time for Iraq,” said Karakin investment, with stakeholders sharing the budget that Herman Haçaduryan, Deputy General Manager, Sales Karakin Herman can be allotted for the equipment. “But considering the and Marketing Department, Refkar Heat Exchangers Haçaduryan climate in Iraq, in general, they mostly pick high-quality and Co-founder, Reftrade Import and Export. “The equipment for HVAC,” he said. For Turkish manufacturers, Iraqi people are quite loyal to whoever goes there he added, there are a lot of opportunities owing to the first, especially with equipment and services they need at this geographic proximity. moment. Even tomorrow could be too late.” Sharing the companies’ profile of activities in the country Stressing how HVAC is dependent on construction, and opportunities for stakeholders, Haçaduryan said Refkar Haçaduryan said that the Iraqi government increased the Heat Exchanger has signed a contract with Al-Faris State volume of investments in commercial and residential markets, Company, through Al-Omran Energy, to address the growing with 70% of the commercial industry driven by government need for both heat exchanger equipment and the necessary investment and only 30% of investments made by local or technical expertise. Reftrade, he said, is actively representing foreign investors. “The government is trying hard to increase the the interests of local and foreign companies in the field of volume of foreign investors in the market with incentives,” he construction, including fire and life safety, lighting and solar added. Haçaduryan also said that many locals who emigrated energy. Haçaduryan said local representatives are needed for to other countries, during the political turmoil, have returned government tenders, because quotations need to be submitted and are further driving investment to support the country in personally and only by authorised companies, and Reftrade its rebuilding process, pointing to a number of mall projects in aims to facilitate in this regard. Baghdad currently underway. “The private sector is investing in hotels, malls and residential areas, as well,” he said. “Therefore, there is a huge demand for all HVAC equipment, in general.”
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Hormann completes 10 years of operations in the Middle East Company establishes 4,800-square-metre production line in JAFZA, representative says By CCME Content Team
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ormann, a producer of industrial, commercial and residential doors, celebrated the company’s 10 years of operations in the Middle East with the opening of a new 4,800-square-metre production line in JAFZA, the company announced in a Press communiqué. With a capacity to produce 35,000 doors a year, the new facility will redefine Hormann’s operations in the region, the communiqué said. H.E. Muhammed Al-Muallem, CEO, JAFZA, officially opened the production line in the presence of Martin Hormann, Managing Partner, Hormann; Darius Khanloo, Director Middle East and Africa, Hormann Middle East and Africa and guests and employees, the communiqué said. Martin Hormann said: “With the opening of our new production facility, we will now have more flexibility with delivery time; it usually takes six weeks, if ordered directly from Germany, and now it will only
take about a week. Our doors meet the requirements of regional Civil Defense authorities, as safety of our customers is very important to us. Microprocessor-controlled machinery guarantees the accuracy of all of the production processes, while stringent in-house monitoring ensures consistently high product quality.” Hormann added: “Many Middle Eastern cities like Dubai are a popular destination for luxury retail brands, automotive and hospitality companies, and with upcoming events, like Dubai Expo 2020, we think this trend will continue and we look forward to being part of many new projects. Our new production line is a sign of our commitment to this region; we believe in this market and we are excited to be part of its growth. Our employee numbers have increased from one to 80 since 2008. We have experienced doubledigit growth every year, since the last 10 years and expect further growth in the coming years.”
Gulfood Manufacturing Food Tech Summit discusses role of Food Safety Standards Industry expert reflects on the need for individual responsibility in the food manufacturing, transport and supply industry By Ranjana Konatt
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he Gulfood Manufacturing Food Tech Summit held from November 7 to 8, at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center, featured an eclectic mix of local and international manufacturers, while also serving as a platform for discussions on the need for food safety. The key issue addressed was how Food Safety Standards can help mitigate food fraud, followed by best practice in maintaining the quality of food. “The culture of conducting external audits and validating food in the cold chain began only in the 2000s,” said Shabeek Thayyil, Director, Quality Assurance and Food Safety, Agthia. By the year 2020, he added, there will be a need to integrate the system and make everyone responsible. Referring to the Food Safety Certification, (FSSC) 22000, he said, the certification is a complete
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package for any food business and it discusses the farm-to-fork concept. While referring to manufacturers and suppliers, he said, “If you’re running a food business, it is your responsibility to ensure that the quality of food is not compromised, while being transported in the cold chain.” Pointing to an existing challenge plaguing the food transport, manufacturing and supply industry, with reference to quality, Thayyil asserted, “There exists a money-oriented mindset,” where each stakeholder looks at “how best he can make maximum profit, eventually, losing focus on the end-user.” Elaborating, he highlighted that today there are standards for everything, for instance: Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP), Threat Assessment Critical Control Point (TACCP), Vulnerability Assessment and Critical
Control Point (VACCP). “The standards help ensure food safety and food defence,” Thayyil said. Elaborating, he said, only a strong food safety and quality culture in the Middle East will ensure that standards do not remain mere documents and are, in fact, implemented.
JRI emphasises importance of the IoT in temperature control in the cold chain Factors, such as threshold overruns, must be kept in check in the cold chain, says company's Export Business Manager
DEWA chief meets Deputy Executive Secretary of UNFCCC H.E. Mohammed Al Tayer invites United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to join WGEO By CCME Content Team
By Ranjana Konatt
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he increasing role of the IoT and its contribution to temperature control and regulation cannot be dismissed, asserted Natalie De Saeger, Export Business Manager, JRI, while discussing the impact of the IoT on the cold chain. “Temperature control,” she said, “is vital to transporting food and contributes to an ever-growing market in the Middle East.” Today, there are a number of temperaturemonitoring solutions, which can help trace the temperature of food in the cold chain with temperature alerts in real-time, De Saeger said. “Factors such as threshold overruns must be kept in check in the cold chain and are vital to ensuring the quality of food is never compromised,” she added.
Speaking on the attentiveness among stakeholders to the use of technology in the food and cold chain sector, De Saeger said the availability of new technology has eased the adoption of sensors for monitoring temperature in the cold chain. “Today, there is an increased use of IoT-enabled sensors for tracking temperature control, as compared to the use of RFID tags,” she said. Referring to RFID as a less modern solution, she added, the IoT-enabled sensors do a better job of tracking temperature flow in the cold chain.
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is Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Chairman, World Green Economy Organization (WGEO) met with Ovais Sarmad, Deputy Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), at the latter’s headquarters in Bonn, Germany, the former organisation said, via a Press communiqué. During the meeting, H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer extended an invitation to UNFCCC to join the WGEO, to contribute to better coordination and cooperation between international organisations to support a Green Economy, the communiqué said. H.E. Al Tayer stressed that the UNFCCC is one of the most effective platforms that is working proactively to address climate change, the communiqué further said. H.E. Ahmed Butti Al Muhairbi, Secretary General, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and WGEO Board Member; Waleed Salman, Vice Chairman, WGEO and Abdul Rahim Sultan, Director, WGEO, attended the meeting, the communiqué added.
The communiqué said the move comes as part of the cooperation between the UNFCCC and WGEO, which contributes to supporting the implementation of the Paris Agreement to combat climate change and facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy to achieve a sustainable, Green Economy through integrated projects. The communiqué further said the WGEO aims to increase cooperation between the public and private sectors and promote green economic development efforts in the world through an integrated project system.
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Centre to bring forth the invisible quality of Daikin, says VP, MEA Sales, Daikin Middle East and Africa By Ranjana Konatt
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n the era of the Internet and virtual reality, there is a need to have a first-hand experience of the installation of HVAC and technologically savvy systems, expressed Yuji Miyata, Chairman and President, Daikin Middle East and Africa, at the opening ceremony of The Daikin-Emitech Experience Centre, held on November 14, in Dubai. The centre is Daikin’s first enduser oriented platform, which features the company’s HVAC and Variable Refrigerant Volume (VRV) systems for residential and commercial applications. “The ultimate aim of having an experience centre,” Miyata added, “is to allow end-users to experience, visualise, feel and see the systems, as they work in an optimised space.” Elaborating on the partnership with Daikin Middle East, Rahul Duragkar, Managing Director, Emitech Group said, “We are proud of the support Daikin gives us and this has been a wonderful opportunity to offer end-users with the one-of-a-kind
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live application.” Duragkar pointed to the optimisation of space in the installation of HVAC and VRV systems as a challenge. “We restricted ourselves to creating a one-bedroom villa, as it matches with real-life scenarios, with regard to space optimisation,” he said. The centre, Duragkar added, will highlight factors, such as noise reduction and vibration, as well as help users in selecting equipment efficiently. Elaborating on the importance of experiential centres in depicting the invisible quality of products offered, Tuna Gulenc, Vice President, MEA Sales, Daikin Middle East and Africa, said, “Experience centres help end-users to make better-informed decisions, as they can opt for the technology or equipment after seeing it work in a real-time environment.” Quality, he said, is something that is invisible, and experiential centres make understanding this quality more tangible. Speaking in commercial terms, Atif Rahman, Director and Partner, Danube Properties, said, “We have done some big value projects with Emitech and are also considering getting Daikin into one of our projects.” Cooling, he said, is a key contributor to energy consumption, making up 23-25% of our monthly energy bills. “With limited electrical load to work with, meeting the energy-efficiency goal is often a challenge,” Rahman said. And this, he added, makes understanding various energy-efficient technologies, such as VRV systems, crucial to projects.
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Does occupant health come at the cost of building performance?
said. “In addition, we are learning that the current focus on hand hygiene and surface disinfection to decrease transmission of infections will never be adequate, without considering the added dimension of indoor management.” Dr Taylor’s insights are not only based on her experience as physician for over 30 years, ‘If building codes mandated the monitoring of IAQ, we would be able to but also, following her earnest concern on create minimum standards for health, not just comfort,’ says Harvard MD; the role of the hospital building in patient outlines work of Taylor Healthcare Consulting infections. “When I tried to discuss my concerns with hospital facility managers, I By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor quickly learned that there was a tremendous divide between building and clinical professionals,” she said. if building codes mandated here is a need for greater “So I returned to school to get a the monitoring of IAQ factors action from the public sector in Master’s degree in Architecture.” known to affect occupants, implementing regulations related Dr Taylor then founded Taylor stakeholders would collect to IAQ, said Dr Stephanie Taylor, Healthcare Consulting, a more data and be able to MD, Harvard Medical School, Founder, Taylor company, which aimed to create minimum standards Healthcare Consulting. She emphasised understand the intersection for health, not just comfort. the need for support from all sectors, as Dr Stephanie Taylor of indoor air quality, building “Given the exorbitant cost of building codes have not incorporated the design, and occupant health, healthcare, the frightening current information on health of humans and she now works at the intersection of increase in antibiotic resistance and in buildings. “Change is difficult and architectural design, indoor air management, the epidemic of patient harm from new focusing on occupant health is a striking the microbiome of the built-environment infections, these insights offer exciting deviation from the current focus on building and occupant health. new tools that cannot be ignored,” she performance,” she said. Dr Taylor added that
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Close to AED 100 million saved in two years, says Etihad ESCO CEO provides update on Dubai Airport retrofit projects By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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n 2016 and 2017, Etihad ESCO retrofitted more than 2,000 buildings and facilities, said Ali Al Jassim, CEO, Etihad ESCO, who stressed that over the past two years, the company provided value savings of close to AED 100 million. “In Dubai Ali Al Jassim Airport,” Al Jassim said, “we are retrofitting Terminal 1, Terminal 2, Terminal 3 and Concourse B. The savings we are trying to achieve is AED 30 million every year, so the electricity bill will come down by that much.” Al Jassim said, in order to meet these objectives, the body is changing and modifying some of the chillers, air pumps, air-handling units and the air conditioning of Terminal 1, 2 and 3, in addition to some of the water fixtures. Once the project is completed by mid-2019, he said, Etihad ESCO will have achieved approximately 26-30% savings in Dubai Airport. Currently, he added, the company will
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oversee retrofit of up to 150,000 lighting fixtures in Terminal 1, 2 and 3. Overall, Al Jassim said, awareness and knowledge of retrofitting for energy reduction is growing with each year, among the public and private sectors. That said, Al Jassim stressed that Etihad ESCO remains proactive in promoting the importance of energy efficiency to stakeholders. “We still have a long way to go in terms of having the whole society of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates at one level of understanding on the importance of preserving energy for generations to come,” he said. “But we will keep speeding up the momentum in getting everyone aligned. It is important, we need to preserve resources and utilise them in the most efficient way.” Al Jassim said the public sector is leading by example, in terms of retrofitting its facilities, but that the private sector can often be apprehensive, owing to commercial considerations. “At the end of the day, it’s just a matter of decision making,” he said, adding it is the technology and financing available that will mitigate the risk of such projects.
“We are finding that the impact of buildings on our health is more powerful than imagined,” Dr Taylor said, “Managing the built-environment and indoor air with the goal of decreasing diseases from acute infections to chronic inflammation to cognitive impairment, is a very underutilised yet powerful approach to disease prevention.” She added that physician insights and background in biological research helps her understand the science behind the interaction of buildings, human physiology and energy consumption. “With education and experience in clinical medicine, architecture and mechanical engineering, as well as a research background in microbiology and cell growth, it is clear that the intersection of these disciplines is critical for understanding the powerful influence of the built-environment, where we spend over 85% of our time, on the health of all of us,” she added. Dr Taylor stressed that by including human health, productivity and learning data as building performance metrics, in addition to energy consumption, stakeholders can design and manage buildings to truly support health, not just comfort.
KIMMCO-ISOVER form a partnership in the Middle East KIMMCO and Saint-Gobain ISOVER now offer their range of products and solutions, under the brand KIMMCO-ISOVER, company’s representative says By CCME Content Team
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lghanim Industries and French construction company Saint-Gobain ISOVER have entered into a partnership, after the recent launch of their new stone wool plant in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, and the integration of KIMMCO in Kuwait, the companies announced in a Press communiqué. KIMMCO and Saint-Gobain ISOVER now offer their full range of glass wool and stone wool products and solutions, under the brand KIMMCOISOVER, the communiqué said. Commenting on the partnership, Jamal Abou Saleh said: “The new synergy of local market knowledge and global expertise will enable us to supply mineral wool for all building type, HVAC and industrial applications. This will further strengthen our KIMMCO-ISOVER product quality, service and innovation capabilities, to offer sustainable insulation solutions to our customers.” The communiqué said KIMMCO-ISOVER will be supplying glass wool from its Kuwait plant and stone wool from Saudi Arabia, thus making it the largest mineral wool supplier in the Middle East. The communiqué further said the company has provided its insulation solutions to many iconic buildings over the years and is supplying insulation for mega projects, such as the upcoming new Kuwait International Airport, Jeddah Tower and Al Zour refinery.
Blockchain can benefit the food supply chain and transport refrigeration industries Blockchain might be the mechanism to detect counterfeit practices, products and equipment within the industry, says COO, SAP Middle East South By Ranjana Konatt
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them, he further said. “We also ood wastage is a need a mechanism to detect problem within the counterfeit practices, products food supply chain and and equipment within the transport refrigeration industry,” he added. industries that needs immediate Referring to Blockchain attention, said Sameer Areff, technology as a key Chief Operating Officer, SAP, Sameer Areff pivot, Areff said, Middle East South, while “Before any business elaborating on the potential or industry considers diving into benefit Blockchain technology can bring to the blockchain, there is a need to the food supply and cold chain industries. He understand use cases, explore said, “There is a need for transparency within Proof of Concepts and the system and most businesses within the then get into the food supply and cold chain today work in execution stage.” silos.” There is an immediate need to shift The skill, he said is focus to the end-user, while understanding available; however, he the quality of the product being delivered to
added, it is vital to strip the noise out in a decentralised and organised fashion. Highlighting SAP’s contribution to Blockchain in the MENA region, Areff said, “We are a part of an online community of 4,000 Blockchain experts, who work at a macro level.” Elaborating, he said, the company has worked with a number of companies to help devise an effective Blockchain strategy; for instance, it has used Blockchain in real estate, where it connected the information about a property to its tenants, owners and contractors of the project. As a software company, he said, it has over 400,0000 customers in both public and private sectors, across 26 industries. While there are numerous software companies that aid businesses through their digital transformation, he reiterated the need to understand the nature of a business, while weighing the pros and cons to the adoption of a Blockchain strategy, before deep diving into it.
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ASHRAE announces call for papers for Energy Research and Development Conference The conference will be held from November 19 to 21, 2019, in Kuwait, organising body says By CCME Content Team
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SHRAE has announced a call for papers for the seventh International Conference on Energy Research and Development (ICERD), to be held from November 19 to 21, 2019, in Kuwait. Organised by Kuwait University and ASHRAE, the theme of the conference, ‘Advances in Energy Research & Development’, focuses on emerging energy conversion technologies, conservation and management strategies, the communiqué said. “Emerging energy technologies will play a critical role towards advancing sustainability in the built-environment on a global scale,” said Walid Chakroun, conference chair. “This conference offers the international energy research and development community insights to optimise the utilisation of basic energy resources in the major energy consuming sectors, while helping decision-makers shape energy policies for the region.” The conference steering committee is seeking papers focused on the development of high-impact technologies and processes that are lifecycle cost effective, and reduce energy use and environmental consequences, the communiqué said. Papers should demonstrate how their topics, on the thermal
and moisture performance of the exterior envelop of whole buildings, will lead to high performance buildings, demonstrate technologies ready for implementation and show the promise of short to mid-term adoption, the communiqué further said. According to ASHRAE, suggested paper topics include: · Energy conversion and management · Energy conservation · Fuels and alternatives · Energy policy and planning · Combined and co-generation energy systems · Air-conditioning & refrigeration systems · Energy & environmental issues · Energy and sustainable development · Renewable energy technologies · Energy storage The communiqué said that abstract submissions are due by December 24, 2018; if accepted, papers will be due by January 21, 2019.
Atkins announces new Saudi Arabia Country Director Rick Hancock to spearhead next phase of Atkins’ growth in Saudi Arabia, company’s representative says By CCME Content Team
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tkins, the design, an established nucleus of Saudi engineering and talent in our team – diligent, project management astute and highly capable consultancy and a people, of whom 10% are member of the SNC-Lavalin women. We look forward to Group, announced that Rick welcoming and training many Hancock has joined its design & more, and to offering them Rick Hancock engineering business as Country rewarding and fulfilling careers Director for Saudi Arabia, through a Press in a sustainable business through which communiqué. they can contribute to their country’s y future Commenting on his appointment, success, the growth and Hancock said: “I am delighted to be diversification of its economy heading up Atkins’ design and engineering and to the delivery of its operations in Saudi Arabia. The company Economic Vision 2030.” has a long and proud history of working Phil Malem, Managing on some of the country’s most iconic Director, Design and projects, and this gives us the credibility Engineering, Atkins, added: and knowledge to play a significant role in “We are very excited building its exciting future. We already have by Rick’s appointment.
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His extensive technical knowledge and understanding of Saudi Arabia’s commercial, economic and social landscape form a powerful combination that stands him in good stead to build on our long track record in the country. Having him based there permanently also sends a strong message both to our partners and to our customers of our commitment to their success.”
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$XWRPDWLRQ YLHZHG DV PHDQV WR UHGXFH OLIHF\FOH FRVW VD\V *HPLQL 3URSHUW\ 'HYHORSHUV CEO says investment in sophisticated home controls vital to address demand of tech-savvy real-estate buyers By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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echnologies related to home automation are increasingly being viewed as a means to expectation level is higher as to what they want in their reduce lifecycle cost, said Sunil Gomes, CEO, home, putting downward pressure on developers to build Gemini Property Developers, adding that the smarter.� company is investing heavily in this regard, to ensure its Technology, Gomes said, is increasingly optimised to competitiveness, by offering greater savings in opex.“The make homes more efficient, reduce maintenance issues lifecycle of a project is partly determined by the service and address the operation of every part of the unit. “It charge,� Gomes said. “Being able to afford a unit is one is also being used to ensure the efficiency of the pricing Sunil Gomes thing; the other side of the equation is being able to and budgets, allowing the homeowners to control their afford to live in it. We use technology automation to own service charges,� he said. Gomes said that Gemini make sure the projects are affordable.� is aware of the impact integrating home automation has on the Gomes pointed to Splendor, Gemini’s latest project, as an original capex, but that the company has seen a significant reduction example, highlighting its integrated controls, allowing users in cost-recovery period, which currently ranges from three to seven to manage operations through their mobile phones. “We are years, making a case for investment in sophisticated platforms for the using technology at every level, whether in the car park or in benefit of both the developer and end-user. the air conditioning automation system, to ensure operational Gomes added that Dubai’s property market holds a lot of expenditure over the next 25 years is sensibly used.� opportunities in the affordable housing sector, because in many cases Gomes said that efforts to integrate sophisticated controls “affordable housing is not that affordable�. “There are continued in units under the company’s portfolio are a result of growing opportunities for niche developers that come up with a good mix of demand from customers. “I think all homeowners and purchasers sizing and design,� he said. “Some developers historically oversize the are far more intelligent and technologically savvy than they units and, as a result, they are not selling as well as they could.� In line were 10 years ago,� he said. “This new generation is far more with this, Gomes highlighted that Gemini has recently commenced technically advanced than any generation previous to it, and the handover of its AED 300 million Splendor project.
SKM IDENTIFIES CHILLED WATER SEGMENT AS MAIN GROWTH DRIVER Company representative outlines commitment to align with regional market requirements during company’s annual gala dinner in end November By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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KM Air Conditioning has identified the chilled water segment as a main driver for growth for the company, said Asim A Hashmi Asim A Hashmi, Sales Director, Applied Business. Hashmi was speaking against the backdrop of the company’s annual gala dinner, held on November 28, in Dubai. The company’s top management attended the gala dinner, organised for SKM’s regional customers, business partners, and suppliers from all the
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territories that the company operates in, including Middle East, Ahmed Fahmy Africa, India, and Pakistan. In addition, delegations from industry associations attended the event. Hashmi said that over the last 3-5 years, the company has placed a lot of focus on improving product certifications and on offering more competitive pricing,
as part of its commitment to align with market requirements and to enhance its share in the chilled water segment. “We are going on 30-40% towards chilled water segment,� he said, adding that the company has taken more of the market share for chillers, air-handling units and fan-coil units from its competitors. In the Applied DX segment, Hashmi said, SKM is maintaining its share. Sharing his insights on the current business environment, Hashmi said that while the conditions in the region are, overall, challenging and the market is down, the company sees a lot of scope for growth. Speaking on growth opportunities in
‘Benchmarking needed for cities to move towards energy efficiency’ ‘There must be an environmental policy, which helps cities advance towards a net-zero goal,’ says Elementa Consulting By Ranjana Konatt
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here is a huge disconnect between policy and action,” said Ed Garrod, Principal, Elementa Consulting, Integral Group. He was speaking during the Seventh Annual EmiratesGBC Congress Ed Garrod Dr Raed B’kayrat on October 9, in Dubai. While speaking on policy and framework approaches for zero-carbon cities, Garrod said, “It has taken us 23 years to realise that we need to move towards net-zero cities.” Referring to the situation as having a trickledown effect, he insisted that change is imminent, but many new buildings were not acting fast enough with regard to sustainability. “Every city, has its own challenge and to deal with these challenges better, there is need for benchmarking," Garrod said. "Again, benchmarking will vary; however, there must be an environmental policy, which helps cities advance towards a netzero goal." While benchmarking might speed up the process, Dr Raed B’kayrat, Managing Director, Clean Energy Business Council, highlighted the role of incentives in achieving net-zero buildings. He said: “Countries have their respective targets when it comes to energy efficiency. But what’s needed is incentives and a reason why an existing, or a new, building must retrofit, or change, in order to be aligned with the net-zero goal.” Highlighting a major roadblock to carrying out retrofit projects, he said, “Retrofitting puts tremendous pressure on building owners and has cost constraints.” He added that in order to work around this challenge, every building must begin work, but in stages, rather than not doing it at all.
the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Hashmi said the outlook is positive for the company. Additionally, he said that SKM is opening new markets, such as in Pakistan and countries in Africa, to further expand its share in the chilled water segment. Elaborating on the GCC region, Saudi Arabia, in particular, Hashmi said, offers good opportunities. “We were there more in the Applied DX segment with government projects,” he said. “Now, we are going in more on the chilled water segment.” With regard to upcoming projects that may emerge from the Neom project, a city the Kingdom is developing along the Red Sea coast, Hashmi said that while there are a lot of opportunities in the market, the situation is largely competitive with very tough delivery and pricing requirements. Earlier, Ahmed Fahmy, CFO, SKM Air Conditioning addressed the gathering, where he expressed his appreciation of the company’s regional customers, business partners and suppliers for working in a progressive manner with SKM.
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Market oversaturated with old thinking applied to ‘socalled’ new technology The constant introduction of technology in the HVAC industry, often leaves end-users confused, says industry representative` By Ranjana Konatt
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he market is oversaturated with manufacturers applying old thinking to ‘so-called’ new technology, said Harold Dickenson Jr, Manager, Visualisation & Immersive Technology Group, while elaborating on the need for novelty in innovation. He said, “The constant introduction of technology in the HVAC industry often leaves end-users confused.” In terms of use and
Harold Dickenson Jr
performance, Dickenson Jr said, different products are saying the same thing, which kills the novelty factor for technology and innovation. Highlighting the need for manufacturers to make long-term investments and not just aim for short-term gains, he said, “Technology without a proper thought behind it is one of the causes why many in the construction and contracting space are reluctant to try out new tech.”
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How far away are we from 3D-printed buildings? Industry representative discusses bottlenecks preventing widespread commercial application of 3D-printing in the construction industry, in the Middle East and elsewhere By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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s the possibilities Additive Manufacturing, or 3D printing, offers the construction industry continue to expand, stakeholders remain wary with regard to how feasible the approach is on a mass scale. Dr Anthony Bentivegna, Laboratory Manager, Materials Laboratory Services, American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM), outlined challenges 3D-printed developments face. First, Dr Bentivegna pointed out, 3D printing offers itself as a more sustainable construction process. Whether it continues to be so down the line, he said, depends on the material being used to 3D-print the development and possibly the integration of other more sustainable materials. Cost, Dr Bentivegna added, is also an issue. One of two things will need to happen to make it more economical, he said. “The industry needs to navigate towards a manufacturing process, where it’s done in a warehouse with fixed conditions, and produce a lot of elements,” he said. “That way, we can get higher volume and economies of scale.” The other approach would be to incorporate 3D printing with existing technology or modifications in a construction field, so it’s not foreign to the construction process. Dr Bentivegna added that acceptance of AM will be largely dependent on the willingness of key decision-makers to accept and implement the technology. “It comes down to building owners, the state and the government agencies,” he said. “They will have to enforce it. It won’t come down to people in the field, it has to come from demand first – the construction industry will not accept
Hydrosense highlights FM’s role in battling Legionella in cooling towers Technical Director raises awareness on rapid self-testing method during FM Expo By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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it until they’re told to accept it.” The ultimate idea, he said, is to show them how 3D printing would save money and produce something that will last longer. That said, Dr Bentivegna stressed that a lot of focus should be placed on the durability of 3D-printed structures. “We need more evaluation,” he said. “We haven’t incorporated steel reinforcement in a consistent manner. We need to find a way for technology to install the steel we need.” Dr Bentivegna added that the main limitation to the mainstream proliferation of 3D-printed structures is determining which test methods on safety are applicable to make sure that the concrete does what it’s supposed to do and ensure that the building doesn’t collapse. “We want to make sure we develop specification and test methods,” he said. Another issue, he said, is converting raw steel, as a material, into 3D format in order to incorporate steel reinforcement. With regard to its feasibility in the Middle East region. Dr Bentivegna stressed that it is important to have a long-term approach and take into account conditions specific to the region. “We have a harsh region with temperature and chlorides coming from the sea,” he said. “Wind can blow chlorides, the concern with 3D printing is that it may have potential for cracking and shrinkage. We haven’t even started to look at that yet.” Durability, he stressed, continues to be a main concern.
he role of FM solution providers in battling legionella in cooling towers can often be overlooked, yet it remains vital for the safety and well-being of building inhabitants. Richard Campbell, Technical Director, Hydrosense, spoke on the issue during the company’s participation in FM Expo, highlighting efforts to raise awareness on rapid self-testing for legionella, as part of a building owners’ risk management plan. The FM Expo ran from September 17 to 29, in Dubai. “The main point is to get across the importance of testing, as part of FM solutions,” Campbell said. “Most facility managers know that they have to send samples off to get culture testing. What a lot of them are not aware of is that culture does not pick up quite a lot of positive samples for legionella, mainly due to a phenomenon known as VNBC, which is viable but non-culturable legionella. When legionella is exposed to high temperatures it will go into a dormant phase and in
that phase it is not able to be detected by culture. What you need in those instances are methods other than culture to detect the organism.” Campbell explained this is why Hydrosense’s solution detects antigens on the surface of the legionella organism, which is always present in all stages across the reproductive cycle of the legionella bacteria. Campbell said the company has a partnership in the UAE and is selling its products through Culligan. Campbell added that there is scope for improvement with regard to the level of awareness on the proper testing for legionella. “People are aware of legionella but not the actual technical background to the organism, and how and when you should test and some of the positives and negatives of the different testing methods out there,” he said, adding that this is what underpins Hydrosense’s commitment to educating the public. Speaking on the level of training needed to manage the testing, Campbell said the test
Exposure to VOCs can trigger respiratory conditions Residential and office buildings lag behind in addressing the dangers posed by VOCs, says industry representative By Ranjana Konatt
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oday, end-users pay more attention to whether air is being cooled sufficiently, instead of focusing on factors that influence IEQ, for instance, the exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and their effects on respiratory health,” said Suneil Deliwal, Managing Director, Cheqpoint Trading. He added that unlike well-known hotels, which maintain their HVAC systems and are attentive to VOCs, and their harmful effects, residential and office buildings hardly bother. Echoing Deliwal, Dr Faisal Asad, Head of Department, Pulmonology, Saudi German Hospital, said, “Today, people are exposed to VOCs in the most mundane places, for instance, a new carpet or a car, during renovation or building maintenance in the form of paints and foams.” In the United Arab Emirates, in particular, he said, people are more vulnerable to VOCs, because they spend most of their time indoors, making IEQ very important to maintaining good respiratory health. He explained, “The exposure to VOCs and their ill-effects as a subject cannot be studied in isolation, as the chemicals are only a trigger, which lead to more complex respiratory conditions.” To name a few, he said, mucous membrane irritation, cough in the chest, inflammation in the nose, oral cavities and in the air-ways, wheezing and asthma-like symptoms, can all be triggered when a person is exposed to VOCs. “However, the time taken by the body to react to the chemicals is subjective and differs from person to person, as it depends on the person’s tolerance level to the chemicals and his or her hypersensitivity,” Dr Asad said. Elaborating on a study conducted in Korea, where both asthmatic and non-asthmatic people were exposed to VOCs, he said, “Those who had asthma showed higher bronchial hyperresponsiveness as compared to those who did not have asthma.” The non-asthmatic persons, he said, also experienced asthmatic symptoms, but this was relative from person to person. “VOCs are especially harmful to children," Dr Asad said, "as 90% of asthmatic cases can be diagnosed during childhood. This, in addition to pregnant women, whose immunity can be affected.” Even though anti-inflammatory medicine is available, the best treatment, he said, is to avoid contact with the chemicals. “The exposure to VOCs," he said, can be done with a relatively low level of "is an occupational hazard and, though expertise and training, as long as proper there are rules and regulations, personal instructions are followed, and, as with protection is a must.” all testing methods, there is a level of specialised training needed. As to the payback that comes from investing in integrating the testing system into the portfolio of FM providers, Campbell highlighted instead the consequences that come from lack of Data provided vigilance. “A potential outbreak could by #IDEA cost a company in terms of reputation, shows that and that results in loss of business,” he approximately said. “It’s about preventing the level of 900 district energy exposure you might get, if you have a installations are positive result that culture testing is going currently operational in the USA to miss.” Campbell added that in the @districtenergy UK, the FM industry is highly regulated, especially when it comes to legionella, under the scope of risk management, and that the UAE is on the same path, in rolling out stringent regulations and Cogeneration Channel standards. @CHPChannel
‘Data acquisition is the new oil’ Humans are 85% accurate about information, while technology is 97% accurate, says Brian De Francesca, CEO, Ver2 By Ranjana Konatt
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verall, humans are 85% accurate about information, while technology is 97% accurate, said Brian De Francesca, CEO, Ver2, while predicting the role of IoT in the future of various industries. Today, he said, whether or not manufacturers adopt IoT-enabled devices in their systems is a matter of choice and depends on what level of accuracy is desired. “In the future, technology and IoT-enabled devices will not replace people and their jobs; instead, they will help the jobs evolve, while people do different things,” De Francesca said. Referring to data acquisition as the new oil, De Francesca elaborated on how IoT-enabled devices will enhance interoperability. Eventually, he said, people might even be paid to share their information, which is on a blockchain, in an anonymous manner. “The adoption of blockchain will take several years before we have access to data, which is trusted and accurate,” De Francesca said. However, he added, there will come a point, where people will have the option of selling their data for research, surveys and data collection, which, in his opinion, is a great idea.
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‘Leaders and politicians are catalysts in the chase for net-zero cities’
The concept of net-zero needs to be made palatable for there to be a demand for it, says Regional Director, C40 cities By Ranjana Konatt
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connect to the concept in order to ask for a Green or netanjay Sridhar, Regional Director, South and zero building. Sridhar said that if the concept is explained West Asia, C40 cities, has stressed on the well at the initial phase itself this will help in getting things need for cities and construction companies right. “Cutting down on energy consumption has a direct to be committed to energy efficiency. relationship with the environment and climate change, and Elaborating on the role played by politicians and if people are able to see the connection, it will lead to a leaders as catalysts in change, he said, “Politicians demand for net-zero buildings,” Sridhar said. and leaders have crucial roles to play in galvanising When cities approach us, Sridhar said, we help them put the building momentum towards a sustainable, netSanjay Sridhar together a comprehensive strategy after benchmarking zero energy environment.” However, referring to this where the city stands. The ultimate goal, he said, is to enable cities as “no easy task", he said, “Dubai represents areas from Jordan to to develop low-carbon building codes, which go beyond natural Bangladesh and has the scope and ambition to reach its goals.” requirements. If we don’t work together, Sridhar said, we might In order to achieve a net-zero environment, Sridhar said that be locked in and might never be able to reverse the situation. He it is important to identify the city’s baseline and, based on where added, “C40 is in the process of working with agencies to help it stands, the next step would be to identify sectors that need compare baselines between cities, so that new entrants can use it as immediate attention. He stressed on the importance of conveying a reference point of what worked in the past, while comparing it to the concept to people, in such a way that it is palatable and in their own baselines.” a language they can understand. He added that people need to
1HZ ,5 VHQVRU WR FRQWULEXWH WR HQHUJ\ HIILFLHQF\ DQG ILUH VDIHW\ The size and price of sensors are key determining factors in their use and application, says CEO, JonDeTech By Ranjana Konatt
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he digital world is said that today the size and expanding fast and price of these sensors are key needs IR sensors determining factors in their use that connect the and application. analogue to the digital world, Highlighting a key said Robert Ekström, CEO, innovation, Ekström said, “The JonDeTech, while elaborating small thermopile sensor can be on the demand for IR a tool used for the contactless Robert Ekström sensors. However, he added measurement of temperature that the size of a sensor, its and heat flow.” The sensor, he capacity and manufacturing cost have said, could be used for several commercial been obstacles to its implementation and IoT applications, such as flame and fire use in the HVAC industry. “The extensive detection, motion, absolute temperature spread of IR sensors began in the 1950s, measurements, heat measurement, heat when industries expanded in size and control and even plumbing. “The sensors gained a great degree of automation, are made with nanotechnology in a plastic shortly after sensors played a major role matrix and are constructed in three different in the development of the manufacturing layers, the thermopile being the most industry,” Ekström said. Elaborating, he important,” he said.
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Pointing to price, flexibility and size as key factors influencing the application of sensors to HVAC equipment, Ekström said, “One new innovation is the IR sensor 2.0, which is small and built in plastic.” The nanotechnology, he said, allows mass-production like never before and makes the sensor affordable, as compared to others. “The sensor is up to onetenth of the price of a conventional sensor and can fit in small spaces,” said Ekström. IR 2.0, Ekström said, can be of great use in Facilities Management, where it can be used to control temperature based on the occupancy rate. “Sensors help optimise the use of energy and ensure a flow measurement, which saves energy consumption,” he said. In addition, sensors have great use in fire safety, where an open flame can be detected very quickly, and there’s no need for smoke for the sensor to react, he said. “Traditional air temperature sensors react only when the air near the selected temperature has been registered, but with the new kind of sensors, you can directly see if the temperature changes, even if you are in the next room,” Ekström said. The use and application of such sensors, he added, not only provides fast cooling and heat regulation but also makes temperature control cheap and efficient.
‘Inclusion of blockchain technology in industries will take time’ The only way we can give blockchain a chance is by building Proof of Concepts, says Co-founder, Dubai Blockchain Center By Ranjana Konatt
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lockchain technology is relatively new and blockchain, he said, adding, “Today there is a need to educate the inclusion of the technology in industries the new generation on the technology, and we can see kids will take time, said Tarek Mohammed, who have come up with impressive POCs.” Co-founder, Dubai Blockchain Center. “The Mohammed said that blockchain is not a multi-million only way we can give blockchain a chance is by dollar technology and, if kept simple, it does not cost much. exploring strategies and building Proof of Concepts Pointing to the support and incorporation of blockchain by (POCs),” he added. the UAE government as the biggest milestone, he said: “We Elaborating on the work done by the Dubai as a country have grown from a real estate hub to a tourism Tarek Mohammed Blockchain Center in encouraging and supporting hub, and now are moving on to being a technology hub.” He companies to adopt the technology, he said, “At the Center, we said that the Center, which was initiated in June this year, now sees do not provide a blockchain solution for companies but act as over a thousand people coming in for free courses, which, he added, a think-tank platform, where we educate and create awareness are aligned towards the broader goal of creating awareness about about blockchain.” There are multiple kinds of protocols in blockchain and the benefits of its application across industries.
‘Cost is a factor influencing the adoption of RFID’ The rise in the number of RFID manufacturing companies in China and India has created a highly competitive market for both passive and active RFID tags, says Project Coordinator By Ranjana Konatt
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hough RFID tags can help with temperature control of blood packets during transport, the cost factor of using RFID depends on the value it brings to a business, said Georgie Evans, Project Coordinator, Tracker Point. “A number of factors determine the implementation cost,” she said. For instance, a tag that has its own onboard power source tends to be more expensive than a passive RFID tag, where the power is supplied by the reader. However, she said, the choice of technology depends on project requirements. “Based on experience, we have seen the cost to be the
major factor influencing RFID and its application,” Evans said. She highlighted that the rise of manufacturing bases in China and India has created a highly competitive market, where the technology is becoming affordable. This, she said, will enable the healthcare sector to adopt the technology in a supply chain process. Elaborating on the work done by Tracker Point, Evans said that the company has deployed over 200 installations worldwide, ranging from asset tracking in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to monitoring shipments to China and even securing the storage of media assets in UK’s top universities.
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‘Rising cost, price-sensitive consumers pave way for TES solutions in GCC region’ GM of TPmec, highlights applications for Viking Cold Solutions and Phase Change Material, intelligent controls and monitoring features By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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ising costs and an storing and releasing increasingly pricelarge amounts sensitive consumer of energy, as it base dominate the transitions between GCC region’s market scenario, solid and liquid said Rajeev Sivadasan, General states. “While changing phases, Manager, TPmec, adding that our engineered PCM absorbs Rajeev Sivadasan current conditions being faced 300 times more heat than by cold chain stakeholders are food,” he said. Combined with owing to increasing energy cost, constraints intelligent controls and monitoring software in food supply and global economic that can be integrated with the existing uncertainty. “Refrigerated warehouses, refrigeration system, it can reduce the energy frozen food distribution centres and grocery consumption by approximately 25-35%. The freezers are the highest energy-consuming features, he said, shifts the load from peak sector per cubic foot in the world,” he said, towards off-peak period, reduces the runtime adding that as a result, reducing energy of refrigeration systems and establishes cost is being viewed as one of the easiest temperature by more than 38% inside ways to increase a company’s bottom line. the storage space, thereby increasing the According to the Carbon Trust, he explained, shelf-life of food and ensuring its quality is a 20% cut in energy costs is equivalent to a maintained. five per cent increase in sales on the balance Sivadasan added that the system doesn’t sheet. This, he said, is paving the way for have mechanical moving parts and can be Thermal Energy Storage (TES) solutions, installed in both new and retrofit projects. gleaning from TPmec’s experience as a “Our system actually integrates with existing channel partner for Viking Cold Solutions in racking systems, does not reduce any the GCC region. storage space and does not limit sprinkler Sivadasan explained that US-based or fire suppression systems,” he said. “[It] Viking Cold Solutions offers TES solutions will not affect commodity classification that reduce energy demand and provide and will not impede or disrupt any logistical flexibility and savings in an otherwise operations. In fact, the system’s controls energy-intensive frozen/low temperature and remote monitoring actually improve cold storage industry. Outlining the features, overall efficiencies and allow for predictive Sivadasan pointed to its use of Phase maintenance of other system components.” Change Material (PCM), a substance with Sivadasan said the company has saved a high latent heat of fusion, which can clients’ energy consumption by 11,403 Mhr, remain at a consistent temperature, while reduced carbon footprint by over 8,100
metric tonnes and mitigated product losses of over USD 13 million. “TES is protecting frozen food quality and is changing the face of the cold storage industry,” he stressed. Since the tie-up between TPmec in Dubai and Viking Cold Solutions, Sivadasan said, both firms are approaching cold chain companies to educate the market on the benefit of this solution. Applications, he said, vary widely across the United Arab Emirates and the region, to include cold stores, frozen food distribution centres and supermarkets with cold rooms for fruits, vegetables, dairy, milk and other temperature-sensitive items. “It can even be used in the medical field, where medicines or serum are stored in lowtemperature storage spaces,” he said. Sivadasan said that growing awareness with regard to the GWP of refrigerants, integral to the operation of refrigeration equipment, is also making a case for TES solutions. With the United Arab Emirates’ looming environmental targets and the Supreme Council of Energy’s strategy to reduce carbon emissions by 16%, equivalent to reducing 11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2021, Sivadasan said that TES falls in line with the sustainability goals of the United Arab Emirates, as well as that of countries in the GCC region, which are rolling out similar initiatives.
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LEMINAR AIR CONDITIONING SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH SHARQAWI AIR DISTRIBUTION Agreement reached on the sidelines of the inaugural Leminar Customer Conference, says company representative By CCME Content Team Leminar Air Conditioning Industries, LLC, said: “The United Arab Emirate’s manufacturing segment is becoming stronger, resulting in a greater outflow of licensing agreements from United Arab Emirates businesses to other markets. The partnership with Sharqawi is a testament to our commitment to support the growth of the manufacturing industry within the United Arab Emirates and the wider GCC region.” Dipak Bhadra, Executive Director, Leminar Air Conditioning Industries, added: “The FFC duct has been one of our most popular products since the very beginning, owing to its quality and performance. The partnership with Sharqawi is a befitting one, as their manufacturing meet highest expected quality standards. This, combined with our expertise, will make way for FFC ducts to be used on more and more major projects in the region.” The communiqué said, the agreement was signed between Bhadra and Mohammad Salah, General Manager, Sharqawi, under the auspices of Kevin Gibson, Technical Director of Fenland Fire Contracts, UK, during the Leminar Customer Conference. L-R: Dipak Bhadra, Executive Director, Leminar Air Conditioning Industries and Mohammad Salah, General Manager, Sharqawi
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eminar Air Conditioning Industries, has signed a manufacturing sub-license agreement with Saudi Arabiabased Sharqawi Air Distribution System Factory Company, which is based in Saudi Arabia, the companies announced in a joint Press communiqué. The deal was formalised during the recently concluded Leminar Customer Conference 2018, at the InterContinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City, United Arab Emirates, the communiqué said. Sharqawi will fabricate and sell the Fenland Fire Duct system (FFC-UK) in Saudi Arabia on an exclusive basis, with technical support and raw material supplied from Leminar’s Dubai facility and FFC-UK, when required, the communiqué said. The increasing awareness and demand for the FFC ducts from clients outside the United Arab Emirates urged Leminar Air Conditioning Industries, which is currently an exclusive manufacturer in the Middle East, to seek out a new partner, the communiqué further said. Commenting on the agreement, Pramodh Idicheria, COO,
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‘The challenge is to find a single platform to monitor food through the supply chain’ Loopholes in the food chain must be addressed and stakeholders in the industry must have a unified approach to the adoption of technology, says Technical Manager, IoT Plus By Ranjana Konatt
Mahmoud Al Charif
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he food chain and cold chain involve long processes in what we call “farm to fork”, and the pressing challenge, today, is to find a single platform that can be used to monitor food, as it travels on the food supply chain, asserted Mahmoud Al Charif, Technical Manager, IoT Plus, during a conversation at the 12th Annual Dubai International Food and Safety Conference, held at the Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Center, The Food Watch Programme, Al Charif said, has definitely helped improve the situation, when it comes to traceability; however, he pointed to additional challenges that need to be addressed. To date, he said, the food chain and transport chain is only 60% traceable, and the challenge lies in improving this statistic. For instance, he said, “Let’s begin with the farm, where you need animal-tracking sensors to know the health of a cow, the soil temperature from where the animal grazes, to the point where the milk is packaged, transported and shelved in the supermarket.” Right through the process, he said, there is a need for improved traceability because, often, businesses
are privately owned, and not everyone is open to technology. RFID tags and sensors can be used to track food in its journey to the supermarket; however, every stakeholder must understand the benefit of using such a technology. Loopholes in the system must be addressed, and stakeholders must take responsibility in ensuring traceability in the food and cold chain industry, Al Charif said. Making the call for awareness about the benefits of integration, Al Charif highlighted that the IoT-provider market is an emerging one, and IoT companies today need to come up with an end-toend solution with a single platform. “Sensory data is captured from the Application Interface, the code of which can be accessed only from an application.” Having such a platform, he said, requires an investment of time, effort and focus from all the stakeholders. Here, the unified aim is to provide the best in service and quality products to the end-user. Al Charif said, “IoT, I believe, will be the data layer to blockchain and if we take this information and work together, we can achieve 100% traceability in the food and cold chain.”
‘Intelligent use of data can improve indoor climate’ CEO, IIoTD, says IEQ is a public health issue; discusses level of awareness in Denmark By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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ndoor climate is often improve IEQ. misunderstood, said Providing a historical Daniel Bachmann, Group perspective on the level of CEO, Founding Partner, awareness given to IEQ in International IoT Distribution Denmark, a country known for (IIoTD), emphasising that its expertise in resource-efficient it is a combination of air, buildings, Bachmann said that Daniel Bachmann temperature, humidity, noise good intentions paved the way and light, and that, with most for the current situation, where people today spending 90% of their time IEQ can be largely an afterthought. “When indoors, being immersed in an artificial the oil crisis hit in the 1970s, we all decided environment can have serious we needed to secure energy consumption,” health implications. he said. “By doing energy renovations, “You can control it, but we insulated buildings even more, you cannot control what in order not to waste heat energy. you do not know,” he Bachmann explained that the more stressed, highlighting insulated the building, the worse the company’s its indoor climate, as it lessens commitment to fresh air changes and increases intelligently use data CO2 levels, potentially leading to understand and to sickness.
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Bachmann stressed that the focus of stakeholders of new and existing buildings, first and foremost, must be on IEQ, as it is a public health issue. “In Denmark today, 30% of children going to public schools get sick from the bad indoor climate,” he said. “That, to me, is not acceptable.” In private homes, Bachmann said, the conditions are worse, with indoor climate up to five times more polluted than the outside climate. Bachmann stressed that a better indoor climate can be secured if stakeholders can better understand the situation, measure the conditions in order to better predict and implement the necessary solutions that will not come at the expense of energy consumption, making a case for digital platforms that can help in this regard. With a lot of research carried out on the impact that IEQ has on building inhabitants over the years, Bachmann said a great deal of work is being done to develop a more three-dimensional understanding of the full value of a property. In Denmark, he explained, buildings that did not have a good profile, energy-wise, could not be rented out, which drove investment in, and benchmarking of, energy-efficient solutions. “If you have bad indoor climate, you also shouldn’t be able to rent it out,” he said. “These two things have to go hand in hand; it is very important for the future.”
*&& UHJLRQ LGHQWLILHG DV KLJK JURZWK DUHD IRU SRO\XUHWKDQH Expected demand owing to energyefficiency policies spearheaded by United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, says Dow Chemical By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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he GCC region offers high-
growth potential for the polyurethane Akil Sahiwala business, said Akil Sahiwala, Polyurethane Systems Leader (Middle East), Dow Chemical, who said the expected demand is owing to the energy-efficiency policies being spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which puts the construction sector in focus. Proactive efforts, he said, can be attributed to the GCC region’s energy consumption being driven largely by the residential sector, at almost 47%, compared with the global average of 25%. “The measures taken include retrofitting of existing buildings and enhanced building envelop construction,” Sahiwala said. “Moreover, there is a growing focus on introducing innovative technologies and materials, which improve the efficiency of buildings in these markets, especially with the rise of smart buildings and urbanisation.” The region’s growing focus on both renewable energy and energy-efficiency policies, Sahiwala said, aims to regulate the dependence on fossil fuels, while meeting the growing energy needs. “These policies could, in turn, benefit the country through decreased investments in power generation and reducing wasteful consumption of resources,” he said. “Such measures encourage the growth of industries, such as sustainable construction and lowconsumption appliances, among others. As a result, sustainable solutions, such as polyurethanes, are seeing an increase in
Honeywell identifies key growth sectors being driven by Expo 2020 Company President says hospitality, transportation, healthcare and retail industries offer great potential By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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n the heels of the recent opening of the Honeywell Technology Experience Center, Norm Gilsdorf, President, Honeywell, High Growth Regions, Middle East and Russia, identified key sectors that offer strong potential for growth in view of EXPO 2020 and how the new centre’s commitment to IoTenabled solutions addresses gaps in the market. First, Gilsdorf pointed to the hospitality sector’s Norm Gilsdorf expansion in the region, with more hotels, which will require stronger technology infrastructure. “We see the hospitality sector as a big opportunity,” he said. Secondly, he highlighted the importance of the transportation area, with significant improvements. Thirdly, Gilsdorf pointed to the healthcare sector, with an increase in the number of hospitals. In this, he pointed to the importance of intelligent life care, to help monitor patients and ensure the right treatment is offered to the right person, at the right time, in addition to helping manage the system’s climate and the environment. Lastly, Gilsdorf said the retail sector offers key growth opportunities, with large malls being developed in a smarter way. On whether efforts to improve building performance, through greater connectivity and IoT technologies, have enhanced due to environmental targets, Gilsdorf said that, while this is the case, much of the uptake is owing to the economical payback that solutions offer. “There is good environmental consciousness,” he said, “but at the end of the day, there is economics, and there needs to be payback for the investment of the technology. Today, the general cost of technology has come down, particularly with connected technology. We are one of the leading producers of refrigerants; we have low-GWP refrigerants that can be installed in chillers and cooling systems, but what is driving it is that it saves significant energy.” He explained that while installation in Europe for such solutions is driven by compliance with stringent regulations, in the GCC region, such solutions are attractive for their big energy savings.
demand among regional customers in these sectors, who are looking to address the energy-sustainability challenges.” This, he said, is owing to the applications of polyurethanes in construction, cold chain and appliances. That said, Sahiwala added that the market has also been challenged to innovate, owing to demand. “In the past, some blowing agents have been a cause for concern, as they have been found to contribute to the depletion of the Earth’s ozone layer,” he said. “Blowing agents are known to support the superior insulation performance of closed-cell polyurethane foam as a result of insulating gas retention in the cells of the foam.” As such, he said, Dow has conducted extensive research on low-GWP blowing agents to maintain and improve the insulation properties of polyurethane foams. “Increasingly, Hydrofluoro-olefin (HFO) blowing agents with
low-GWP are replacing traditional hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HFC) blowing agents to meet the proposed regulations,” he added. Sahiwala said that R&D efforts have been focused on combining best-in-class insulation performance with a more sustainable profile, with the new polyurethane-based solutions aimed to address the blowing agent challenge. “By controlling the foaming process, uniform cell structure is achieved providing consistent physical properties and high insulation value,” he said. “Performance benefits for appliances using these new foam systems include improved insulation efficiency, balanced processability, remarkable durability, lightweight and structural strength.” Additionally, he said, the polyurethane foams enable customisation; hence, they can be tailor-made to meet customer specification requirements.
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‘FM companies have to expand their portfolios to accommodate customers’ demands’ From investing in specialised training to accommodating new building technologies, CEO, Farnek, discusses old and new challenges facing FM providers in the GCC region By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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s the built-environment continues to evolve – solution is dependent on the site requirements and be it owing to market conditions or emerging budgetary decisions taken during the tender phase, technologies – Facilities Management (FM) whether it be the proper maintenance of ELV and/or BMS companies often have to expand their product systems or CO2 calibrations. “In some instances it may portfolios to accommodate new and old demands from be more cost-effective to conduct low-level maintenance, customers. Markus Oberlin, CEO, Farnek, said that this can i.e., periodic visual checks in-house,” he said, “but when be a challenge, when it comes to specialised expertise system intervention or major services are required, a Markus Oberlin needed for managing HVACR equipment within buildings. specialist service provider can be engaged. Alternatively, “Technicians with the skill set to adapt immediately to we can invest in both internal and external certified specialised systems are not available in abundance,” he admitted. training to close the skills gap.” “To overcome this problem, it is sometimes necessary to recruit from Oberlin also touched on the impact technologies, such as BIM overseas. In this instance, we ensure they have the relevant technical and IoT present to the FM sector, especially in the maintenance of know-how and undertake a programme of continuous training and HVACR-related equipment. “Cost of technology implementation has development.” not yet been appreciated by calculating ROI,” he said, “hence the roll To ensure its competitive advantage, Oberlin said that Farnek out of BIM or IoT has been slow to date, but as a technology- and has invested in an in-house “school of excellence” to provide presustainability-driven FM Company, Farnek embraces such advances.” deployment and refresher theoretical and practical maintenance Farnek, Oberlin said, is currently in negotiations with market specialists training across all MEP trades, including HVACR. “In addition, Farnek in these fields and investigating in-house solutions for IoT, where technicians receive periodic site-specific training to ensure they applicable. “It is inevitable that these measures will present challenges remain fully competent on the assets they’re maintaining,” he added. in terms of manpower,” he said, “but we must embrace technology, These “assets” can vary greatly. Discussing the company’s understand the capabilities and work with it to provide the most costapproach in providing different services, Oberlin stressed that the effective and competitive FM service solutions to our clients.”
Low cost considerations root cause of MEP projects falling short of expectations Industry expert highlights importance of initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closing By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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here are many instances where MEP projects are falling short of expectations, due to poor design and supervision, said Pramod Kumar Jha, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Building Services, Middle East, Atkins, member of SNC Lavalin. He further said that to find the root cause, stakeholders must understand that every project has five processes, namely – initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and control, and closing. “Each process has got its own importance, and
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services design/supervision, not following one impacts and MEP consultancies with the one that comes after the expertise to understand it,” he said. He added that the requirements are considering the lowest cost as considered costlier than a factor for project success, others and pushed out of without understanding the the race. Jha said, “When scope, schedule and quality Pramod Kumar Jha from the beginning itself, expectations, is the root cause there is no synergy in what is expected of the problem. by the customers and what is to be Jha said that the issue is not the delivered by MEP consultants, the lack of qualified and specialised projects fall short of the expectations, MEP consultancy expertise, but the owing to poor design and supervision.” challenging market situation, where customers do not want to know the right cost for their expected project’s HVAC
‘There is no one technology that is the answer to everything’ Danfoss Drives advocates project evaluation and assessment to ensure proper specifications; highlights need for specialised MEP consultants By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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ll technologies have given technology. Right now, a downside, said in the market, there isn’t one Gregers Geilager, predominant technology that is Head of Premium the answer to everything. You Drives, Product Management, have to evaluate and assess Danfoss Drives, who stressed technical considerations.” that while there is no shortage of Geilager stressed that the Gregers Geilager energy-efficient options, there is added layer of knowledge a lack of understanding on the needed to specify and install best way to optimise them within projects. new equipment can make consultants, “There’s always a flip side,” Geilager said, who are unwilling or unable to know more adding: “There isn’t just one solution about new products, reluctant. “It’s at least that covers everything. There are some stopping the right specification of products,” competitors trying to go out to market with he said. “Sometimes, either the wrong easy-to-install solutions, but what is not product is specified, or a product is specified communicated is that you lose the efficiency that actually isn’t the most optimal way to in the installation, so your running efficiency mitigate harmonics in that given situation. goes down, and that is the flip side of that We are seeing consultants who are scared
[to try something new] and others just specifying blindly, which is a waste of money and drives down the efficiency. And there are others who aren’t aware there is a problem at all, so they are not specifying anything, when they should. For sure, there is a lack of information in the market.” Geilager said that often, the task set for consultants can be daunting, as they are faced with having to look, assess and understand something about motors, drives, switch gears, cabinets and other considerations. “I think it’s really difficult for them to grasp all the things they need to be an expert on,” he said, stressing that this makes a case for specialised MEP consultants and contractors, of which Geilager said, there are too few.
AI, IoT transforming HVACR sector, says BSRIA Body warns that data and analysis will be of limited value, unless systems respond suitably By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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he impact of emerging technologies, namely Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), on the HVACR sector, is undeniable, said Saziye Dickson, Senior Market Research Consultant, Building Services Research & Information Association Saziye Dickson (BSRIA), adding that these platforms will eventually transform the industry as we know it today. “Data collected from HVAC R appliances and other building systems can be used to analyse the performance of the equipment and to optimise it, for example by identifying faults, and eventually predicting them, by improving energy efficiency and comfort,” she said. “Over time, AI will become increasingly sophisticated in its capabilities, though it is important to remember that true AI requires not just data and analytical capabilities but also a deep understanding of the subject
matter -- in this case buildings, their structure and their uses, which takes time to build-up and requires trained staff to use effectively.” Dickson was quick to point out an important caveat, however, which is that the data and analysis generated will always be of limited value, unless the HVAC R system is also capable of responding in a suitably granular and nuanced way. “Regular monitoring and analysis also helps in verifying whether the building, as commissioned and as managed over a period of time, is actually meeting the targets set at the design stage and, if not, suggesting the necessary actions to remedy the situation,” she added. Dickson emphasised that contractors and consultants need to not only have a thorough understanding of the technologies, they also need to appreciate how to marry them to the client’s priorities and needs. She added, “This includes constructing a robust and credible ROI up-front, which demonstrates the payback for the initial investment.”
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Blueair’s purifiers makes a case for improving IAQ in cars Cars today are designed in such a way that they tend to suck in exhaust air and are unable to filter out air pollution, says CEO By Ranjana Konatt
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oday, especially in metro cities, the state of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in vehicles is exceptionally bad,” said Daniel Hagström, President and CEO, Blueair Cabin Air, after unveiling the company’s intelligent range of car air purifiers on October 23, in Dubai. According to Blueair, scientists in the United States found that the levels of soot and chemicals inside cars were twice as high as compared to those measured by roadside detectors, and – even though no data on IAQ in cars in the United Arab Emirates exists – air pollution continues to be one of the biggest health concerns. Elaborating, Hagström said that cars today are designed in such a way that they tend to suck in exhaust air and are unable to filter out air pollution. He said that this can lead to bad IAQ in cars, resulting in particulate matter and VOCs inside the car. “The scope of IAQ in cars is an important aspect to health,” he added. Commenting on the technology aspect of the purifiers, Hagström said, “The HEPA Silent filtration technology used in the purifiers enables a high air flow and high filtration efficiency.” The filters, he said, are Wi-Fi enabled and work with smart appliances, allowing for voice control by Amazon’s Alexa. The filter technology, he said, ensures a 99.97% filtration rate, where car exhausts, road wear, pollen, dust and particulate matter (PM) are removed. “The HEPA filter performance is what sets us apart, when it comes to IAQ in cars and is the core of Blueair,” Hagström added. TR Ganesh, General Manager, Blueair Middle East, gave a regional update. He said, “The demand and need for good IAQ in the United Arab Emirates, makes the region an ideal place for the launch of a product like this.” Elaborating, he
Price a factor for customers in diffuser product selection Market demand continues to rise irrespective of the economic situation, says Partner, Sachins Impex By Ranjana Konatt
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Daniel Hagström
TR Ganesh
said that Blueair Middle East was formed recently, and in terms of achievement, has a global recognition for quality and design. Ganesh added that, Blueair is also speaking with a few top car manufacturers to see whether the filters can be pre-installed. “Commuters spend, on average, about 10 hours a week in vehicles," Hagström saod. "This is particularly true for the United Arab Emirates, where walking and cycling are less common ways of transport. To meet the consumer needs for clean air in cars, we have expanded our air purification expertise and best-in-class technology to a new segment, which I’m proud to present to UAE residents here, today." Ganesh added: “Air quality inside cars can be much worse than on the street, thanks to a combination of exhaust emissions from one’s own vehicle, from other vehicles, as well as particles from tires and road wear products that enter through ventilation and air-conditioning systems. With its high-performance technology, Cabin Air car air purifier will offer UAE residents peace of mind that 99.97% of these impurities are being filtered out.” Given the long hours spent driving, a staggering 72% of consumers are worried about the impact the air circulating inside their cars may have on themselves and their families. The same number, also said that they are aware of the negative health effects of breathing polluted air, reveals a survey carried out for Blueair by independent UK research firm Bonamy Finch.
ne-piece diffusers are better than conventional ones and save on the amount of raw material and labour costs, while also improving performance, said Sachin R Mhatre, Partner, Sachins Impex, speaking on the market demand for their product. “We have customers in the Middle East, and the market demand is huge,” he said. Elaborating, he said, there is competition from China, as companies from that country provide poor quality components for a low price. “Price is the only challenging factor influencing customers and their decision to opt for a better product,” Mahtre said. “We mostly export to the United Arab Emirates and get regular orders.” He added that the economic slowdown has not affected the business, which is based in Maharashtra, India.
2019 AHR Expo to showcase latest in HVACR innovation, products and technologies Show offers first look at new developments in the HVACR industry for HVACR professionals, organising body says By CCME Content Team
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he 2019 AHR Expo will preview the future of the HVACR industry, with exhibitors, from around the globe, coming together to showcase new and upgraded products, technologies and innovations, the organising body said in a Press communiqué. The show, to be held from January 14 to 16, 2019, at The Georgia World Congress Center in Clay Stevens Atlanta, Georgia, USA, is the best place to gain insight into what’s coming in the year ahead in the HVACR industry, the communiqué said. • Clay Stevens, Manager, AHR Expo, said, “Each year the industry comes together under one roof to display the latest tools and technologies that enable HVACR professionals to keep up with the rapid pace of change in the industry. With thousands of attendees joining from all over the world, the show provides a unique forum for the whole industry to share ideas, cultivate relationships and experience first-hand all of the exciting advances being made in HVACR.” Exhibitors will be displaying new solutions that serve every kind of HVACR function ranging from highly efficient equipment and components to whole building management systems, including building automation and control technologies that connect and communicate via the Internet of Things (IoT), time-saving tools and instruments that require less time at the job site and a myriad of products and solutions that promote energy efficiency, the communiqué said. The communiqué said that show visitors can look forward to seeing the very latest HVACR products available on the market, including: • IAQ (indoor air quality) diagnostic instruments that guide HVAC professionals through the entire measurement process for more accurate true reads and more timely detection of air quality issues – designed to eliminate guesswork, improve sales and enhance IAQ expertise across the industry. • An evacuation hose delivering a conductance speed of 16 CFM at 1,000 microns, resulting in vacuum speeds up to 80x faster than standard ¼” I.D. hoses and up to 6x faster than other vacuum-rated hoses. • A software application that supports HVAC professionals, via a downloadable iOS and Android mobile app that can be used to create on-site customer reports and is inclusive of graphical data and airflow ‘grades’, based on the simple input of nameplate information and two static pressure values. • A water-cooled centrifugal chiller that supports low Global Warming Potential (GWP) – via improvements in compression and integration of variable speed technologies – specifically designed to meet customer demand, lower energy costs and reduce environmental impact. • A fabric air duct system that improves end air dispersion, designed to replace traditional ductwork, insulation, diffusers and air valves with more even airflow that results in better energy efficiency, lowered operation costs, as well as easy
installation and product maintenance. • An industry-first press tool – designed specifically for residential installations – that improves press speeds up to 40% and delivers force-optimised PEX installations for less job site downtime caused by calibration intervals. • A water security system designed for leak monitoring and detection that can be configured to manage whole-house protection, or installed to monitor specific appliances, where alerts are managed via SMS texts based on sensitive sensor detection capabilities. An internet-enabled wireless thermometer that uploads and stores temperature readings on the cloud and has the ability to send automatic alerts for extreme low or high readings directly to the user’s phone or tablet, and can store up to 12 months of data for efficiency evaluations throughout the year.
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/DQGPDUN IRVVLO IXHO ³GLYHVWPHQW´ UHDFKHG 1000+ institutions are withdrawing investments from coal, oil and gas companies By CCME Content Team
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s governments meet in Poland for another round of climate talks, a major milestone has been reached in the worldwide movement to divest from the fossil fuel companies driving the climate crisis, with the announcement that over 1,000 institutions with managed investments worth almost USD 8 trillion have committed to divest. The 1000th institution to divest was the Caisse des dépôts et consignations (CDC), which manages France’s public sector pensions, savings, and investments worth USD 196 billion. It recently announced that from 2019 it will no longer invest in companies that make more than 10% of their business from coal. This implies that the top 200 companies in the coal-industry are now effectively blacklisted. The latest commitments propelling the campaign to over 1000 institutions include: • AG2R la mondiale (USD 114 billion) • Australian Vision Super Fund (USD 9 billion) • Brandeis University (USD 997 million) Launching a report detailing the history of the “divestment” movement and highlighting the 1,000th divestment commitment at the UN Climate Summit in Katowice, May Boeve, Executive Director of 350.org, said: “When this movement started
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in 2012, we aimed to catalyse a truly global shift in public attitudes to the fossil fuel industry, and people’s willingness to challenge the institutions that financially support it. While diplomats at the UN climate talks are having a hard time making progress, our movement has changed how society perceives the role of fossil fuel corporations and is actively keeping fossil fuels in the ground.” The report details that since 2012 the number of institutions committing to fossil fuel divestment has increased rapidly, as has the total number of dollars of those who committed to sell their fossil fuel investments. May Boeve, Executive Director of 350.org, said: “The reach and impact of this global movement is huge – major institutions with almost USD 8 trillion in assets have committed to divest from the likes of Exxon and Shell. The momentum has been driven by a people-powered grassroots movement. It’s ordinary people pushing their local institutions to take a stand against the fossil fuel industry – the industry most responsible for the current climate crisis.” Nico Haeringer, an organiser who supports divestment groups globally, at 350.org, said: “Getting our public institutions to go fossil-free is something that we can all do. Whether it is our university, our municipal government, or our pension fund we can turn off the money tap to polluting industries, and we can force them to
make better choices, like investing in local renewable energy. It’s something that we see happening everywhere, with a momentum all of its own.” On the momentum for divestment since 2013, Nico Haeringe said: “This is a moral movement as well as a financial one. Just five years ago, we had 181 divestment commitments and USD 50 billion shifted away from polluting industries, and today we’re over 1,000 and approaching USD 8 trillion dollars.” “Despite the enormous progress and the spike of divestment commitments, we need hundreds more to move their money out of dangerous fossil fuels. Massive pension funds like New York State, to moral authorities like the Vatican, to iconic institutions like the Nobel Foundation, to premiere universities like Harvard, Yale, Oxford, and Cambridge, and US-based insurance giants AIG, and Berkshire Hathaway. The tide is turning and the time to divest is now.” On the theory of change of the movement - May Boeve of 350.org said: “The fossil fuel industry is one of the most powerful political actors in the history of the world. The divestment movement gives every person the opportunity to join the dots and make clear that climate change is not ‘just happening’ - it’s being actively fuelled by corporations like Exxon and Shell and anyone who funds them.” “This movement started to send a clear message to the fossil fuel industry that we would not sit by while they profited by selling fuels that cause climate breakdown. It’s not just about
Economic Outlook Survey, sponsored by AHR Expo and ASHRAE Journal, released HVACR manufacturers report sales growth, forecast indicates confidence heading into 2019 the bottom-line, it’s also about their reputations in the public square. The scale of this movement shows that selling products that you know cause climate change is not acceptable, and nor is investing in them.” On trends and opportunities in investment decisions relating to fossil fuels Nico Haeringer said: “New people-powered campaigns are starting almost daily to get local and prominent institutions to divest, and also fund managers are increasingly making this decision of their own accord, as it becomes clear that in 2018 an investment in fossil fuels is not ethical and is also risky financially. “The next step in our campaigns will be to push this number past 2,000 commitments and to actively call on these fund managers to invest in the just transition to 100% renewable energy for all. “All financial analysis of changes in the sector show there are real limitations to simple shareholder engagement, and we are running out of time to change the course of these polluting behemoths. If extracting climate-change-causing fuels is the core business of a corporation then that’s not likely to change. The divestment strategy is the most forceful and impactful approach we have to signal a global standard that we cannot invest in or build any new fossil fuel projects.”
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laboratories/cleanrooms. VACR manufacturers The communiqué further reported positive said, of these, lodging is 2018 sales growth, forecasted to experience according to the fastest growth, with the latest AHR Expo and projections up 10% ASHRAE Journal Annual Clay Stevens from last year at 64%. Economic Outlook Survey, The communiqué added the co-sponsors said in a that overall sector growth predictions are Press communiqué. The AHR Expo up in comparison to last year, as well, is co-sponsored by ASHRAE and with positive outlooks across all markets AHRI. Last year’s confidence in at nearly 60% or better forecasts for the industry’s economic outlook is excellent or good growth projections for forecasted to carry into 2019, with 2019. 87% of respondents anticipating For the third year, the report shows positive business prospects heading a shift in potential market drivers for into the new fiscal year, the business, with retrofit and renovations communiqué said. taking the lead for 2019 at 36% – According to the co-sponsors, up nearly 10% from last year, the the report indicates that the HVACR communiqué said. Previous years saw market is primed for continued prospects for new construction, which business growth. Reports for 2018 was the highest rated in 2018; and are at an all-time high, with 44% of maintenance and replacement in 2017, respondents reporting a significant the communiqué further said. sales increase of more than 10% As expected, reliability remains the year-on-year; this is up from the 2017 most important customer requirement record of 35%, the communiqué said. when making buying decisions, the Clay Stevens, Manager, AHR communiqué said. Responses indicate a Expo, said: “This is considerable data steady rise in energy efficiency and indoor confirming the continued growth of air quality as close second top-rated our industry, even amongst market factors for purchase decision-making, shifts and issues facing professionals. the communiqué further said. Energy The AHR Expo is a catalyst for this efficiency saw the most growth, up 6% to business growth, as engineers, more than 96% of respondents ranking contractors, manufacturers and other it ‘important’ to ‘very important’ in their professionals from all facets come considerations, the communiqué also said. together to share ideas that advance This aligns with the responses for most the industry.” important trend or issue with potential The communiqué said respondents impact for businesses in 2019 – leading expect to see steady growth across the charge is the Internet of Things (IoT) all market segments, in the areas and the rise of connected buildings as of residential, light commercial, they relate to energy efficiency and smart heavy commercial, schools, noncontrol, the communiqué added. school institutional buildings, office The communiqué said issues of buildings, lodging, manufacturing/ concern are reported as rising tariffs and industrial, data/telecom centers, the need to hire more professionals across hospitals/healthcare facilities, the HVAC industry. restaurants/hospitality entities and
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Bitzer, Wurm enter into a partnership
Bitzer will be the majority shareholder of the newly established Wurm Holding GmbH, from January 1, 2019, company’s representative says By CCME Content Team
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itzer, the compressor manufacturer, and Wurm, the automation technology producer, have formed a partnership, the two companies announced in a Press communiqué. Earlier in November, both companies signed a joint venture agreement, in which Bitzer will be the majority shareholder of the newly established Wurm Holding GmbH, from January 1, 2019, the communiqué said. All national and international Wurm companies will be integrated into the new holding company, the communiqué further said. The cooperation is still subject to the approval of the competent authorities, the communiqué added.
As a managing partner, Dr Horst Peter Wurm will join the management of the new Wurm Holding GmbH and will step down from the operational management of the individual Wurm companies in mid-2019, the communiqué said. In the holding company, he will supervise the longterm development and strategic orientation of the group, in coordination with Bitzer, the communiqué further said. No changes will be made to the management of the Wurm Group, which is made up of senior employees, or to any of its operational sites in Germany or abroad, the communiqué added. “It will even be business as usual for all of our customers, who will keep the same
representatives,” Dr Wurm said. Commenting on the partnership, Rainer Große-Kracht, Chief Technology Officer, Bitzer, said, “We realised how much we could profit from one another technologically and stimulate the market in these challenging times.” The communiqué said that by working together, the two companies are gaining a strong strategic partner, with which they can continue to shape technological developments in the refrigeration and air conditioning industry. The communiqué further said that together, Bitzer and Wurm can provide their customers with new intelligent solutions and ensure the independence of two innovative family-run companies in the long-term.
Danfoss acquires USA-based AAIM Controls Inc AAIM Controls Inc is a specialised supplier of custom-designed regulation and control automation solutions, in the North American industrial refrigeration market, company’s representative says By CCME Content Team
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anfoss has announced the acquisition of AAIM Controls Inc, located in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, USA, in a Press communiqué. AAIM Controls is a specialised supplier of custom-designed regulation and control automation solutions, from motor starters to complete PLC systems, and a significant entity in the North American industrial refrigeration market, the communiqué said. With the acquisition, Danfoss moves to a strong and unique position as a systems provider within industrial refrigeration, the communiqué further said. Jürgen Fischer, President, Danfoss Cooling, said: “We consistently look to strengthen our core businesses by partnering with other successful companies and acquiring technology that complements the solutions we offer our customers. By adding electronic regulation and control automation to our already extensive portfolio of components for industrial refrigeration applications, we strengthen our global position by becoming a systems provider in the industrial refrigeration market.”
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With global mega trends like digitalisation and combating climate change driving the industrial refrigeration market forward, the demand is increasing for bundled solutions of products as well as intelligent control and automation that increase energy efficiency, ensure food safety and help in the transition to alternative, climatefriendly refrigerants, the communiqué said. Kristian Strand, President – refrigeration and A/C controls, Danfoss Cooling, said: “In the industrial refrigeration market, controllers are often seen as the central part of a system offering. With the addition of AAIM’s strong knowledge base and their highly specialised solutions, we gain a unique competitive advantage, where we can better address these customer requirements.” Arthur Marshall, Co-founder, AAIM Controls, said, “Becoming part of the Danfoss family will give us great options for expanding into new areas and I’m confident that the partnership with Danfoss will open up new business opportunities.”
ASHRAE and partners release 2018 International Green Construction Code
Model for building codes helps municipalities save money, protect resources and increase the resilience, safety and standards of living for communities across the globe, body says
By CCME Content Team
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SHRAE has announced the release of the ‘2018 International Green Construction Code’ (2018 IgCC), through a Press communiqué. The 2018 IgCC is a joint initiative of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), International Code Council (ICC), ASHRAE and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), the communiqué said. According to ASHRAE, the 2018 IgCC aligns the Sheila J Hayter technical requirements of ‘ANSI/ASHRAE/ICC/USGBC/IES 189.1-2017-Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings except Low Rise Residential Buildings’, with ICC’s multi-stakeholder IgCC. Goals of the updated code are to help governments streamline code development and adoption and improve building industry standardisation by integrating the two previously separate guidance documents. As a result, the 2018 IgCC is now a unified code that emphasises adoption, ease of use and enforcement for building projects. Commenting on the code, Sheila J Hayter, President, ASHRAE, said: “The 2018 IgCC leverages ASHRAE’s technical expertise to offer a comprehensive tool that has a direct effect on how green building strategies are implemented. Improving energy efficiency, building performance and indoor air quality are at the core of ASHRAE’s mission, and we are encouraged by the impact of this landmark model towards realising more a sustainable future for us all.” As a standing project committee, ASHRAE SSPC 189.1 updated the technical aspects of Standard 189.1-2014 using ASHRAE’s continuous maintenance procedures, the communiqué said. The final set of changes to the 2017 edition of Standard 189.1 provided the foundation for ICC to develop the administrative procedures for the technical content and codify the document into the 2018 IgCC, the communiqué further said. “Building safety codes help our communities prepare for the future,” said Dominic Sims, CEO, International Code Council. “Taking into account the latest technologies and cost-effective strategies for dealing with resource scarcity, the IgCC helps cities, states and countries build stronger, smarter, sustainably and more resiliently.” Mahesh Ramanujam, President and CEO, USGBC, said, “Our hope is that building professionals and policymakers alike adopt better, greener building strategies that help them better implement LEED and achieve higher performance in sustainability.”
39th Euroheat & Power Congress to be held from May 6 to 8, 2019 The theme of the 39th Euroheat & Power Congress,to be held in Nantes, France, is ‘New Perspectives’ and it will cover all aspects of District Energy, organising body says By CCME Content Team
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he 39th Euroheat & Power Congress will take place from May 6 to 8, 2019, in Nantes, France, the organisers announced in a Press communiqué. According to Euroheat & Power, the theme of the 39th Euroheat & Power Congress is ‘New Perspectives’, and it will cover all the diverse aspects of District Energy. The communiqué said the schedule is as follows: • Monday May 6, 2019: French colloquia, technical visits, Euroheat & Power General Assembly and welcome reception • Tuesday 7 and Wednesday May 8, 2019: Euroheat & Power Congress sessions as well as partner side events According to Euroheat & Power, more than 350 key players from across Europe and beyond are likely to attend the Congress, which will include an innovative exhibition area, eminent speakers and exhibitors.
SPECIAL SUBSCRIPTION OFFER for full year 100 aed for uae-based companies only FOR ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES, CONTACT: advertising@cpi-industry.com
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ASHRAE leaders address the Canadian Standing Committee on Natural Resources ASHRAE provides testimony focused on the technical tools, standards and guidelines it develops that can help government and the private sector deliver on energy efficiency and building performance, the body says By CCME Content Team
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heila J Hayter, highlighted how ASHRAE President, ASHRAE, resources can help drive sound and Darryl K Boyce, energy policy, and aid Canada in President-elect, its development of a nationwide ASHRAE, testified before Net Zero Energy Building code, the Standing Committee on which it aims to complete Natural Resources at the House by 2030, with all provinces of Commons of Canada, on and territories adopting and Sheila J Hayter November 20, the former body implementing it by 2040, the announced in a Press communiqué. communiqué added. The Committee is currently studying Commenting on the testimony, Hayter economic opportunities for energy efficiency said: “ASHRAE is honoured to have had the in Canada, the communiqué said. ASHRAE opportunity to testify before the Standing provided testimony focused on the technical Committee on Natural Resources. As Canada tools, standards and guidelines it develops moves toward a smart grid, we welcome the that can help government and the private opportunity to continue sharing our technical sector deliver on energy efficiency and expertise to ensure this transition is done building performance, the communiqué effectively and efficiently and to also assist in further said. During the hearing, Hayter providing the tools, resources and knowledge,
Ziehl-Abegg Benelux opens new office in Nieuwkuijk, Netherlands
to ensure proper operation of buildings in this new paradigm.” Boyce said: “Optimising Canada’s existing buildings and ensuring effective building operations are key to meeting Canada’s energy and climate commitments. Investments in these buildings can also generate solid economic benefits for those who own, operate, live and work in these.” According to ASHRAE, Boyce particularly pointed out the tools ASHRAE Standard 100, Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings; ANSI/ ACCA/ASHRAE Standard 211, Standard for Commercial Building Energy Audits; ASHRAE Building EQ and ASHRAE Standard 135, BACNET A Data Communication Protocol for Building Automation and Control Networks as resources well-suited to help Canada achieve its goals.
▶ Tino Oirbans shows the bionicinspired fan blades in the new building
The new location enables faster delivery of fans and drives to customers in Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg, says company’s representative By CCME Content Team
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iehl-Abegg, a manufacturer of ventilation and drive technology, has opened its new subsidiary in Nieuwkuijk, Netherlands, to order to better serve customers in the Benelux region, the company announced in a Press communiqué. Peter Fenkl, CEO, Ziehl-Abegg, said that due to the substantial growth in turnover and, consequently, in the number of employees, the previous office and warehouse in Hedel had become too small.
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Tino Oirbans, Managing Director, Ziehl-Abegg Benelux, said, “The new building offers room for further growth of the company and the modern, professional environment inspires our employees and customers.” The building is situated on an A-location, directly visible and accessible from the A59 freeway, for example, making the port of Rotterdam easy to access, the communiqué said. “We are open to all dreams and initiatives from society and fully support
them, said Thom Blankers. "Certainly, if they are worn by people who are willing to put their own effort into it.” Blankers is with the Municipality of Heusden, which Nieuwkuijk falls under. The facility is centrally located in the Benelux, and the building meets the latest requirements, the communiqué further said. For example, a heat pump installation is used, equipped with ZAplus fans from Ziehl-Abegg and the roof of the building is equipped with 700 solar panels, the communiqué added.
National Food Safety Authority tasked with stricter enforcement of cold chain regulations in Egypt Body completes whitelist of establishments compliant with standards; shares educational programmes in the pipeline By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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he National Food Safety Authority (NFSA) of Egypt has been tasked with stricter enforcement of cold chain regulations and standards to raise food safety and quality standards throughout the country, said Fatma Mahmoud, Food Inspector, NFSA, sharing the body’s recent initiatives, during its participation at the 12th Dubai International Food Safety Conference held from October 29 to 31, in Dubai. Mahmoud said that the body has recently completed a whitelist of establishments that successfully followed food safety rules and regulations. “We started official inspections in June 2017 with eight food establishments,” she said, “and now there are 69 in just a year and a half.” NFSA, Mahmoud said, has a system for evaluating the companies to be included in the whitelist, which takes into consideration the cold stores and transport refrigeration vehicles. Even after being included in the whitelist, she added, there is a follow-up mechanism by way of announced and unannounced visits, to ensure the company maintains compliance with food safety standards. She added that the body is currently in a transition period, and the next phases will see more comprehensive and united regulations that will be made mandatory. “We are the only official government body authorised to inspect food,” she said. “Before that, there were 17 other government organisations
to inspect food. Now they are under the umbrella of NFSA; we are a unified facility.” Mahmoud added that a key objective of NFSA is also to protect the quality of food being exported from Egypt. Mahmoud said that the body has recently completed inspections of school catering facilities to ensure compliance with food safety standards and that the next phase will target companies exporting food products, such as frozen vegetables, chicken and milk, followed by inspections of hotels and restaurants. “We want to reach even street vendors,” she said, “and we want to provide safe food, after being harvested, to the final consumer.” Mariam Magdy Nazih, Food Inspector, NFSA, added that the body is also rolling out comprehensive e-learning courses that will tackle the basics of food safety, HACCP, and microbiology, as well as specific technical courses related to food safety. The lessons, she said, will be rolled out in two months, and can be accessed via a designated website linked to NFSA’s main homepage, www.nfsa.gov.eg. Mahmoud added that the body is committed to educating consumers and to bringing about change in the behaviour of workers, whose improper handling may lead to spoilage or damage of temperature-sensitive food. “[Improper handling] is a problem in Egypt,” she said. “You could see frozen chicken sold out of refrigerators under direct sunlight and people are fine with it. The main challenge for NFSA is to change the culture of the people.”
Glass doors reduce energy consumption by 30-60%, compared to open refrigerated cabinets, says Schott Company representative shares trends in demand for the commercial refrigeration sector Edwige Guillon
By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor
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lass doors can reduce energy consumption by 30-60%, compared to open refrigerated cabinets, said Edwige Guillon, Sales Director Food Display, EMEA, Schott, making a case for the company’s range of offerings for refrigerated cabinets and cold rooms in retail outlets. “This figure varies depending on the number of openings per day and the temperature in the shop, among other factors,” she added. Guillon stressed that the company has been dedicated to the development of energy-efficient solutions and, for this reason, the increasingly stringent regulations related to cold chain have not had significant impact on the product portfolio. “The market requires glass doors for commercial chiller cabinets that offer thermal isolation with the best U-Values,” she said. “Today, all our glass doors for chiller cabinets are double-glazed and our freezer cabinets have triple-insulation glass units. Schott developed its
product range accordingly and offers glass door systems with the best possible thermal isolation.” Sharing trends in Germany’s commercial refrigeration sector, Guillon said that the visual impact of glass doors for refrigeration cabinets or cold rooms have to stand out, as most standard glass doors achieve similarly high U-values and are double-glazed. Food retail sectors, she said, which include supermarkets, discount stores and convenience stores, aim to offer high visibility at point of sale to provide customers maximum orientation. “Well-designed glass doors turn a refrigeration cabinet into a showcase,” she added, highlighting the company’s Termofrost Smart Access door, which, she said, received the German Design Award in Gold for its new opening features and impressive design.
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ATMOsphere Europe conference discusses natural refrigerant-based technologies The conference took place from November 19 to 21, in Lago di Garda, Italy By CCME Content Team
▶ ATMOsphere Europe 2018
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he ninth annual ATMOsphere Europe conference took place from November 19 to 21, in Lago di Garda, Italy, the organiser, shecco, announced in a Press communiqué. Over the three-day conference, key stakeholders of natural refrigerant-based technologies attended 17 sessions, saw 70 presentations and networked with peers during the breaks and receptions, the communiqué said. Commenting on the conference, Alvaro de Oña, COO, shecco, said: “ATMOsphere Europe 2018 served to demonstrate that technology with natural refrigerants is available today for heating and air-conditioning applications. Now it’s a matter of how to tackle barriers to bring it to the market as soon as possible.” The event opened with an end-user interview, where industry experts from the French real estate company, Gecina spoke about implementing natural refrigerants in HVAC applications of commercial buildings, the communiqué said. “HFOs are not a preference, not at all,” said Laurent Bataille, Technical Director, Gecina, adding that the company plans to convert HVAC in 50% of its buildings to natural refrigerants over the next 10-15 years, starting next year. Marc Chasserot, CEO, shecco, said: “The EU F-Gas Regulation has been a
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major driver for our industry. Europe has the latest trends in regards to CO2, ammonia been leading the way but think about and hydrocarbon-based technologies the others who are behind – I think respectively, was one of the highlights of the transition to natural refrigerants the conference, the communiqué said. for HVAC will be fast.” The conference Another highlight of the conference was the covered different aspects of the business Accelerate Europe 2018 Awards ceremony, case for natural refrigerants, such as where METRO AG, Unilever, E.ON Sweden, policy, training, end-user perspectives GEA and Sergio Girotto received awards for and latest technology trends in advancing natural refrigerant adoption, the commercial, industrial, HVAC and mobile communiqué further said. air-conditioning (MAC) sectors, the According to shecco, all the presentations communiqué said. Next to the traditional from the conference are available online and technology on display in the exhibitors’ on the conference app. The communiqué area, a Mercedes S Class Coupé equipped said, ATMOsphere Europe 2018 was the with CO2 air-conditioning system was on European edition of the global ATMOsphere Conference series and was supported by 55 display, at the entrance of the facilities, sponsors and partners. the communiqué further said. The technologytrends session with the industry’s leading experts, Armin Hafner, Andy Pearson and René van Gerwen, which gave the audience an ▶ Mercedes S Class Coupé with CO2 air-conditioning system in-depth look at
MARKETPLACE
This section contains updates on regional and international products.
E+E Elektronik EE1950 dew point measurement module
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+E Elektronik has announced the launch of the EE1950 dew point measurement module. According to the company: • The EE1950 is dedicated for OEM applications with continuous high humidity and condensing conditions, such as climate and test chambers. • Temperature compensation ensures high accuracy over the entire working range from -70 degrees C to 180 degrees C. • The device is also particularly resistant to pollutants and corrosive agents. • It employs the E+E humidity and temperature sensing element HMC01, which has long-term stability even at continuous high relative humidity. • The proprietary E+E coating protects the sensing element from dust, dirt and corrosion, which significantly improves the measurement performance in harsh environments. • Together with an additional, external temperature sensor, the EE1950 allows for precise calculation of the relative humidity.
▶ EE1950 dew point measurement module for high humidity applications
• The Automatic Sensor Recovery (ARC) function enables the sensor to cope well with chemical contamination. • The dew point measured data is available on the analogue output. • The output scaling and adjustment can be easily performed via the service interface and the free EE-PCS configuration software.
Bricsys
BricsCAD V19 CAD system
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ricsys, a Belgium-based software development company, has announced the launch of the BricsCAD V19 software. According to Bricsys, the software extends BricsCAD’s AD’s workflows for general drafting, mechanical design and Building Information Modelling. All of these workflows are now w available in a single-product family; there are new features, workflow improvements and fixes in this updated version of BricsCAD, the company said. According to the company: • Blockify finds repetitive geometry, automatically creates blocks to reduce .dwg size, and works for 2D and 3D geometry. • 2D drafting and sketching are faster with the new nearest distance dynamic dims, ‘nudge’, and adaptive snap steps that work together to make drawing accurate and easy. • BricsCAD BIM V19 delivers an efficient, full 3D workflow, utilising AI to connect layered compositions correctly, which provides accurate detailing across the entire model.
• Quickdraw allows users to create an entire 3D floor plan in less than a minute. • HVAC modelling takes on a solid foundation with new profile libraries. • The SITE object understands volumetric grading and lets users shape the terrain for the building model. According to the company, Bricsys has combined the BricsCAD Platinum edition with Sheet Metal for BricsCAD to create the all-new BricsCAD Mechanical. It brings the power of direct modelling, constraints and parametrics to give 3D modelling freedom for mechanical designers, the company said. According to Bricsys, BricsCAD V19, BricsCAD BIM, BricsCAD Mechanical and Communicator are available for free for 30 days at www.bricsys.com. The company said that starting with V19, every license of BricsCAD works in all geographies and all language versions. The company further said that Bricsys offers BricsCAD as a perpetual (permanent) software license, so customers have continual access to their design data.
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ISK-SODEX -78%2&90 NEWS REGIONAL
International Exhibition for HVAC&R, Pumps, Valves, Fittings, Fire Prevention, Water Treatment and Insulation
2 - 5 October 2019
Tüyap Fair Convention and Congress Center
Istanbul Turkey sodex.com.tr
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THIS FAIR IS ORGANIZED WITH THE INSPECTION OF THE UNION OF CHAMBERS AND COMMODITY EXCHANGES OF TURKEY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW NUMBER 5174
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December 2018
PRODUCED BY
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION
9TH MIDDLE EAST COLD CHAIN FOOD SAFETY CONFERENCE 21 January 2019 | Dubai, UAE
T
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OVERVIEW
GOLD SPONSORS
EXHIBITOR
BRONZE SPONSOR
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STRATEGIC HVACR RECRUITMENT PARTNER
www.foodchain-me.com FOR EDITORIAL-RELATED QUERIES:
FOR SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:
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FOR EVENT AND MARKETING-RELATED QUERIES: Ruqiya Shariff Strategic Public Affairs Liaison & Events Manager T: +971 4 375 68 38 M: +971 55 440 0890 F: +971 4 4341906 E: ruqiyah@cpi-industry.com
In North America, contact: Kanika Saxena Our representative in North America T: +1 (905) 267 4666 E: kanika@cpi-industry.com
Rao Ali Akbar Sales Manager T: +971 4 375 6832 M: +971 50 410 8034 F: +971 4 4341906 E: ali@cpi-industry.com
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In Saudi Arabia, contact: Numair Sami Alamdar Our representative in Saudi Arabia T: +966 566 565 965 E: numair@cpi-industry.com
December 2018
In Asia (except India), contact: Judy Wang Our representative in Asia T: 00852-30780826 E: judy@cpi-industry.com
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