CCME July 2020 by Climate Control Middle East

ANALYSIS: BUSINESS SURVIVAL IN COVID-19 AND ITS AFTERMATH

July 2020

feature The art of smart repurposing

UNLOCKING THE TRUE COST OF WATER The current state of water supply across the region, in the context of green goals and District Cooling

interviews

Claude Allain of Johnson Controls on why it is important to focus on TEWI

Dr Giacomo Frigo of Sensitron on why IR is the real deal in early fire detection

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July 2020

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OFFICIAL PUBLICATION

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: 08 August 2020, 12pm (UAE time, GMT+4) OVERVIEW While COVID-19 held sway over a significant part of H1 2020, the second half is being driven by human determination to reclaim social and economic spaces. Evidence of that is in the form of the unfettered reopening of malls, educational institutions, aviation hubs, offices and several other commercial buildings. While grit, determination and resilience count for a lot, the protracted search for a viable vaccine and a curative drug means the Novel Coronavirus continues to be a threat; and the only way we can reoccupy buildings is by adhering to a set of repeatable broad as well as specific disinfection and cleaning measures for the foreseeable future. Perhaps never before in living memory has the need arose to carry out disinfection and cleaning measures with unparalleled thoroughness on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Disinfection in the COVID era is not a choice but an indispensable part of our efforts to stave off an existential threat, and hence the need for Disinfection 360, a webinar that seeks to highlight and sharpen our understanding of all we need to do to feel safe and protected indoors.

SPEAKERS

Azmi S. AboulHoda Managing Director, EMergy, UAE

Hanan Ahmed Head of Engineering & Maintenance Services, Al Baraha Hospital, UAE

Dr Iyad Al-Attar Independent Air Filtration Consultant, Kuwait

Ahmed Elkiki Director of Technical Services, RAK Hospitality, Government of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE

Dominic Mcpolin Chief, Central Planning - Central Planning Office, Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, Bahrain

Mohamed Shafiq Ur Rahman Senior HVAC Engineer 1, Dar Gulf Consult, Kuwait

(SO FAR)

Kandasamy Christopher Ashworth Anbalagan National Service Line Managing Manager & Sales Partner, Proleed Executive, Energy & Engineering Sustainability, Consultants, UAE UL LLC, UAE

Imran Shaikh Vice Chair, CIBSE, UAE

A/E Raffiy Vartanian Business & Construction Consultant, Konzept Arabia, UAE

Osama Ebid CEO, FTC Global, UAE

Mohamed R Zackariah Chief Consultant, Suhaimi Design – Protecooling, Saudi Arabia

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UNLOCKING THE TRUE COST OF WATER 12

The fourth edition of CPI Industry’s DC Dialogue trained the spotlight on the growing consolidation and commercial considerations shaping the market as well as the implications COVID-19 has had for the district cooling sector.

‘The health of the public is in the hands of building professionals’

Dr Stephanie Taylor, MD, M. Arch, Infection Control Consultant, Harvard Medical School; ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer; and Member, ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force, elaborates on how RH 40%-60% is essential for reducing infection and on the need to put human health at the core of design intent of buildings…

FEATURE

What does new-normal look like for district cooling in the Middle East?

In Part 1, Krishnan Unni Madathil spoke on how the next dollar is definitely coming from those avenues that flow harmoniously with the overriding global themes of decentralisation, de-homogenisation and individualisation, in the wake of the thematic changes brought about by an event such as COVID-19. Here, he speaks on the importance of IP in the coming world

06 eDItor'S note

REGULARS

INTERVIEWS

ANALYSIS

Germs of the new paradigm

Till the last mile July 2020

page

The art of smart repurposing

Keeping things honest

How strong a financial case is there for investing in buildings with an eye on repurposing? And how can technology usher in a new era of city planning?

Saying that everyone has a fundamental right to clean air, Mohamed Shafiq Ur Rahman of Dar Gulf Consult, Kuwait, reiterates the typical expectations of a consultant when it comes to specifying air filters, and highlights persistent shortcomings in installation and O&M

A myriad of HVAC-related checkpoints

Kelvin Pradheephen Varghese, Director, Hitches & Glitches, discusses HVAC-specific measures that need to be taken to build confidence amongst occupants, as they look to return to commercial spaces

95% over 5%

on the cover

Water scarcity is approaching immensely challenging proportions in the Middle East, owing to rapid urbanisation. Stakeholders provide an overview of the current state of water supply across the region, in the context of broad sustainability goals and projected demand from District Cooling.

PERSPECTIVES

POST-EVENT REPORTS

COVER STORY

VOL. 15 NO. 07  JULY 2020

Claude Allain, Vice President & General Manager, Middle East & Africa, and Global Vice President, Applied Equipment, Building Technologies & Solutions, Johnson Controls, discusses why it is important to focus on Total Equivalent Warming Impact (TEWI) rather than on Global Warming Potential, and on how he foresees an increase in focus on using higher-efficiency heat-recovery systems to keep a check on increase in load, in view of the call for more fresh air changes to combat COVID-19.

SEEING RED

Dr Giacomo Frigo, Managing Director, Sensitron, says infrared sensors constitute the real deal in terms of reliability, when it comes to accurately detecting refrigerant gas leakage, and of cost-effectiveness.

34 Regional News 50 Global News

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SPEAKERS

Ibrahim Hesham Hassanien Mechanical Engineer, Allied Consultants, UAE

(SO FAR)

Eyad Ismail Group Director of Engineering, Ras Al Khaimah Economic Zone (RAKEZ)

Kandasamy Anbalagan Managing Partner, Proleed Engineering Consultants

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Till the last mile

W Surendar Balakrishnan Editor @BSurendar_HVACR ANALYSIS: BUSINESS SURVIVAL IN COVID-19 AND ITS AFTERMATH

July 2020

feature The art of smart repurposing

UNLOCKING THE TRUE Get the next issue COST OF of Climate Control WATER Middle East early! The current state of water supply across the region, in the context of green goals and District Cooling

interviews

Claude Allain of Johnson Controls on why it is important to focus on TEWI

Dr Giacomo Frigo of Sensitron on why IR is the real deal in early fire detection

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Visit our website: climatecontrolme.com/digital Also available at

hilst the world awaits with bated breath for the emergence of a vaccine to quell COVID-19, to put the menacing threat to human health and the months of economic uncertainty behind us, a crucial question is: “Are we preparing well for the likely unprecedented mobilisation of vials of the potentially lifesaving vaccine?” And perhaps this is a question not only for the Global South, considering how most parts of the world have been caught unawares and exposed as being largely unprepared or underprepared in tackling the pandemic. Indeed, the question needs the undivided attention of global cold chain stakeholders, including policymakers, advisors, end-users and technology-solutions providers. The importance of a robust cold chain cannot be overemphasised. To quote, Toby Peters, Professor in Cold Economy, University of Birmingham: “The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that as a result of broken cold chain, there are more than 1.5 million deaths globally from vaccine-preventable diseases every year – 30% of which are among children under five. WHO estimates that more than 25% of some vaccines may be wasted globally every year because of temperature control and logistics failure.” COVID is placing a burden of the need for global mass mobilisation of vaccines upon us. Such is the nature of SARSCoV-19 that the spread of infection is rapid, and the subsequent mortality rate and suffering the world over is deeply worrying. As Shubhashis Dey, Associate Director of Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, India, says: “The vaccination program will require millions of citizens of all age groups to be vaccinated within a short span of time.” To summarise, there is a need to swiftly transport and store the vaccines in a sustainable manner, not only from a carbon emissions point of view but also from a reliability angle. The world at large needs off-grid solutions, amongst others, to ensure vaccine integrity till the last mile.

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July 2020

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Istepanian says that while water scarcity in the Middle n the Middle East, one of East can be attributed to the region having the lowest the elements that gets freshwater resources per capita ratio in the world, as well as neglected in conversations overwhelmingly arid climate and low levels of precipitation, related to sustainability the domestic water consumption rates in the GCC region, is water, says Phillipa which is considered to be among the highest in the world, at Grant, Head of Energy & an average per capita usage of 520 litres a day, serves as an Sustainable Development, UAE-based consultancy firm, additional aggravating factor. “And less than five per cent of AESG. “Water represents energy here, because everything the GDP of the Gulf region states comes from agriculture, is desalinated, so when you think of water, you think but between 70% and 80% of annual water about the amount of energy consumed to produce consumption is used for irrigation,” he points water, which is huge,” she says. out. “Besides, the economic development in Most of the countries in the Middle East Gulf countries has also rapidly increased are already currently below the waterthe industrial water demand and is scarcity level set by the United Nations currently growing at an annual rate of of 1,000 cubic metres/capita/year, adds 20-25%.” Speaking on water trends for Harry Istepanian, an Independent the UAE alone, Istepanian says that the Power and Water Consultant based in country has the highest rate of per capita Washington DC, United States, pointing domestic consumption globally at 550 out that the overall per capita freshwater litres per day, which is almost 50% higher availability in the Arab countries is at 800 than the United States, at 378 litres per day. cubic metres/capita/year. The situation “While access to clean, affordable water is a is further alarming, in view of projected Phillipa Grant basic human right, the provision of water for population increase, he says. “It is expected comparatively low prices creates excess demand water availability will further decrease to reach in the market and is a key factor in the high consumption about 500 cubic metres/year by 2030, when the patterns, not only for domestic usage, but also in industry and Middle East region's population will reach more agriculture,” he says. than 500 million,” Istepanian says, adding Istepanian says that to develop a long-term, sustainable that water will become a major constraint approach to water management, Middle East countries need for development impacting the to gradually close the gap between the subsidised prices standard of living, health and of water and the production cost, which could incentivise agriculture.

July 2020

TSE for district cooling and irrigation should be carefully managed to reduce the use of distillate water as part of an integrated water resources management approach,” he says. “We expect the demand for district Kingson Jebaraj cooling will continue to increase along with growing CHALLENGES IN THE CONTEXT OF infrastructure spending across GCC region countries, DISTRICT COOLING with more emphasis on optimisation of energy The issue of water scarcity is all the more pressing efficiency increasing the share of district cooling in the context of district cooling, which is steadily in the energy mix, fostered by government growing in adoption across the Middle East. A norms toward development of sustainable number of initiatives have been implemented to energy.” Istepanian adds that the goal set by manage the additional burden that will emerge the Government of Dubai to achieve 40% of the from the requirements of district cooling plants, cooling demand through district cooling by 2030 is with Istepanian spotlighting the UAE as one of achievable, subject to the availability of water. early countries in the region that adopted district Weighing in, Kingson Jebaraj, General Manager, cooling using treated sewage effluent (TSE). Innovative Water and Energy Technology, in the Although water efficiency and recycling Harry Istepanian UAE, highlights key considerations affecting water wastewater are the primary reasons driving the feasibility use in the context of district cooling. Firstly, he of using TSE, Istepanian adds that the opex and capex of points out that water used for cooling towers has to be purified district cooling plants using TSE is also lower compared to when or polished. While there is an option to use TSE directly in using desalinated water. “Desalination costs, due to the needs of the cooling tower without polishing or purification, as water water-cooled chillers, comprise 24% of the cost factors for district treatment service companies have evolved in their use cooling plants in the GCC region,” he says. “For example, the price of of higher levels of chemicals and inspections, doing so TSE water in Dubai is one-tenth of potable water, and using TSE for opens the plant to a certain amount of risk, he says. district cooling is more viable than for irrigation, as district cooling’s “If control goes off or if management of chemical contribution to the country’s GDP is 10 times higher than if used treatment conditioning goes down by a small for irrigation.” He adds that while there is increased demand for TSE margin, the entire plant could be for district cooling during summer, the excess TSE during wintertime exposed to fouling,” he says. can be diverted for irrigation. “Therefore, the extended reuse of people and companies to consume less. “For example, Abu Dhabi began implementing a stepped water tariff in 2017, which charges consumers a higher price when they consume past a certain rate and adds an additional surcharge for residences without water meters,” he points out. “Although reduced water consumption will not in itself solve the problem of water scarcity, it will allow the governments to buy more time to develop comprehensive, sustainable water policies and, in the meantime, help influence a broader shift away from excess consumption of water and energy.”

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“Mineral-based fouling affects the DCP operation. That is a big risk for any district cooling company. In a matter of few days, the fouling can increase so high the whole DCP can be tripped.” Although the use of unpolished TSE leads to lower capex, Jebaraj says the risks associated are too high for district cooling companies, following a thorough evaluation of their respective legal, financial and contractual obligations. “Though it is for comfort cooling, it’s not a small plant,” he says. “They are a utility company, and they have a contract with clients to supply chilled water. They don’t want to put any operation at risk.” To avoid these risks, Jebaraj says the second option is to construct a TSE-polishing plant, which will produce TSE water at a higher quality, similar to desalinated water, for the cooling tower. However, Jebaraj points out that there are still challenges associated with managing the TSE polishing plant. Considering the polishing plant will include pre-filtration, Ultra Filtration and then Reverse Osmosis as well as disinfection, it would need to be operated by trained personnel. “Also, this means for DCP the initial cost is higher, because there is a capital equipment going into TSE polishing plant,” he says. Another challenge associated with constructing a TSE plant is space, Jebaraj says, adding that this is perhaps an even bigger challenge than initial cost. “Most plants will have limited space, and this requires a substantial amount of space,” he says. “So, operation, maintenance and higher capital cost – these are the issues when it comes to TSE polishing, but the advantage is no-risk operation to district cooling plants, because all the risks are eliminated or controlled. By doing this, we also adhere to government policy of using TSE.” While weighing the cost and benefit on the quality of TSE is an issue in itself, Jebaraj says a larger and encompassing challenge that applies to both is the quantity of TSE in the first place, adding that availability is a big issue. “It depends on the district cooling plant’s locality, whether you have a TSE supply line,” he says. As district cooling plants are capital intensive and the district cooling companies are financially prudent, Jebaraj says companies have redirected their overall strategy towards more modular plants. “Before, district cooling companies used to go for an area with really big plants,” he says, “So, now the strategy followed by many district cooling companies is towards smaller and modular plants, which will be 1/10th or 1/20th of the size of the original plant. The capex is lower, cash flow is better and the plant is operated in full-load capacity.” Jebaraj says that small modular plants also allow for expansion, once capacity comes in, based on real estate and client development. “These modular plants can be shifted to other areas, and when you go with many modular plants, the idea is to develop a permanent plant at a later stage, when you have higher capacity,” he says.

DEALING WITH REJECT WATER Although availability of water poses a challenge in itself, the ultimate impact of the water that is used cannot be ignored, especially in the context of long-term sustainability. Istepanian says that currently, in the GCC region states, for every one cubic metre of fresh water produced, two cubic metres of brine is generated and discharged into the Arabian Gulf sea. “As a consequence, intensive desalination processes constantly decrease the quality of seawater for desalination and continuously impact the marine life,” he says. “The usual way of dealing with brine effluent from desalination plants in the Gulf region is disposing direct to the sea. But, direct discharge of the brine is causing the most pronounced effects on receiving waters, such as eutrophication, pH value variations, and accumulation of heavy metals, which have shortand long-term environmental impacts.” As such, Istepanian highlights the potential of zero liquid discharge (ZLD) for wastewater management to eliminate liquid waste, which, he says, maximises water usage efficiency. “The ZLD method is the most promising technique, because it resolves two severe environmental issues of the desalination plants by reusing the concentrated brine effluent and producing fresh water and salt,” he says. Jebaraj also touts the value of ZLD as an alternative option. “However, there are several levels of filtration and water treatment, like evaporation and crystallisation, which is more complex and capital-cost intensive,” he says. In agreement is Istepanian, who says that although ZLD decreases water pollution and enhances water supply, the technology is costly and has intensive energy consumption. “The ZLD market is expected to grow from USD 5.4 billion in 2018 to USD 8.1 billion by 2023,” he adds. “Major drivers in the market include the implementation of stringent environmental regulations. In addition, rising concerns over the disposal of brine concentrates into water bodies is expected to drive the zero-liquid-discharge systems market.” Despite the complexity of processes, many factors have to be taken into consideration from a micro and macro perspective when it comes to the true cost of water. The discussion surrounding these challenges is vital in a bid to arrive at a solution that will not only protect what is arguably the most valuable resource, while protecting our way of life. Editor’s Note: In the August 2020 edition of Climate Control Middle East: How technology and automation can address key challenges in the water sector.

HAVE YOUR SAY! We welcome your views on the article. Write to editor@cpi-industry.com

July 2020

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Post-event Report

DC Dialogue

WHAT DOES NEWNORMAL LOOK LIKE FOR DISTRICT COOLING IN THE MIDDLE EAST?

July 2020

ITIGATING THE DANGERS OF A GROWING MONOPOLY

George Berbari, CEO, DC PRO Engineering, kicked off the discussions by touching on the consolidation efforts happening within the district cooling industry, which have amounted to over AED 9.2 billion in the last six years alone. Commenting on this figure, Sekhar Reddy, Managing Director, Lexzander, said that he believes there will be only 2-3 district cooling operators in the near future in the UAE. “The market, overall, is looking for more customised and cost-effective solution-based plants,” he said. “Earlier, plants were taking a more futuristic approach. Now, the question is how to make the plants self sustained and deliver what is required to the end-user. That figure shows how plants changed hands, and there will be only a handful of people who can manage this plant.”

George Berbari Berbari said such projections should urge the industry to reflect on whether the trend would be beneficial to the sector, or if a greater monopoly would reduce the negotiation power of end-users and put them at risk. Sagar Kulkarni, Managing Director, Consistent Engineering Consultants said that with the projected expansion in Dubai, which is expected to yield high occupancy, the model is feasible, though it puts financial pressure on the end-user, as minimum charges have to be made. “The bottom-line is that it is still more sustainable in terms of the environment, of society and the economy, but we have to find the best model, moving forward.” Prabhakar Naik, Managing Director, Base VASTU and ENGG Services FZE, said that while from a country perspective consolidations would be good, moving towards a monopoly could serve as a bottleneck for greater adoption of district cooling, because the

charges being levied are already quite high. Providing an example, Naik pointed to a project he was involved in, where despite a district cooling line being available, the building owner opted for a standalone system. “I designed my own standalone, water-cooled centrifugal chiller, because [district cooling] charges are higher and the benefits are not passed by the utility provider to the end-user," he said.

Bahrain were asked to address technical issues related to interconnection of existing networks and found it to be feasible. “The last part of the jigsaw puzzle is psychological, we are left with them having a commercial discussion,” he said. “This is behind the curtain, on the company’s structure of finance. But, physically, we want them to connect, and we want to make regulation.”

Sagar Kulkarni

for concession from DEWA, because DEWA benefited from reduced carbon footprint, infrastructure cost. I don’t think it is being passed on to the utility provider. That is why in Dubai, people are hesitant for district cooling compared to Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. The operating cost is quite high – almost 65 fils per tonne hour, while standalone is costing me less than 50 fils, so why it is costing so much I don’t know.” Naik added that for the utility provider, in the event they are serving multiple buildings, there is strong diversity. “So, there is benefit, but it is hidden and not passed on,” he said. Reddy also pointed out that chilled water is an essential service to provide a definitive requirement for comfort of the population. “I don’t know why they are putting even profit,” he said. “Why the profit? It has to come back to the end-user.”

Prabhakar Naik

Sekhar Reddy

For Dominic Mc Polin, Chief, Central Planning - Central Planning Office, Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning, Bahrain, consolidation is a symptom of an immature market. “We are dealing with a new destination for financial investment,” he said. “It’s an attractive capture of customers locked in contracts. It’s attractive for finance of growing monopolies. This is a government issue, it’s about regulation, of how the industry is going to grow, and one of the issues is the danger of monopoly. Instead of this, there should be control over the transactions.” Mc Polin said that this has prompted the public sector in Bahrain to actively look into connecting systems. “If we had regulation to allow companies to interconnect, we have a different type of model operating than a buy-and-sell consolidation model,” he said. As part of this exercise, Mc Polin said two main district cooling companies in

Mc Polin added that driving better regulations and promoting greater transparency in tariffs is the main focus of the Ministry. “If we had regulations on co-existence of different companies competing in the market with competitive terms, we wouldn’t have the last figure you had just shared,” he said, referring to the AED 9.2 billion worth of consolidation Berbari had shared. The importance of transparency of tariffs has been further underscored during COVID-19, Mc Polin said. “We gave a threemonth tariff holiday across Bahrain, and that exposed the district cooling companies,” he said. “We certainly had transparency in the tariffs, because we suddenly had the electricity cost. Everyone was shocked at how much they were paying in their bill [for district cooling]. So, we are proposing [district cooling] should be looked on as a model with a regulatory scheme with an independent regulator that looks at tariffs, at transactions, and at buying and selling.” Naik suggested that the slab tariff in Dubai ought to be reviewed in the context of district cooling in the emirate. “Because of slab tariff, it is 44 fils for kilowatt-hour,” he said. “If you go for a DX in a small flat, your tariff starts at 23 fils per kilowatt hour. The district cooling provider should apply

Dominic Mc Polin For Mc Polin, regulations are key if District Cooling is ever to be part of the infrastructure family, along with electricity, water, drainage and sewage “What we see is exploitation of lack of regulation by government and ending up with this monopolistic type of consolidation,” he said. “[In Bahrain], we want to see district cooling in the street, capable of being connected to any development.” For this vision to become a reality, Mc Polin said that any building where district cooling exists must be connected to the network and that the only way for this to happen is “to make a financial case exposing the type of mathematics of alternative cooling systems against the district cooling offer, in terms of charges”.

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Post-event Report

DC Dialogue

How cost-driven thinking is leading to early failures of existing equipment Cost-centric thinking has led to poorly maintained cooling towers and buildings across the UAE, said Bill Hutton, Manager - Corrosion Solutions, Structural Technologies. “A lot of the older structures are in Dubai, and a lot are suffering from durabilityrelated problems,” he said. “There are also problems related to corrosion or due to the concrete not being protected, because chemicals can add to additional degradation. What we see is older projects are not being maintained in the way they should be, due to budget constraints.” Hutton said that for its part, Structural Technologies aims to educate developers and owners on the importance of getting the value of repairs, but that ensuring the structure gets the proper maintenance work that can match the level of investment is a challenge. “The UAE market is very much price-driven,” he said. “If a tender is put out that says, ‘Come repair my cooling tower’, the owner gets five bids, goes to the last page and awards the contract based on price. When owners do not [address] commercial or technical, they have premature failure in repairs. We worked on a project two years ago, where the owners spent AED 2 million repairing the structure.” Hutton also spoke on the importance of strengthening GRP pipes, many of which are failing from cracks. “We have a whole team dedicated to repair and strengthening of GRP pipes, even concrete pipes,” he said. Hutton said the repair process can be broken down to three parts, the first of which

July 2020

is investigation. “Generally, you don’t have only one problem for the structure – it’s usually a mixture of issues,” he said. “The first stage normally involves engaging an experienced consultant to come in, and he would assess what would be the root cause of the problem and determine Bill Hutton the extent of the problem. The next stage, which is the engineering, involves a lots of ways to skin a cat. It is important to look at different options, enable owners to get best value. Then, you have implementation; when it comes to basins, it typically means replacing linings. A lot of the cooling towers have GRP linings. GRP is fairly old; better technologies are available.” Hutton said that considering the fact that structures and cooling towers in the UAE are exposed to a harsh environment, including salt and moisture, these elements serve as a perfect concoction of durability and corrosion problems and that, as such, it is vital for building owners and developers to engage the right technical people that can provide long-term and quality solutions.

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Taking the cue from Mc Polin, Berbari said that in addition to regulations, the government could play a more proactive role in easing the situation for consultants, manufacturers and other relevant stakeholders to be able to sustain business activity. Reddy weighed in to point out that there is still a lot of money locked up in the market, and while the government has taken a lot of proactive measures, there is further room for improvement. “We see huge gap between the thought process and actions [taken],” he said adding that this has an impact on the deliverables. “I think it’s time that the government has a good meeting with key operators of the plant and developers of the plant, the Tabreeds, Empowers,” he said. “There is a need to bring these people together and also the end user and have some sort of a forum to see how this particular overall concept of DCP is well understood and delivered. In terms of thought-process, we need to think 21st century in technology, but think in the 1990s, when government did step in, in terms of funding. The working system is different now, but we need some sort of resolution, purely in terms of cash flow.” Kulkarni seconded this by saying that the government also has an important role to impart confidence to the sector. Reddy said the spirit of cooperation should extend to the industry throughout the GCC region and that there should be work towards a common understanding to keep things going. “Let’s accept the fact that the whole world is going through turbulence,” he said. “I’m pretty optimistic the UAE will come out well, because it is a safe haven. People will relocate [to the UAE], and when they come, there will be no issues for education, accommodations, etc.” Berbari said he believes that more people will look to Dubai as a second home because of the infrastructure. “We see Dubai growing as a land where people want to buy a second home and have them travel here; maybe that would save the real estate,” he said. “We will see a strong recovery mid-2021.” Agreeing with him, Reddy said the postponement of EXPO 2020 could be advantageous for the UAE in this regard. “It gives us time to have a framework,” he said. “By the time the EXPO starts, it will pick up, and I am very much confident the place will show the weight of the world.”

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Post-event Report

Third Edition of IAQ Webinar: ‘The Air We Breathe’

‘The health of the public is in the hands of building professionals’ Part 1

“T

he health of the public is in the hands of building professionals, much more than clinicians – that’s my experience and opinion as a physician and someone who now works in architecture.” These were the opening words of By Dr Stephanie Taylor, who served as Chairperson of the third edition of CPI Industry’s IAQ Webinar series: ‘The Air We Breathe’, drawing from her experience as an Infection Control Consultant for the Harvard Medical School and as a Member of the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force. For Dr Taylor, COVID-19 is a wakeup call that refocused the building sector’s attention to the built-environment’s impact on the health of its inhabitants. “This pandemic has

July 2020

Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor rearranged our priorities,” she pointed out. Such a shift in mindset, she said, is vital, because despite the fact that buildings have evolved to become much more sophisticated over the centuries, there has been a rise in infectious diseases. “Despite the increase in building hygiene, we have more infectious diseases, and there has been an increase in auto-immune disorders,” Dr Taylor said. “This bears taking a look at [the question], ‘Is

there a relationship between how we manage our buildings – where we spend most of our time – and the increase in disease rate?’ We should ask if we are doing something that fosters an increase in diseases.” In line with this, Dr Taylor presented three studies that explored the relationship between indoor air and environment and human infection rates. The first study, Dr Taylor discussed, was conducted in a new academic hospital in Chicago, in the United States. She explained that the study was spearheaded by a group of microbiologists that aimed to understand how microbial communities enter a brand new hospital and colonise the building. “Using very sophisticated generic analysis to understand the relationship between patient room parameters and communities of microbes, they were following the following parameters

She added that while energy efficiency is important, COVID19 has trained the spotlight on another reason we have buildings, which is to optimise our health. “I believe we could be comfortable and develop technology to safely humidify or dehumidify, in some cases, so we can begin to turn around this alarming trend,” she said. “Using health as a lens to understand IAQ, we have learned that RH 40-60% is essential. Low relative humidity is harmful to people and benefits pathogens (bad microbes). We must design and operate buildings to support health, and the first step is proper indoor humidification.” She added that a benefit of the finding is that addressing humidity is also easily implementable and can work well in tandem with other indoor air strategy improvements, with the benefit of being effective and immediate.

Dr Stephanie Taylor

– temperature, hand hygiene, room pressurization, lux, CO2 level, absolute humidity, relative humidity, room traffic, room air changes and outdoor air ventilation,” she said. The study led to approximately eight million data points over 13 months, Dr Taylor said, adding that for her part, she wanted to track patient infections. “Since we have electronic medical records, we can do that thoroughly,” she explained. “So, think about these parameters – were any of these related to new patient infections? We sent the data off, and our statisticians came back to say that the most powerful correlation with high infection rate was dry air in patient room.” According to the data, when the patient room’s relative humidity was at 40%, the infection rate came down, she said. Still sceptical, Dr Taylor said she looked at another study, this time relating to nursing homes offering four years’ worth of data on the same parameters. “Once again, we found that when relative humidity is less than 40%, respiratory and gastrointestinal tract infections were especially high, and the infection rate came down at 40%-60% indoor relative humidity,” she said. This was confirmatory of the previous study, she emphasised. The third study, Dr Taylor highlighted, was related to a preschool in northern Minnesota, in the United States, conducted during wintertime. “They took half the school and humidified at 45%, and the other half they did what they do in winter and humidified it at 20%,” she said. The study looked at how active Influenza A were and found that the humidified part of the school saw a third of the number of absentees compared to the non-humidified part. “This is a great study, and it moves beyond correlation to causation,” she pointed out. For Dr Taylor, the global pandemic should trigger individuals in the building sector to look at their scope of responsibility, urging engineers to reflect on how the sector can diminish viral transmission through the building. “We need to manage our buildings as if it’s a significant route of transmission,” she said. “Multiple studies have shown that when relative humidity indoors is less than 40%, we have greater, longer aerosol transmission, it’s harder to effectively clean surfaces because of resettling, and for reasons we don’t fully understand, there is increased survival and virulence of many viruses and bacteria – and it happens to be true for this SARS-CoV-2 virus.”

(Part 2 of the report will appear in the August 2020 issue of Climate Control Middle East.)

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covid

Claude Allain, JCI

HAT RECENT INITIATIVES IS JCI ABLE TO REPORT ON ITS CONTRIBUTION TO CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION EFFORTS, PLUS THE PROGRESS IT HAS MADE IN FURTHER INCORPORATING ITS LOW-GWP CHILLERS ACROSS BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE EAST REGION? Sustainability has, and will always be, a top priority for Johnson Controls. Our contribution towards creating awareness and promotion of real-world energy savings with the use of variable-speed drives (VSDs) is an initiative that has shown substantial success; the medium-voltage VSD, in particular, was first conceptualised and implemented in the Middle East region. The savings anticipated in pre-sales models have by far exceeded expectations in real-life operation of the early adopter district cooling plants, which have generated repeat applications in other plants and overwhelming interest in other district cooling companies that traditionally did not believe in VSD application. And the launch of our YZ model is a step towards adoption of lowGWP chillers. When it comes to chillers, our focus as a company has been more on Total Equivalent Warming Impact (TEWI) rather than on lowGWP in isolation. We believe in focusing on real-world energy consumption that impacts CO2 emissions that has very significant – more than 95% – indirect impact on global warming compared to direct impact – less than five per cent – due to refrigerant leakage from a chiller application.

Claude Allain, Vice President & General Manager, Middle East & Africa, and Global Vice President, Applied Equipment, Building Technologies & Solutions, Johnson Controls, discusses why it is important to focus on Total Equivalent Warming Impact (TEWI) rather than on Global Warming Potential, and on how he foresees an increase in focus on using higher-efficiency heatrecovery systems to keep a check on increase in load, in view of the call for more fresh air changes to combat COVID-19. Excerpts from an interview he gave to Surendar Balakrishnan of Climate Control Middle East…

July 2020

COVID-19 HAS OPENED THE NEED FOR INCREASING THE FOCUS ON IAQ, PERHAPS EVEN SETTING THE STAGE FOR REDRESSING THE IMBALANCE WHEN COMPARED TO THE HEIGHTENED IMPORTANCE GIVEN TO ENERGY EFFICIENCY. WHAT SOLUTIONS AND STRATEGIES ARE YOU CONSIDERING TO INTRODUCE BY WAY OF IMMEDIATELY IMPLEMENTABLE IAQ RETROFIT SOLUTIONS AND OF MEDIUM- AND LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS IN NEW CONSTRUCTION? In the case of existing buildings, we can see COVID-19 as having a direct impact on the service sector. Many of the existing buildings, especially commercial buildings, are undertaking various measures to improve IAQ. These include incorporating UV light in their AHUs or in their ducting systems; raising awareness of the need for regular maintenance, including changing the filters on a regular basis; improving the efficiency of filters; and introducing portable purification units in halls. In the case of New Construction, there is no final call on the changes to the codes, but we can sense that there might be consideration that is given to increasing the amount of treated fresh air in the builtenvironment, according to specific activities or applications. This, in turn, will increase the focus on using higher-efficiency Claude Allain heat-recovery systems, so that

there is no substantial increase in the building load. I also see the likelihood of consultants specifying the use of UV lights. I also foresee the introduction of purification systems, such as bi-polar ionisation systems, especially for public-sector applications, like airports, metro stations and halls.

SO, WOULD COVID-19 NOW FORCE THE BUILDING INDUSTRY TO PERMIT MORE FRESH AIR CHANGES PER HOUR, PERHAPS SUBSTANTIALLY MORE THAN THE MINIMUM PRESCRIBED BY ASHRAE? IF SO, WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES FOR PRODUCT DESIGNERS TO MEET THAT NEED AND YET NOT COMPROMISE ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY FROM TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP AND INDIRECT EMISSIONS PERSPECTIVES? Certainly, the cooling load of the building will go up. The energy required to handle the additional fresh air and exhaust air would increase, as well. Some of it would be compensated by the use of higher-efficiency motors and fans. An additional compensation would be in the form of reduction in chiller energy. However, whether it is entirely compensated to a net-positive-energy saving or not would depend on the amount of increase in the treated fresh air that is supplied to the built-environment.

WHAT FURTHER PROGRESS ARE YOU ABLE TO REPORT ON BUILDING AUTOMATION SYSTEMS IN TERMS OF DIAGNOSTICS AND PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE? HOW IMPORTANT HAS REMOTE MONITORING OF BUILDINGS BECOME IN A TIME WHEN SOCIAL DISTANCING IS LIKELY TO BE THE NORM FOR AT LEAST TILL THE EMERGENCE OF PREVENTIVE AND CURATIVE MEDICAL INTERVENTION TO PROTECT AGAINST AN AGGRESSIVELY MUTATING VIRUS? Based on the current pandemic experience, building automation will start playing a key role in keeping viruses – especially airborne ones – out of the built-environment, and in preventing the spread across commercial and residential buildings. So, what will this mean for buildings? Well, I see better filtration – in the forms of cadence around cleaning the filters and the use of high-quality materials for filtration. I also see measurement of air quality across buildings. I also see a definite role for data analytics – enterprise systems. Indeed, data could play a key role in understanding air quality inside buildings and in monitoring and controlling the spread of such diseases.

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SEEING RED

N MOST PARTS OF THE WORLD, THERE IS A PRESSING NEED TO ADOPT REFRIGERANTS WITH LOWER GLOBAL WARMING POTENTIAL; IN THE CASE OF EUROPE, WHERE YOU HAVE THE F GAS REGULATION, YOU NEED TO BRING IT DOWN TO LESS THAN 500 GWP BY 2021. AND FOR THAT, THERE PERHAPS IS A NEED TO ACCEPT REFRIGERANTS THAT ARE FLAMMABLE OR TOXIC IN VARYING DEGREES. IS THIS WHERE YOU BELIEVE YOU STEP IN – TO BE ABLE TO OFFER SOLUTIONS TO SENSE ANY LEAKAGE? Yes, correct. We have very good knowhow of the safety market, so are moving from O&G and industrial safety to take this technology to the refrigeration market. We have produced reliable detectors – to detect these new gases, we need to have one good reliable technology.

WHAT IS IT THAT YOU DO THAT MAKES YOU SAY YOUR DETECTORS ARE RELIABLE? If there is a gas leakage, you have to consider the safety of the people. So, the detector needs to be reliable and according to some standard. And for this reason, in Europe and worldwide, we are discussing how to set up a new standard for the refrigeration market, and this includes releasing an ISO standard in Europe.

SENSORS NEED CONSTANT ATTENTION, INCLUDING RECALIBRATION AT LEAST ONCE EVERY SIX MONTHS, IF NOT THREE. COULD YOU EXPLAIN HOW INFRARED, ON WHICH YOUR TECHNOLOGY IS BASED, HELPS ADDRESS MAINTAINABILITY? Our technology is not based on a chemical composition. There are some technologies that also detect the refrigerant, but the key point in the safety market is the need to recalibrate the detector or system every three or six months, because there is some standard about this. Now, in the refrigeration market, it is sometimes quite difficult and quite complicated to recalibrate, if the detector is placed inside the appliances – for instance, in a fan-coil unit or chiller. So, there is a demand or request to design something that does not require maintenance for a longer time. It would be easier to satisfy the demand with optical technology, like infrared, as there is no degradation, as would be the case with semiconductor or catalytic technologies. The second demand or request has to do with the safety of the people, because if there is some leakage – and now, we are talking about flammable or toxic properties – we need the detector to comply with safety standard. So, to summarise, we need a reliable technology and one where you do not require maintenance for a longer period.

BUT, COST-WISE, IS NOT INFRARED-BASED TECHNOLOGY MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE? Infrared is five times the cost of other technologies, but in the future, I see millions

July 2020

of infrared detectors in the refrigeration market, so the economy of scale will become a factor. It is like the automobile industry; about 20 years ago, the cost of ABS and airbags was about 20% of the total value of the car, but today ABS and airbags are common features even in smaller cars. The volume brought the price down. I am expecting that in two or three years from now, maximum, the cost of infrared will be quite the same as a catalytic or electrochemical sensor.

Dr Giacomo Frigo Photograph: Surendar Balakrishnan

WHAT IS THE UPTAKE OF INFRARED TECHNOLOGY IN THE MIDDLE EAST REGION, WHICH IS COST-SENSITIVE AND WHERE THE PREFERENCE IS TO GO FOR PRICE AS THE TOP KPI IN PURCHASING DECISIONS? We have to remember that we need to consider only the sensing element, which bears most of the cost, but if you consider the lifecycle cost, it is low. In a hotel chain in America, they needed to put not only a smoke detector but also a refrigerant detector in every room. Subsequently, if you need to send a person to recalibrate the sensor in each and every room in the hotel every three months or every six months, it is a cost. But, consider this – if you had installed an infrared sensor, the lifetime is 10-15 years; the lifetime of an electrochemical sensor is 2-3 years, which means there is a cost for installation every time you need to replace

an electrochemical sensor. Combined with the fact that the price of the infrared sensor will be decreasing is the fact that the sensor does not need as much maintenance or recalibration as an electrochemical sensor, and so is more convenient and cost-effective. In the case of other sensors, refrigerant gases can influence the chemical in the sensors, which will affect their ability to detect in an accurate manner. An infrared optical sensor is not affected by the refrigerant gases. This is an important point, because the new generation of refrigerants – the HFOs – have fluorine in their composition, which affects semiconductor-based sensors. Infrared sensors are not affected, so this is an advantage with the technology.

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Analysis

covid

have been trying to identify the key factors that will determine the victors of the coming world, in the aftermath of the thematic changes brought about by the Novel Coronavirus pandemic. Beyond doubt, 2020 has been a pivotal year for the reason that it has seen the confluence of so many pivotal trends that had the world pondering for a great while in the years leading up to it. Six months in, 2020 is turning out to be a vortex into which all these trends are being sucked in headlong. The factors and forces flowing into the vortex will also determine what comes out of it. The pandemic has admittedly overshadowed so much of our information cycle that we have become somewhat oblivious to the lead factors that had been dominating our prospects for so much of the time heading into the present. Those factors have not gone away or been supplanted one bit; indeed, those processes have accelerated. I would like to set the scene as follows… Leading into 2020, the world collectively was on an inexorable march towards material prosperity and fulfillment. Extreme global poverty was on course to being eliminated, visibly encapsulated by the highly ironic statistic that there were nearly twice as many obese and heavily overweight people as there were malnourished ones. Even if there were episodic flashes of doom that were drilled into our conscience, thanks to the continuous news cycle, the general consensus was that things would continue to get better. And indeed, they would have, judging by the track record. The preceding three decades had seen, arguably, the greatest spurt of material progress in the history of humanity. That had been helped to a great degree by the fact that the world had avoided the outbreak of a general conflict between leading powers since the conclusion of the Second World War. While the 45 years after the conclusion of the Second World War had been dominated by the tussle between capitalism and communism and was defined by the contest for global domination between the United States and the erstwhile USSR, the

July 2020

Krishnan Unni Madathil is a Chartered Accountant, a member of the ICAEW and Audit Partner with Bin Khadim, Radha & Co. Chartered Accountants. He may be contacted at krishnan.madathil@binkhadimradha.com.

GERMS OF THE NEW PARADIGM (Part 2 of ‘What it would take to survive and thrive’)

avoidance of too many hot wars meant that the several nations, whose economies were brought down to zero after the conclusion of the war, were able to get back on their feet – nations, which today form the bulk of the so-called developed entities as well as many nations, which underwent rapid modernisation and development, thanks to their alliance and economic partnerships with the resurgent economic powers.

FREEDOM OF THE SEAS Matters were kicked into high gear with the fall of the Soviet Union, in 1991, with

the unleashing of market freedom on several large economies, which were hitherto just lay-abouts on the global economic stage. The 30 years since the fall of the latter, and especially the period since 2001, had been dominated by the World Trade Organization. Indeed, this period of world history could be called the WTO era. It would not be entirely correct to attribute the success of the victors of this period to the efficacy of their internal systems, for that would put me in danger of having to take political sides. Politics, luckily

during these years, had been rumbling along in the background while trade and economics took centre stage. Just think of the wars we have witnessed during this period: Gulf War 1, Gulf War 2, the Congo War, the Somalian War, the Chechen Wars, the Kosovo War, the Second Intifada, the Afghan War and so much more; not one of them could so much as leave a dent on the galloping world economy. The WTO era was defined by freedom of trade, and the victors of this era were clearly those nations, which, in retrospect, took early and full notice of the opportunity and jumped into it headfirst. The WTO era required, at its base, freedom of the seas, which was underwritten by the most formidable naval overseers in the history of the world. The fact that the Americans have been involved, directly or indirectly, in so many of the world’s trouble spots in the interim, is only an indication of the importance of America in its role as the guarantor of world order – a role for which it did not sign up. Thanks in great part to the burden that the Americans ended up taking on themselves, after finding themselves suddenly as the world’s most well-equipped and well-funded defence force, the guns-versus-butter debate suddenly vanished for an extended period of time for so many of the world’s other nations, which enabled those other nations to divert their attention towards improving the material well-being of their citizens. Those national authorities that were clever would have recognised this opportunity for its very rarity – very much a Cinderella situation. And like any Cinderella, she had to go home at the end of the night, and that time was limited. And leading up to 2020, it was clear to those who cared to see that sunset was nigh.

THE POWER OF 98

And in an age where anything can be done by anyone, getting to grips with one’s core identity – defining one’s intellectual property – and proceeding to preserve, nurture and nourish it, is vital to generating sustainable future value Free trade and someone else taking care of international security and, sometimes, your own – whenever would you get conditions like these? The years since 1991 ushered in what possibly could be seen to be the years of the world’s most intense exchange of ideas at any time in human history. Trade in goods and services boomed, yes. But, the situation was only a sideshow to what was really happening. Like I mentioned in my previous article, this was the time when more of the world started eating the same, drinking the same, wearing the same, talking the same, laughing the same, crying the same, loving the same, hating the same, thinking the same and feeling the same. All this would not have happened with a mere exchange of goods and services; it had to be something more qualitative, something much more sublime yet more powerful. People have called it globalisation, but those are old descriptions. Globalisation itself – the international exchange of goods – has existed, for all we care, forever. What made this era of globalisation different was the intensity of the exchange of ideas.

It took 50 years for Gutenberg’s Bible to do the rounds across just Europe. I run my practice, complete with a presence across five time zones, in real time. Just imagine this, the most widespread colonial empire in the world – that of the British – sprang up initially as little more than an attempt to bind different parts of the supply chain of one East India Company into a robust whole from end to end. Back then, it took three months for news to travel from London to Kolkata. I run my East India Company today from a humble headquarters building in Bur Dubai, and it costs me peanuts by comparison! The device in your hand with which you are reading this article may have been designed somewhere, then assembled on the other side of the world, with the information transferred between the two centres in no time. The value of the device, really, is in the idea that went into conceiving it. This is not at all an original thought – it has been said that up to 98% of the value of a silicon chip that powers our computers is in the research that goes into designing it. Just imagine – 98% of the value. This figure has great ramifications for the future of wealth creation in the world to come, especially that which will emerge in the wake of the pandemic. If 98% of value creation is going to come from the power of ideas, then will not the acquisition, protection and preservation of ideas – and those who generate the best ones – be the defining contest of the future? The battle for physical resources has, by now, become passé; and that is not really due to the anti-war movement. The resources that were being fought for have themselves become redundant. People like me have grown up in the era of anti-war propaganda, which projected all wars as essentially wars over what lay under the ground, be that anything from oil to copper or from gold to lapis lazuli. A better, less painful and less expensive method exists – why not get those, who live on that soil, to dig up what you want and have them take the trouble of bringing them to your market? Reward them for their efforts, according to the fair market price. But, resources that lie underground are far easier to control than the most valuable resource of all – human ingenuity. This is limited; the multiplier effect is potentially infinite; and what’s more – it is extremely fickle. You cannot extract genius ideas from people at gunpoint – they need

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Analysis

covid

to be given the respect, comfort and security that they demand. One part of this is the creation of legal frameworks, which will protect ideas and go the farthest in assuring the generators of ideas that they will get to maximise the reward for their efforts and their output and keep as much of that reward for themselves as possible. The other part is ensuring that the ideas are protected sufficiently, both within and across borders. This second one is the harder of the two, since, as we have seen, ideas travel and, therefore, can be robbed, at the speed of light. Donald Trump is on to something with his trade war with China; but he may be seeing the problem wrongly. Trump, like many among us, is sensing something wrong but is unable to specify exactly what. At the moment, it is ideas generated in the United States that are executed in Chinese factories, leading to mass production and the attendant job creation – in China. It is the working class in the United States that has been bearing the brunt of global competition – for executing the ideas that their counterparts in the innovative classes generate; it has been escaping them, because they have been uncompetitive. Trump is trying to reverse that, blaming China for job losses in the United States. He may be missing one half of the problem. I do appreciate him for one thing, however – he is a businessman and knows that the red carpet needs to be laid for inward investment, whatever the weather.

July 2020

OPERATION PAPERCLIP Perhaps, if he placed the labour resources of the United States at the full disposal of the intellect of the rest of the world, would they stand a better chance of finding employment, in turn? Shouldn’t the labour force in the United States be preparing themselves to be of sufficient utility for the rest of the world, so that they may exploit opportunities when they appear? And this is a lesson for all the world’s autarkies – the global consumer market rewards those who are flexible and available to respond to their commands. The greatest power in the world today is the consumer. The United States is the indisputable magnet for the world’s top intellectual talent. She is an open, free canvas for the world’s most brilliant individuals, and they are willing to pay the necessary price – something for which she has cultivated a reputation ever since Operation Paperclip, when German scientists were given American citizenship, rich rewards and every positive earthly incentive, in return for continued research work, forgoing considerations of their sometimes questionable political ideas. The ideas and innovations generated during that period by those imported geniuses powered American development for the remainder of the century. It is the power of ideas generated and the willingness to lay the ground and make the necessary sacrifices that make United States the leading influence in the world today. The Chinese, at present, with their factories, are merely the executioners of ideas that are birthed in the United States. The jobs of the future will be created using the ideas of the future, and the ideas of the future will be generated from a concentrated coterie of exceptional talent. The defining struggle in the coming decades will not be over territory or weapons – it will be over this concentrated coterie and their output. Indeed, if nations are still fighting over territory, they are still living very much in the previous century, for the battlegrounds have shifted. And this is a war that will be fought not in the traditional way, through ammunition, but through

incentives, like space, comfort, freedom and good graces. The cheerleaders of old-school warfare in politics, media and the literary fora are really showing themselves for the nincompoops they really are, as well as shedding a light on their sheer intellectual laziness and dearth of imagination in the current day, when they pay so much attention to territorial contests. The new warfare is every bit as consequential and impactful as the old ones, except that they are won and lost many a time even before execution. These wars are fought at the speed of thought; and it is everyone’s war; it is a continuous, total war, requiring constant effort from everyone. And the way to win them is to make as many correct decisions oneself while giving your competitor every single incentive to make the wrong decisions. Good ideas lead to correct decisions, even when allowing for repeated failures. Bad ideas breed wrong decisions, always. And these forces reinforce themselves over time. The difference between correct decisions and the wrong ones is the difference between a Japan and an Afghanistan. The power and value of ideas will become relevant for all entities in the world, be they nations, subnational units or private companies. Or, more pointedly, the fact is that the power of ideas has always driven value creation; only that now, with the redundancy of so much that feigns to be essential to the process of value creation – with only two per cent of the value of the product being derived from its actual manufacture – the true magnitude of the power of ideas will reveal itself. Whatever the scenario, whichever the institution, people are on the lookout for sources of value creation.

WHERE, WHAT, HOW OR WHO, CREATES VALUE? This question may be asked of entire countries or companies. It is possible today for nearly every item within the income statement and statement of financial position of the contractual fiction, called a company, to be outsourced to a third party, located Heaven knows where. Everything we took for granted as “forming a company’s operations” not even a decade ago can now be done with the help of specialists, whom we never care to see. But, the value generated from the economic unit, called a company, has managed to keep up nevertheless through improved quality or reduced prices. With “work from home”

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Analysis

covid

arrangements becoming more common and acceptable, even the physical office looks set to become far less important a place. In Dubai, we already have entire government departments operating from the homes of its workers, yet delivering close to standard effectiveness of service. Dubai, and the UAE at large, is one of those jurisdictions where the government has taken a head-first leap towards electronic bureaucracy, in common with some of the highly advanced nations. The results are showing in the effectiveness of the state machinery, lightly manned, even in critical times, such as the pandemic we are living through. Just imagine what this means for some nations; in many places, the “nation” itself is, at times, just a poetic expression for the bureaucracy that runs the place. The offices of the bureaucracy have even become monuments of a state seeking a new narrative for its identity and existence. Just look at India, for instance. To the average citizen living there, “government” is to be found in the old, red, Raj-era buildings, with the functionaries hiding behind piles and piles of bound paper; or new buildings built on the same dreary designs, hiding behind piles and piles of electronic equipment. There is a reason for the stodgy design of the buildings. The stodginess has the surprising effect of giving the bureaucracy a sense of stubborn persistence and permanence; that is to say, those who work there could be relied on at all times, even if only to be predictably unreliable. They would be there regardless of what happened. What a relief! Before, say, 2010, it would have been normal for people, even in India, to accept government office alibis for delays in work to be caused by an extraordinary situation. Can they really do that anymore and expect the people to meekly accept the delay, now that the paperwork can pretty much be done from one’s sofa at home? How are government agencies and bureaus in India – or any other country, for that matter – really all that different from private companies, working at the pleasure of their customers? This has been brought to relief thanks to the power of modern communications technology. Already, entire legislature sessions in some states have been held online. The buildings, which used to symbolise the presence, authority and work of the state, have been reduced, through the power of technology now more than ever, to just their symbolic value. The

July 2020

value of this symbolism is huge, but it is symbolic. What you really are seeing at work is that the natural authority of government is little more than that which the people – its customers – are willing to assign to it. As a result, so much of what used to be considered essential for a company to be identified as such has become redundant. Production – can be done by someone else. Distribution – can be done by someone else. Installation – can be done by someone else. Accounting – can be done elsewhere. Debt collection – can be done by someone else. Inventory management – can be done by someone else. Indeed, with advanced, just-in-time systems, you can do away with inventory itself! What’s more – even branding can be done by someone else; indeed, there are off-the-shelf brand names waiting to be acquired for a price from repositories. Even telephone management can be outsourced to specialists located on the other side of the globe, where it can be done more professionally at cheaper rates. What this means is that there is room for specialisation of the myriad processes that make up the company; while at the same time, questions arise for existing companies as to what remains once all that is essential is winnowed away. In such a scenario, what is a company but the ideas of its proprietor or proprietors – its intellectual property? What is a company but the perception of its value, in the eyes of its consumer? What is a company other than the value of its intellectual output? What else differentiates a company – gives it personality – other than the ideas unique to it? This is the real crisis in the world today – from hyper powers with the world’s most

lethal armies to market-leading corporations, and to the average twenty-something on Facebook – what haunts them painfully in equal measure is a search for identity. And identities are not physical, though they may play off of physical attributes. Identities are intellectual – they are creations of the mind. Identity is intellectual property. And identities exhibit the features of property – they can be owned, acquired, transferred, shared or stolen. This is why, for instance, it is completely normal for whites and other non-blacks to join in equally vociferously with their black counterparts in the recent and ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, and why legal fictions, such as corporations, have adopted stances on the protest movement. Curiously, the Black identity is not a ‘black’ thing anymore; it has almost become a synecdoche for systemic marginalisation anywhere and of all types. This has happened, as entities of varying sorts – including individuals, corporations, political parties, nation-states and governments – have found it in their interest to lend their support to, or identify with, a particular cause. That is the power of identity as property – it is owned, and it is tradable, for rewards, monetary or non-monetary. That is the power of intellectual property. The Black Lives Matter protest movement’s aim is to start a conversation – it is in catalysing this conversation that it finds the reward for its efforts. Its core value is derived from the identity of an affected group and their gritty history of oppression and marginalisation; for the protest movement, this has become its intellectual property. It may not own it exclusively, but in the popular imagination, it has come to own it substantially.

And judging by the events of the past few weeks, is it not clear that they have been spectacularly successful at extracting value from their intellectual property? One of the “successes” of this movement has been in reopening the conversation around notions

of beauty, one of the effects of which has been the recent decision by Unilever PLC to strongly consider rebranding their “Fair & Lovely” line of beauty products. A change in the identity of this high-selling product, a fixture in department stores worldwide has been brought about, thanks to the much stronger identity of the Black Lives Matter protest movement. As companies and entire countries review the size and scale of their operations, in light of the dramatic changes brought about by the pandemic, they are in search of value for efforts expended. They have to begin by asking questions such as: What core sense of identity are they working from? Are they rentiers or are they strivers? Are they innovators or are they laggards? Are they first movers or latecomers? How do you add value to the lives of your customers – or, in the case of government – citizens? What are you? Why are you? What is your purpose? Answering these rather primordial questions to one’s satisfaction will give the

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company or even the country the ballast it needs to push through the current crisis undeterred and emerge on the other side. It will enable the entity to gird together the necessary levers and give it the necessary determination to persevere through the tough times. And in an age where anything can be done by anyone, getting to grips with one’s core identity – defining one’s intellectual property – and proceeding to preserve, nurture and nourish it, is vital to generating sustainable future value. At a time when it does seem that much of the world is getting back to the drawing board, a basic sense of identity and purpose will help one navigate their way back to normalcy and rekindle the hopes for prosperity.

CPI Industry accepts no liability for the views or opinions expressed in this column, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided here.

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FEATURE

THE ART OF SMART REPURPOSING How strong a financial case is there for investing in buildings with an eye on repurposing? And how can technology usher in a new era of city planning? Hannah Jo Uy explores…

ithout a doubt, repurposing of buildings is a smart and responsive thing to do, says Dr Gerhard Schmitt, Director, Singapore-ETH Centre and Professor at the Chair of Information Architecture, ETH Zurich. “It is smart, because it saves cost and time, and it is responsive, because it assigns a new function to existing architecture,” he explains, adding that as with any project, some buildings can be repurposed more effectively and more efficiently than others. “There is massive scope for improvement in the way cities the world over approach urban planning,” he points out. “Much of the oversight comes as a result of near sightedness and losing sight of the most important element in building design and redesign, which is the human factor.” To ensure buildings are being repurposed in the most optimal way, Dr Schmitt urges stakeholders to reflect on the driving force behind the repurposing. “If it’s only to increase short-tern revenue, then all calculations will be economical in nature,” he says. “But if you look at the building’s impact on the atmosphere, the CO2, as well as other long-term aspects, then the calculations shift. The art of doing repurposing in the smart way is to know exactly what, in your context, is asked for.”

July 2020

A proper approach is only possible following stronger collaboration among public-sector entities, Dr Schmitt says. “City planners or governments would know what is important for people to keep and what not to keep,” he says, adding that from a macro perspective, there are many things to consider when it comes to repurposing spaces, be it individual buildings or larger communities. “These considerations go beyond the structural integrity of the existing developments but also the importance it holds for the people and the communities,” he says. Providing an example, Dr Schmitt shares an instance where the Turkish government tried to repurpose a public square and garden into a shopping mall, leading to huge protests. “You can avoid that,” he says, “if you know what buildings are important to people. I think it’s important to have a tailored approach when it comes to any repurposing.” To this end, Dr Schmitt believes that technology can play an even greater role in helping urban planners and consultants have a more holistic approach. One example, he says, is conducting online surveys or even implementing machine learning and artificial intelligence to identify which parts in the city people take most pictures of. “It can help people understand better which buildings are worth keeping and which are not,” he says.

For the structures that are worth keeping, Dr Schmitt points out that technology can also be further integrated to optimise the process. “Every year, technology is getting better to make repurposing the buildings easier, when it comes to the necessary installations and load for lighting, for air conditioning and for making it structurally safer,” he says. “The invasiveness of repurposing a building is going down with technology.”

BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE For Dr Schmitt, the only way to ensure the quality of the repurposed building is to make buildings fit for repurposing in the first place. “There are very good primary structures that are spacious and have enough air and which can be repurposed as lofts of mega spaces,” he says. “It’s about thinking of what lies ahead and what is needed in the future. This makes a lot of sense, and architects should put that in the design brief that a structure should consider being repurposed for environmentally friendly use afterwards and that can be integrated in the structure’s design.” Dr Schmitt says this underscores the importance of getting the building right in the initial stages, adding that there are important and meaningful considerations that must be made to get a building right for the next 100 or 150 years in this regard.

Dr Gerhard Schmitt

First, he says, gravity will never change; therefore, ensuring the structural integrity over a long period of time is essential. “Secondly, although difficult to estimate for decades into the future, the ownership model of the structure is essential,” he says. “Lifecycle cost should take preference over low first cost.” Lastly, Dr Schmitt points out that the building materials must be such that they can easily become part of the circular or, even better, the regenerative economy. While developing buildings in a way that can take into account future repurposing is an ideal approach, the additional cost, in terms of manhours and design changes, may serve as a challenge, Dr Schmitt says. “No one wants to spend 5-10% more, just because there might be different use for the building in the future,” he says. “But there is a switching and tipping point.” Dr Schmitt maintains that there is a financial model that has to be greatly understood by stakeholders. For the developers, he points out, investing in ensuring buildings can be repurposed down the line means being able to easily adapt to a new range of tenants. Local government municipalities should also look at, and encourage, building with an eye on repurposing, to ensure livability of the city 20-30 years down the line,

If you use new technology, new ways of simulation and new ways of predicting the future five to 10 years ahead, it will change your perspective he adds. “It is totally dependent on city government,” Dr Schmitt says. “If they only go for low cost and high revenue, it’s not an issue. If their time horizon is longer than five or 10 years, then they can arrive at an economic model and there can be a lot of incentives to build with an eye towards repurposing.” As a planner and urban designer, Dr Schmitt believes long-term livability of a city is key to its success. “You always have to think, what comes after the shopping mall,” he says. “Maybe, the shopping is going to be less prevalent in the future, so it’s about what makes a city more livable even after present use.”

Dr Schmitt adds that there are many lessons that can be gained from cities that faced challenges from not planning. In Germany, he says, all cities were dependent on steel. “They didn’t think they would ever change, and cities were suffering terribly because of all of this,” he says. Similarly, in the US, the facilities for coal mining and car industry affected the communities that were largely dependent on them, “So, for many countries, such as the UAE that have the means to do so, they must invest more in planning with the main purpose of future livability to ensure the construction of the buildings can be reused more easily.” In view of this, Dr Schmitt says it is imperative for developers and local government units to expand the time perspective beyond the next few years. “Even if some people don’t see the value of thinking long-term, strategic bodies, such as the city government, have to think about it or risk being thrown around by trends.” He adds that this can have long-term commercial impact in the event cities are solely dependent on business of particular commercial infrastructure, and further aggravates losses that may have been incurred for unexpected economic challenges, such as those following Covid-19. “In that case, the additional percentage of investment to make buildings future-proof makes financial sense,” he says. Dr Schmitt adds that the city government and developers can work with scientists and research institutes to look into different kinds of simulations and future productions than is being used, in order to really usher a shift in city and building plans. “Today, financial calculations are based on past models,” he says, “but that means you perpetuate the situation as it is. If you use new technology, new ways of simulation and new ways of predicting the future five to 10 years ahead, it will change your perspective.” In this way, Dr Schmitt says, one can showcase how the use of new technology and data, while respecting the existing building and environment, can lead to much better revenue for whoever owns the buildings.

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Mohamed Shafiq Ur Rahman is Senior HVAC Engineer - 1, Dar Gulf Consult, Kuwait. He may be contacted at mrahman@kia-t.com.

KEEPING THINGS HONEST Saying that everyone has a fundamental right to clean air, Mohamed Shafiq Ur Rahman of Dar Gulf Consult, Kuwait, reiterates the typical expectations of a consultant when it comes to specifying air filters, and highlights persistent shortcomings in installation and O&M

lean air is considered a basic requirement of human health and wellbeing. However, air pollution continues to pose a significant concern to health officials, worldwide. According to an assessment of the burden of disease due to air pollution by the World Health Organization (WHO), more than two million premature deaths are the result of poor indoor air quality (IAQ). What I am about to share is based on my experience with air filtration systems in one of the most challenging environments for ensuring air quality, owing to the frequency and severity of sandstorms. I have been with Dar Gulf Consult, an engineering consultancy firm, based in the State of Kuwait, since 1999. Under the leadership of Eng. Najla Al Ghanim, Chairperson, and Eng. Ubed Arain, the CEO and MD, the firm has been at the forefront of design of major hospitals, and institutional and corporate buildings. The firm works on the policy that as a practising consultant it is a key link between current technology and commercial benefits.

July 2020

Without the slightest doubt, air filtration technology has progressed in an astonishing fashion over the years. The aim of a consultant is to specify the best qualitative and ergonomic product, keeping in mind the best level of expertise, knowledge and support from those in the air filtration industry, so that they can provide optimum service to our clients to the expected level. The financial budget of a project is of vital importance to the client. Dar Gulf Consult hence considers as a beholden duty the role of giving the right advice on the budget to the client. At the same time, it is the firm’s responsibility to make the client aware of new, efficient and economical systems, which can possibly be aligned with the requirements of the client’s project. The firm takes the role of sharing information not only on initial installation cost but also the running cost very seriously, indeed. Hand in hand with that, the firm is particular in informing about the best products available that would do the job of providing the best filtered air over the anticipated lifecycle of the client’s project, be it a corporate office, hospital, university or airport.

Clients should not be influenced by competitive prices offered by various manufacturers of air filters, which initially show less investment cost but will invariably lead to higher operating cost and also to compromising the IAQ and putting human health at risk in the long run. It is, hence, essential that the consultant should review, report and also advise on the important changes taking place in the filtration industry and advise the client on what is best in the market for use. What I say may sound old-fashioned but still holds true: To facilitate the work of consultants, manufacturers should conduct yearly webinars and thereby share knowledge on product improvisation, the research and development work undertaken. Such a knowledge exchange would help consultants specify products with a great deal of accuracy. In terms of specific requirements, the manufacturer should aim to offer a filter with an increased effective surface area of filtration media, which in my view, will enhance the life of the filter multiple times – at least 3-4 times; and the financial strain

on the clients through replacing the filters, and the prospect of a shorter working life, are eliminated. The manufacturer should also offer a filter with a lower delta P, which, in turn, will result in having a lower fan motor, in terms of kW consumption, and a reduced fan diameter, which will result in a lower cost of the AHU. The link is continuous, and the client and the end-user will benefit from the improvements in low delta pressure. The manufacturer should also provide test report for the filters from a reputed laboratory to ensure credibility. Further, the technical

team working for the manufacturer should be at hand to personally supervise the correct installation of the filters; I say this, because this step is mostly neglected. I have also found that there is a huge disparity in the pricing structure of the filters by the manufacturers; this leads the client or the end-user to opt for the cheapest product, ignoring the technical aspects. If the manufacturing community were to standardise the products, there will be minimum price variation; that way, the end-user will benefit, and the manufacturing community will have a fair share of the market. When it comes to long-term performance, the expectation of any consultant is that maintenance personnel should be absolutely aware of the performance of filters. In this, periodic visits by the technical team in the manufacturerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s payroll is a must â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it falls upon the team to ensure that the product is working as intended, thereby enhancing the credibility of the manufacturer in question.

Also, in my years of experience, I have observed that end-users, in a bid to save money, do not replace filters after their life period has concluded; rather, they wash the filters and reinstall them, thereby compromising the IAQ of the builtenvironment and the health of occupants. Speaking of which, after they have been installed, filters should be monitored and their IAQ performance assessed by an independent third-party filtration expert to ensure that their performance is consistent with the manufacturerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s technical catalogue. The outcome of the assessment should be in the form of a report that gives an accurate picture to the client on the quality of air. The prospect of such a report being generated will keep people honest, thus fostering a healthy, productive and vibrant society.

CPI Industry accepts no liability for the views or opinions expressed in this column, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided here.

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covid

Kelvin Pradheephen Vargheese, Director, Hitches & Glitches.

A MYRIAD OF HVAC-RELATED CHECKPOINTS

Kelvin Pradheephen Varghese, Director, Hitches & Glitches, discusses HVAC-specific measures that need to be taken to build confidence amongst occupants, as they look to return to commercial spaces

lobally, every sector and business has been impacted by COVID19. We hear a lot of industry commentators discuss the new normal; however, we do not know how that looks and what effect it will have on us. Based on the last three months, we have seen businesses implement more advanced cleaning and disinfection regimens, such as sanitisation tunnels and stricter access controls, and have witnessed lower occupancies being enforced to ensure social distancing. One thing is for sure â&#x20AC;&#x201C; given the determination of businesses to resume operations, people would need to work together at least until a vaccine has been found and, then, even beyond that. In terms of cleaning and sanitisation that would mean higher frequency of such drives, particularly in public areas. At where I work, we have already implemented changes for clients, which means adjusting the frequency of cleaning of air conditioning and ventilation systems, and cleaning and disinfecting air ducts more often. At the height of COVID-19 in Dubai, we had seen many buildings, particularly in the commercial space, left unoccupied, as employees moved from office-based working to their homes. As such, many of the offices had their HVAC systems running minimally

July 2020

High-efficiency air filters and automated disinfectant feeds into ventilation systems will become standard in most buildings, and many will find their way

into building regulations at some point

or, in some instances, not at all. It is, therefore, essential to carry out a wide range of procedures to ensure all components are working effectively and efficiently. Initially, all equipment should be checked and assessed to ensure there are no issues. The water and air distribution systems should be checked for leaks, while the systems should all be thoroughly cleaned of any dirt and dust that may have accumulated during the down period. In a similar vein, it is essential to check for mould and other fungal growth on air conditioning coils, inside casings, as well as the ceilings within the office, as the presence of micro-flora could indicate a more serious problem. The upkeep of all air systems is also incredibly important, and these should be clear of any debris that may have built up. All control valves and actuators should be working at full capacity, and all seals should be checked to ensure they are intact. Drive belts and fans should also be checked to ensure they are working correctly. In short, all moving parts should be checked to make sure they are working as they should, and the period of inactivity has not inadvertently resulted in any potential malfunctions. High touchpoints should be disinfected and sanitised using world-class, technologically advanced cleaning products that provide long-lasting protection. This should include all air conditioning distribution devices.

It is also worth noting that chillers should not be turned off, as sitting water quickly becomes stagnant, and over a relatively short period this can cause irreparable damage to the components and, ultimately, require major work to fix or replace. Another important factor to take into consideration is when should maintenance begin again, following the closure of a facility. The straightforward answer to this is it should never stop. There are several intricate parts of an HVAC system, so shutting the system down and incorrect maintenance can have a devastating impact on the lifespan of the system. In addition to providing regular maintenance during periods of downtime or reduced use, activity should be bolstered when the facility returns to full capacity well in advance to iron out any of the potential issues previously highlighted. In order to build confidence again amongst occupants of commercial buildings, it is important to have a physical

presence and for FM companies to position themselves as not just an expense but as true and trusted business partners, as a single point of contact and a full solution provider. It is vital for progressive FM companies to understand how the value chain of their customers work, where they can support their clients to comply with the evermore complex government regulations and guidelines and how they can operate in the most efficient manner possible. This is not only to stay competitive in the market but also to reassure all of their stakeholders that they are competent, professional and socially responsible organisations. FM companies should fully acknowledge that specialised technologies will play an integral role in providing a safe working environment. Such technologies will also provide an answer for improving indoor environments and making them even more efficient. High-efficiency air filters and automated disinfectant feeds into ventilation systems will become standard

in most buildings, and many will find their way into building regulations at some point. There will also be increased use of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation technology to disinfect and improve indoor air quality in buildings. A significant implication of COVID-19 is that there will be a 180-degree change in attitude towards soft FM operations – cleaning, in particular. Cleaners will no longer have to be invisible; in fact, having cleaners in full view of employees, visitors and guests will promote confidence that the building is being regularly cleaned and sanitised thoroughly and professionally.

CPI Industry accepts no liability for the views or opinions expressed in this column, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided here.

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REGIONAL NEWS

DNV GL launches initiative to develop Recommended Practice for floating solar power plants

A collaborative, joint industry effort, the global consortium includes leading players from all areas of the floating solar power value chain

By CCME Content Team

NV GL has launched a collaborative joint industry project (JIP) consortium with 14 industry participants to develop the industry’s first recommended practice (RP) for floating solar power projects, the organisation said through a Press release. The planned recommended practice (RP) will provide a commonly recognised standard, based on a list of technical requirements for developing safe, reliable and sustainable floating solar projects, the release said. Floating solar power is a promising renewable energy technology, in which solar panels are installed on floating structures on the surface of suitable bodies of water, the release said. The technology offers great potential for green energy production, particularly in areas where there is a shortage of available land for large photovoltaic plants, the release said. The Floating Solar JIP consortium features a varied array of companies with extensive experience in the floating solar and related industries, the release said. Current members are: • BayWa r.e. • Blue C Engineering • Carpi Tech/Makor Energy • Ciel & Terre International • Compagnie Nationale du Rhone • Noria Energy • EDF - Électricité de France • EDP- Energias de Portugal S.A. • Equinor • Isigenere • Mainstream Renewable Power • Scatec Solar • Seaflex • Statkraft Following the first projects in 2006, installed capacity for floating solar power was just 10 MW by 2015, but has accelerated considerably since then, reaching 3 GWpeak by the end of 2019, the release said. It is estimated that the total global potential capacity for deploying floating solar power on manmade, inland waters alone could be as high as 4 TW, the release said. Despite this huge potential, there are as yet no harmonised standard approaches to developing floating solar power projects and no industry standards to ensure quality, the release said. This makes it difficult for investors, regulators and other stakeholders to have confidence in planned projects and to enforce relevant requirements, which could potentially put a brake on the technology’s growth, the release said. It was in response to the industry’s need that DNV GL launched the initiative to develop the floating solar recommended practice, the release said. Toni Weigl, Project Manager, BayWa r.e., said: “As currently being the largest floating PV developer in Europe, BayWa r.e. is happy to be

July 2020

part of this consortium to develop this important guideline for the floating PV industry. We think establishing uniform high standards for Floating PV power plants will help to mature and enhance the Floating PV industry; therefore, we are excited to bring in our extensive knowledge from the successfully realised Floating PV projects.” Added Prajeev Rasiah, Executive Vice President, DNV GL’s Energy business in Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa: “Floating solar is a rapidly expanding technology with huge potential to help nations decarbonise, and one that we have been intimately involved with for many years. Drawing on our expertise in solar energy, floating wind, offshore platforms, Oil & Gas and Maritime technologies and industry knowledge, we have directly contributed to more than 1GW of floating solar projects, at different development stages. We are excited to work with so many committed industry leaders to create a recommended practice that will provide clear guidelines and requirements for safe, performing and long-lived floating solar projects.” The JIP will look at all aspects of developing floating solar projects on inland and inshore waters. It will focus on site conditions assessment, energy yield forecast, mooring & anchoring systems, floating structures, permitting and environmental impact, the release said. By not limiting itself to any specific floating solar technology, the consortium aims to define requirements and guidelines that can be applied in practical manner to all floating solar projects, the release added. Drawing on existing standards from related sectors, the consortium plans to develop a draft guideline document by the end of 2020, the release said. This, the release said, will be made available for widespread industry consultation before the publication of the verified recommended practice, currently scheduled for Q1 202.

Kearney: Financial viability of energyefficiency projects is steadily improving

Company official points out that deployment of AI and IoT are leading to higher returns on investment

By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor

he impact on the bottom line is always a consideration for investments, said Dorival Bordignon Junior Dorival Bordignon Junior, Principal, Kearney. He added that sustainability targets, set by internal organisations and GCC region governments, are slowly being taken into greater account. “Investments in energy efficiency used to face an important limitation in the GCC [region] – the low electricity price,” he said. “In comparison to European countries and the US, where electricity prices are up to 2.6 times higher than GCC [region] countries, energy efficiency projects could often be an expensive shortterm option. With energy price reforms taking place across the GCC, and the emergence of improved energy-efficient technologies, the financial viability of energy-efficiency projects continues to improve.” Bordignon pointed out that there are examples of retrofits projects for commercial facilities that have achieved 20-50% ROI and at a payback period of less than one

year. “Such returns are possible by deploying, at scale, of new technologies, such as IoT and AI,” he said. “The improvement in the economics of the sector is also noticed by facility owners as well as by financial investors.” Bordignon added that sectors where energy is a significant component of the total cost of ownership are more interested in energy efficiency, as the impact on the bottom line can be evident in the early years of equipment and design installation. “Most commercial buildings, such as malls, hotels, hospitals and airports, are great candidates due to very high energy consumption needed to operate long hours to maintain cooling demand,” he said. “For instance, Dubai Airport is pursuing a multiyear retrofit project, targeting 23% annual energy savings.” When it comes to new facilities, Bordignon said the conundrum between facility developer, owner and operator needs to be addressed to ensure innovative building design, technologies, materials and systems are deployed, even if it represents incremental development costs. “In the short term, more detailed regulations and frameworks that take into consideration the total asset

lifecycle cost can dictate energy efficiency in buildings, particularly during the construction phase,” he said. “New data centres, where energy cost represents up to 10% of operating costs, can easily overcome such conflicts and incorporate green designs since inception to lower energy consumption by leveraging new technologies, such as big data and machine learning, and physical layouts, such as closed cold corridors.” Bordignon pointed out that a quick and easy process to determine appropriate energy-efficiency solutions, reduced transaction costs as well as access to competitive capital and investment risk management are key factors considered to ensure a financial case can be made. On whether the same financial case can be utilised to make a case for indoor air quality, Bordignon said there are challenges. “While the benefits of improving indoor air quality were established several years ago, the potential health and productivity benefits have not yet been integrated in the conventional economic calculations related to building design and operation,” he said. “Such integration could provide economic arguments for applying measures to reduce internal air pollution.”

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ELIPS completes 10 years of operation in manufacturing of pre-insulated pipes

100% fully owned subsidiary of Empower and Logstor has produced over 500 km of pre-insulated pipes, generated over AED 812 million in sales since its inception and served more than 150 projects in the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, company says

By CCME Content Team

AE-Danish joint venture, ELIPS, which manufactures pre-insulated pipes and provides innovative solutions in fittings, has completed 10 years of operation in manufacturing preinsulated pipes, the company said through a Ahmad bin Shafar Press release. ELIPS, which is a 100% fully owned subsidiary of Empower and Logstor, has produced over 500 kilometres of pre-insulated pipes, generated over AED 812 million in sales since its inception and served more than 150 projects in the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the company said.

Headquartered in the Jebel Ali industrial area of Dubai, on an area of about 100 million square feet, ELIPS said it has the UAE's largest plant that leverages the latest robotics-driven manufacturing technologies in the production of thermal insulation materials that meet the highest energy-efficiency standards. The company’s products are in great demand by oil, gas, solar and marine sectors and other industrial projects, it added. “ELIPS is commencing its second decade with bigger ambitions and more valuable goals, and is determined to become the first and largest supplier for the region's district cooling companies and firms operating in the oil and gas fields,” said Ahmad bin Shafar, Chairman, ELIPS. "Our partnership with Logstor yielded outstanding environmental gains and economic successes, as it is the only company in the Middle East that uses zero-emission materials in its manufacturing processes, which qualified it to receive international certification in OH&S management systems, and conforming to specifications and standards of the European International Network for District Cooling, as well as several certificates from ISO. Therefore, Empower has adopted ELIPS’ products in its operations in Dubai to contribute to environmental protection, and achieve the highest levels of sustainability and energy efficiency in providing services to its customers.”

UL elaborates on the scope of its Energy Verified Mark

Company official discusses scope in context of Middle East energy-efficiency programmes By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor

July 2020

Honeywell in vaccine fast-track automation initiative

Company expedites development and production of vital vaccines and medical therapies with fasttrack automation

By CCME Content Team

oneywell on June 10 announced Fast Track Automation, a combination of proprietary technology innovations for the life sciences industry that enables vital vaccines, treatments and therapies to move from regulatory approval to full production in as little as two months, depending on process requirements. The solution incorporates process automation elements that can be configured in a virtual environment, then implemented rapidly, once a therapy is approved and ready to be produced for public distribution, the company said through a Press release. Fast Track Automation is a response to the global COVID-19 outbreak, which has highlighted the need to accelerate delivery of medical solutions and devices to patients by focusing on ensuring more efficient production and testing capabilities along with facilitating strengthened supply chain, Honeywell said. Life sciences manufacturers are leading the race against time to

tefano Traversi, Engineering Leader HVAC, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) provided a comprehensive overview of UL-Certified Enhanced Mark, also known as UL Leaf and Energy Verified Mark, during a webinar on Product Certifications, organised by Eurovent Middle East, in a bid to educate the public on its relevance in the context of energy-efficiency programmes in the Middle East The UL-certified enhanced mark, he explained, is an energy-verified mark,

overcome the pandemic through innovative science, Honeywell said. At the point in time when clinical trials are nearing completion, the ability to rapidly pivot and scale up to meet production demand will severely test existing technology infrastructures, Honeywell added. The most efficient way to ramp up the production of potential therapies is to facilitate development of commercial-scale manufacturing earlier, while treatments and prevention therapies are still in clinical trials, Honeywell said. Fast Track Automation has been designed to be used in development applications in as little as two months, and then to help manufacturers scale up to full production immediately after the appropriate regulatory approvals are granted, Honeywell added. “Honeywell has provided the life sciences industry with consistently innovative advancements in automation technologies, systems and services for over 30 years, and Fast Track Automation is one of our most valuable offerings to date,” said Cynthia Pussinen, Vice President and General Manager, Life Sciences, Honeywell Process Solutions. “Our solution allows for end-to-end manufacturing process and data visualization, providing real-time visibility and predictive insights while offering benefits like enhanced audit-readiness and data integrity, minimized regulatory risk, increased operational efficiencies and reduced rejects and waste.”

which addresses compliance with testing regulation and procedures of an energy-efficiency scheme. This Stefano Traversi allows customers to obtain test results at UL test facilities as well as at customer facilities under data acceptancy programme and witness test data programme. “This ensures the trustworthiness of the EE results data

Fast Track Automation, the company said, leverages the power of the cloud, virtualisation, batch software running in the controller, flexible assignment of computing power, remote asset management from a data centre, and efficient, fast-track lean project implementation. The technology, Honeywell said, prepares manufacturing automation designs in parallel with clinical trials to ensure production is ready to go once a medical therapy is approved. Manufacturers can even use the system to digitise manual steps during clinical trials to better consolidate and analyse data and more seamlessly prepare electronic submissions for regulatory body review and approval, Honeywell said. Manufacturers can then use that data to prepare the final production automation design, it said. Additionally, it said, the system can be quickly scaled up or down depending on needed changes and demand.

achieved, since they are measured with trustable third-party, UL, and enables manufacturers to use UL energy-verified mark,” he said. Traversi added that the UL energyverified mark, in addition to giving trust to the test data, shows compliance with a number of Middle Eastern energy-labelling programmes, including KWS 1893, SASO 2663, SASO 2874, UAE.S: 5010-1, UAE.S 5010-5, GSO 2530 and QS SASO 2663.

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REGIONAL NEWS

Arcadia finalises major investment in ultraviolet technology

The school awards contract to Sanuvox, saying its aim is to protect and ensure the wellbeing of its students

By CCME Content Team

Ultraviolet technology is recommended ubai-headquartered Arcadia by ASHRAE, the global organisation that sets School awarded a major contract benchmarks in the field of air conditioning, of ultraviolet technology to to help eliminate the transmission of Sanuvox, which manufactures airborne infectious diseases, Arcadia said. ultraviolet air purification products. Making In light of COVID-19, sales the announcement through a of UV technology have risen Press release, Arcadia said that exponentially across sectors, under the contract, Sanuvox, Arcadia added. through its local distributor, “This move is the first in a series Oasis Coils and Coatings, will of investments we will be making install ultraviolet technology to to protect our students when they continuously clean its cooling Navin Valrani return to our campuses,” Navin coils and the air molecules Valrani, CEO, Arcadia School, said. coming through the air “This is by far one of the most effective conditioning systems in both its primary and methods in eliminating bacteria and mold in secondary school campuses.

Honeywell, SAP partner in a bid to improve building performance The two companies claim Honeywell Forge and SAP’s Cloud for Real Estate will enable corporate real estate owners and building operators to benefit from building performance optimisation, including reduced carbon footprint and lower energy costs

By CCME Content Team

oneywell and SAP SE have teamed up to create a joint cloud-based solution, based on Honeywell Forge, the company’s enterprise performance management offering, and SAP Cloud Platform that will streamline and combine operational and business data to support better decisionmaking and drive greater efficiencies, Honeywell said through a Press release. The companies’ first area of focus will be the real estate industry, where building owners often need to pull data from disparate

July 2020

our air conditioning units as well as cleaning the air molecules that comes through our ducts by breaking down their DNA.” Valrani said it was his promise to leave no stone unturned to protect the Arcadia community, as and when schools open in Dubai. Added Jocelyn Dame, President, Sanuvox: “This shows the true commitment of Arcadia’s school towards teachers and student health. As everyone knows a healthy body in a healthy environment is all we want for our kids to learn, succeed and further contribute to society.” Arcadia School is part of Arcadia Education, a K-12 British school operator, headquartered in Dubai.

sources that are not normalised, Honeywell said. This makes it extremely difficult to determine the true efficiency and utilisation of their portfolios, it added. Drawing on the power of the Honeywell Forge autonomous buildings solution and Darius Adamczyk the SAP Cloud for Real Estate solution, the new offering will enable facility managers and building owners to reposition their portfolios through cost savings and newly identified efficiencies, while also helping to improve tenant experience, the company claimed. Honeywell Forge powers a new AI-driven autonomous control capability that makes automatic adjustments to maintenance, comfort and sustainability, it added. As buildings come back online in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis, owners are expected to focus on key performance indicators (KPIs) tied to enhanced occupant safety and reduced carbon footprint, along with energy

Awal Gulf launches PEARL air purification unit Company says product design, which incorporates HEPA air filters and UV disinfection technology, can filter contaminated air up to 99.999%

By CCME Content Team

ahrainheadquartered Awal Gulf Manufacturing, which produces commercial and residential air Ghassan Freiwat conditioning and refrigeration units, has launched PEARL air purification unit. Making the announcement through a Press release, the company described the unit as using state-of-the-art design technology to deliver fresh air through an efficient filtration system. The PEARL air purifier, the company said, is powered by portable multi-layered, high-efficiency HEPA filters, designed to remove viruses and bacteria from the air, thus providing enhanced level of respiratory protection. The air purifier, the company claimed, also uses the latest UV-C technology that decontaminates the indoor air by killing up to 99.999% of airborne viruses and infections. Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Ghassan Freiwat, Deputy CEO, Awal Gulf Manufacturing, said: “The world is currently passing through an unprecedented time, and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) has never been so critical to the health and safety of the people. Clean air is specifically vital in hospitals, clinics and healthcare facilities to protect

patients, staff and visitors from airborne diseases and infections. We at Awal Gulf Manufacturing believe that as leaders and experts in the HVACR industry for almost 50 years we have got a role to play in creating a safer, cleaner and efficient environment. We are pleased to launch our all-new PEARL air purifier, with a filtration efficiency of 99.999% down to 0.3 micron particles, H14 as per EN1822. The unit is now available to order through a select dealers network across Europe, Middle East & Africa.” The unit, the company said, is a simple plug-and-play system with no integration into the existing mechanical systems. The system, the company added, draws in contaminated air and removes all bacteria and viruses through a series of integral filters and then delivers clean air back into the builtenvironment. The unit can be placed in common areas, hospitals and ancillary healthcare facilities. including research labs and pharmaceutical plants, the company said, adding that its application is not limited only to the healthcare vertical but can also be used in educational institutes, and residential and other commercial applications.

savings, the company said. By providing real-time access to these KPIs, the joint offering will help building owners optimise their operations to meet aggressive energy savings targets and substantially reduce maintenance hours, the company said. For example, in the HVAC operation alone, which is known to account for 35% of total energy consumption in commercial buildings, an AI-automated system, such as Honeywell Forge can save up to 23% in energy costs. “Building owners today often struggle to get the real-time data they need to determine the true efficiency and utilization of their

portfolios,” said Darius Adamczyk, Chairman and CEO, Honeywell. “Honeywell and SAP together will provide insights from the boiler room to the boardroom that make it easier for our customers to get a true picture of how to optimize building performance, lower carbon emissions to meet sustainability goals, reduce energy costs and help enhance occupant experience. Having this information readily accessible will allow our customers to generate tremendous business value while becoming more sustainable, and it will greatly enhance the appeal of their buildings to renters and tenants.” Added Christian Klein, CEO, SAP: “Our partnership will significantly change the game in digital and intelligent real estate management. Customers will greatly benefit from the single holistic view provided by our offering dashboard. With the addition of Qualtrics, companies can also collect employee sentiment data to provide a complete 360-degree experience measurement while optimizing occupant productivity, building performance and their entire real estate portfolio. With embedded artificial intelligence and data analysis, our solution will enable managers to determine their optimal office use and adjust their portfolios to reflect varying economic, environmental and regulatory conditions.”

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Dyson investigates the effect of lockdown on air pollution

Dyson announces global project using wearable air monitoring technology to investigate air quality changes in cities during and after the COVID-19 lockdown period

By CCME Content Team

articipants in 14 cities globally, including Dubai, are using Dyson’s air quality backpack to collect air quality data, to generate snapshots of their personal exposure to air pollution during and after lockdown, the company said through a Press release. Dyson’s air quality backpack, which was developed for a research study with Kings College London and the Greater London Authority, has on-board sensors, a battery pack and GPS, allowing data to be collected on the go, the company said. Re-working existing sensing technology used in Dyson air purifiers, engineers designed the portable air monitoring device, engineering it to be smaller, lighter, and more portable, whilst still accurately capturing PM2.5, PM10 and VOC and NO2 exposure, the company added. This initiative comes in line with data being collected in the UAE analysing the lockdown measures put into place to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said. The country has recorded an average 30% drop in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels from February 1 to April 30, 2020, according to the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE), Dyson said, adding that as a result, air quality has significantly improved during this period, as levels of air pollution decreased due to less vehicle use. According to the release, the global project spans three continents and 14 cities, including London, Milan, New Delhi and New York City. The collected data will be compared with local city air quality sensor data and indoor air quality data from Dyson’s connected purifiers, to develop a picture of the changes in air quality in cities globally throughout this period, the company said Phase one involved participants wearing the backpack to collect air quality data during lockdown. In line with local government guidelines, participants

July 2020

wore the backpacks during permitted lockdown travel, such as visits to the grocery store, daily exercise routines or a key worker’s commute, Dyson said. This data will give us a snapshot of the air quality the participant was exposed to on a typical day in lockdown, it added. The UAE -- Dubai, in particular -has begun to gradually ease lockdown measures to restart economic activity. However, residents are still being urged to remain vigilant by staying at home and working remotely wherever possible. With these restrictions in cities now being lifted, phase two will commence, the company noted in the release. Participants will then travel with the backpack on the same route they took during lockdown, to build a second snapshop of air pollution exposure

The project… at a glance

Cities involved in the project • Bangkok • Berlin • Dubai • Kuala Lumpur • London • Manila • Milan • New Delhi • New York City • Paris • Seoul • Singapore • Tokyo • Toronto Common pollutants found in cities • PM2.5: ultrafine particles, which are the most difficult to detect and capture

• PM10: Particulate matter smaller than 10 microns, includes pollen, dust, pet dander and allergens from plants and flowers • Nitrogen dioxide (NO2): Found in high concentrations near roadways • Sulphur dioxide (SO2): Produced by industries and vehicle exhausts The backpack technology • Dyson purifying fans and heaters use particulate, nitrogen dioxide and VOC sensors to continually monitor air quality in the room. • An algorithm processes the input and activates the machine, to capture pollutants and project cleaner air. They detect and report on PM2.5, PM10, VOC and NO2. • An entirely new circuit board had to be designed to fit within the backpack, with three main sensors, which use unique algorithms to process the data. On one carefully engineered board sits a sensor that measures temperature and humidity and another, which is a gas sensor that

outside of the lockdown period. Dyson engineers will compare these two data sets, to better understand the effect of lockdown on the day-to-day air quality exposure of individuals living in cities, it said. To ensure the accuracy of the outdoor backpack sensor data, readings from Dubai’s monitoring stations will be gathered to further validate the findings, the company said. Using anonymised data from its connected purifiers, which amass over 1.9m globally, Dyson will also explore broader trends in indoor air pollution levels during this period, it added. Alex Knox, Vice President of Environmental Care, Dyson, said: “While it has been widely reported that air quality in some cities has improved during the lockdown period, initial data insights from Dyson’s connected purifiers indicate a small but consistent increase in indoor NO2 and VOC levels in cities during lockdown. It will be interesting to monitor these changes as cities emerge from lockdown status, to further understand the factors that impact both indoor and outdoor air quality.” The combined data sets will help to give an indication of the effect of lockdown on indoor and outdoor air pollution in cities globally, bolstered by findings from the pre-existing static outdoor air quality sensor network, the company said, adding that available outdoor air quality data from these sources indicate a reduction in NO2 levels in major cities under lockdown, possibly due to the decline in diesel vehicles on the roads as a result of the lockdown restrictions.

can detect nitrogen dioxides (NO2) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The third sensor is known as the dust sensor and is larger than the other two. It sits in a separate module and uses lasers to detect PM2.5 and PM10. Breathe London Study • Kings College London used the air quality backpack as part of a study involving 250 children to understand daily exposure to pollutants, including PM2.5 and NO2 on the school run. • A total of five schools in London and 250 children took part in the study, including Marner Primary School, Charlotte Sharman Primary School, East Sheen Primary School, Haimo Primary School and Lordship Lane Primary School. The children that participated were from different school year groups and aged between 8 and 11. • The study measured the personal exposure of the children to air pollution, allowing for a more accurate characterisation of the real-world exposure that school children experience. As a result of the study, 31% of children changed the way they commute to and from school.

Condair Middle East appoints new sales engineer

Moudar Ghadanfar takes on responsibility of expanding sales of humidifiers and dehumidifiers across the UAE

By CCME Content Team

umidity control and evaporative cooling company, Condair, has appointed Moudar Ghadanfar as Sales Engineer for Condair Middle East, the company said through a Press release. Ghadanfar will take on responsibility for expanding sales of humidifiers and Moudar Ghadanfar dehumidifiers across the United Arab Emirates, the company added. Ghadanfar joins Condair with great passion for the HVAC sector and an engineering background, the company said. Mahmoud Widyan, General Manager, Condair Middle East, said: “We are delighted to have Moudar join the sales team at Condair. His introduction to the team will help us develop further our humidifier and dehumidifier sales across the Middle East.” Ghadanfar added: “It’s a great pleasure to join this global leader in humidity control. Condair has the most comprehensive range of technologies across both humidification and dehumidification in the world. This enables the company to always be able to provide the most appropriate product for a client’s project. I am looking forward to building strong relationships with consultants, contractors, AHU companies and production managers across the many industries Condair operates in.”

Without action, emissions from cooling will rise 90% above 2017 levels by 2050 reports @UNEP & @IEA. #SustainableCooling tech is available. It's time to scale the use of low GWP #Refrigerants and high #EnergyEfficiency products.

Jürgen Fischer @jfi1963

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REGIONAL NEWS

Diamond Developers, Siemens sign MoU

Collaboration will explore implementing smart solutions in developer’s existing and future projects

By CCME Content Team

iemens and Diamond Developers, the real estate developers of Dubai’s Sustainable City, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore Faris Saeed implementing new smart solutions for the developer’s existing and future projects, the latter said through a Press release. The signing was executed through video call between Diamond Developers offices in The Sustainable City, and Siemens offices in Abu Dhabi and Germany, the release said. The MoU sets a framework for Siemens and Diamond Developers to create a partnership that supports the building of low-carbon, inclusive, safe, and resilient cities and communities across the world, the release added. Faris Saeed, CEO, Diamond Developers, said: “We are committed to supporting the vision of His Franco Atassi Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to turn Dubai and the Emirates, in general, into one of the most sustainable countries in the world. We can all play a part and contribute to achieving this goal, and this partnership with Siemens will help us continue enhancing and improving our model of sustainable cities in the UAE and around the world, making our cities smarter and more efficient, and enhancing quality of life in general.” Franco Atassi, CEO, Siemens Smart Infrastructure in the Middle East, said: “Sustainable City in Dubai is already a model of efficiency, exporting more than a quarter of its solar power and avoiding tons of carbon emissions a year. Our approach of creating digitalized ecosystems from the point of power generation all the way to consumption can bolster energy efficiency and help protect the planet.” According to the release, the Sustainable City was designed as a model for future cities, with the ultimate illustration of social, environmental and economic solutions, to make the city truly sustainable. The city grows its own food, produces renewable energy, recycles water and waste, restricts cars and encourages clean mobility, the release said. This results in reducing carbon emissions, increasing performance, and minimising cost, the release added.

July 2020

Solar-powered seawater RO desalination gains traction in Middle East

Industry representative discusses region’s progress in integrating renewables in desalination projects

By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor

olar-powered seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination, an electrically operated process, powered by either PC, wind or hybrid solar/wind, is gaining traction in the Middle Harry Istepanian East, especially in the GCC region, for water production, said Harry Istepanian, an Independent Power and Water Consultant based in Washington DC, United States, elaborating on the progress the region is making in terms of renewable energy-powered desalination technologies. Istepanian explained that desalination using SWRO is highly energy intensive and often seen as inefficient, as every one cubic metre of water desalination requires 2.5-4 kWh of electric power. “However, MED and MSF thermal technologies are more energy intensive, with aggregated energy equivalent of 10-16 kWh for distilling each cubic metre of water,” he added. “We are seeing solar-powered SWRO happening quite fast and on a larger scale.” To underscore the point, Istepanian pointed out that last year, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) announced its plan to generate 305 million gallons per day of desalinated water by 2030 using solar-powered reverse osmosis to meet its renewable energy targets. “This means Dubai will exceed global targets for using clean energy to desalinate water if the plan goes ahead,” he said. “This is the latest in a row. In 2014, Masdar awarded Degrémont, a subsidiary of Suez Environment, a contract to build a desalination pilot plant in Abu Dhabi powered 100% by renewable energy.” He further added that in 2016, Suez launched its pilot 100 cubic metres per day reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plant in Ghantoot, Abu Dhabi, owned by Masdar. “We expect new technologies to lay the ground for the implementation of cost-competitive, large-scale seawater desalination plants powered by renewable energy, especially in the UAE and Saudi Arabia,” he said. “I think renewable energy will bring sustainability to meet the future demand for water and will reduce the reliance on traditional sources of energy for producing water.”

Tafawuq FM announces new company record Company reports it has achieved over AED 739 million in contract wins

By CCME Content Team

afawuq Facilities Management, a subsidiary of Eltizam Asset Management Group and a provider of facility management (FM) solutions in the UAE, has registered a new company record, achieving a combined value of over AED 739 million in contract wins and renewals in the first six months of 2020, the company claimed through a Press release. The achievement, the company said, demonstrates significant growth in the company's business – which reflects an increase of over 120% in the forward order book of the company, compared to the same period in 2019. Mohammed Alsharaf, COO, Eltizam Asset Management Group, said: "The main driver to Tafawuq's continued success lies in our people – the employees who have demonstrated their key commitment towards ensuring our partners' success. This has become especially important during the recent disruptions caused by COVID-19, where our front liners

worked around the clock to ensure safe conditions for building occupants. In addition, the company has emphasised Mohammed Alsharaf the importance of learning and adopting newer technologies and practices, which ensures the efficiency and safety of tenants in the buildings we safeguard. The new record we have achieved serves as an inspiration that has prompted us to create more strategic roadmaps to bring in more business growth and expansion throughout the region." Meanwhile, Michael Nicholas, General Manager, Tafawuq Facilities Management, revealed the company's shift in 2020 towards proactive energy management, which is now an integral part of any new IFM contracts. The implementation of the new strategy, he said, falls in line with the company's show

of support and commitment for Dubai’s Integrated Energy Strategy 2030, which aims to achieve a 30% reduction in the emirate's energy consumption by the year 2030. "At Tafawuq Facilities Management, we operate on the strong belief that we make a substantial impact on the living and working environment of the communities, public sector entities and businesses,” Nicholas said. “Our achievements were made possible as we implement the 'Get Wonky' culture, the company’s organizational and business enhancement strategy being promoted across the Eltizam Asset Management Group. Thanks to the 'Get Wonky' approach, we are able to focus our efforts on people, technology and CSR, among other aspects, and help us serve our clients better. It also enables us to maintain business continuity even as we all face the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.”

Cannelle Holdings opens new showroom

Dubai-based facility will showcase copper pipes, coils, automated valves, ventilation fans, air curtains and filter driers, among other HVAC equipment and accessories, and also HDPE pipes for infrastructure projects

By CCME Content Team

ubai-based Cannelle Holdings has opened a new showroom in Deira, Dubai, the company announced through a Press release. Located in Al Rigga area of Deira, on what is known as Refrigeration & Airconditioning Street, the facility will offer a wide range of HVAC equipment and accessories, the company added. Cannelle, as exclusive Middle East distributor of IUSA Cambridge Lee (Mexico) copper pipes and coils, used for HVAC, plumbing and gas installations, will showcase the products in the new showroom, it said. In addition, it said, it will display NIBCO (USA) copper fittings and valves for HVAC & plumbing applications; Caleffi (Italy) automated valves for HVAC and plumbing applications; Vents (Ukraine) ventilation fans; Petross vacuum pumps, air curtains, filter driers, capacitors and

other accessories; OXXONE brand of refrigerants; and Surgetrol (South Korea) water hammer arrestors, Ashwin Alexander among other equipment, parts and accessories for HVAC applications. The new showroom, the company said, brings its UAE footprint to four locations, along with its head office, in Jebel Ali, Dubai. Its other stores are located in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, the company pointed out, adding that it is pressing ahead with its expansion strategy, despite the unprecedented situation presented by COVID-19, as its business approach is rooted in the UAE vision of growth, unfazed by the temporary setback to the country and to the global economy, in general.

“We are a young company compared to most of our peers,” said Ashwin Alexander, Managing Director, Cannelle Holdings. “With time, we have been able to gauge our strengths and build on it. Our organizational structure keeps us nimble, as we constantly learn, assess and maneuver to the situation’s demand. Having a strong core team, combined with personal supplier relations, is what gives us the confidence to continue our growth plans. We have more in store, and this is still the beginning.” Cannelle’s other business interests include the supply of specialised products for infrastructure projects, such as KIO (Italy) composite manhole covers, Polieco (Italy) cable ducts, structured manholes and HDPE pipes.

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REGIONAL NEWS

Ras Al Khaimah Municipality reports significant progress in energy efficiency

Government body releases the second annual report on the implementation of Ras Al Khaimah Energy Efficiency and Renewables Strategy 2040, on its newly launched Reem website

By CCME Content Team

as Al Khaimah Municipality reported significant progress in its sustained energy-efficiency drive. The government body made the announcement through a Press communiqué, on the occasion of the release of its second H.E. Munther Mohammed annual report on the implementation of the bin Shekar emirate’s Energy Efficiency and Renewables Strategy 2040. The report, the government body said, is available on its newly launched Reem (Energy Efficiency and Renewables Office) website. The report describes progress of the Strategy, including achievements, new initiatives and expected developments in the coming years, the government body said. It highlights concrete savings of 7 GWh of electricity, 109 MIG of water and 423 GWh thermal of direct fuel savings achieved in 2019, the government body said. Apart from energy and water savings, the government body spoke of several key milestones achieved across all its programmes: • Launch and completion of the voluntary phase of Barjeel, the Green Building Regulations of Ras Al Khaimah, and completion of preparations for its mandatory implementation, including IT enhancements, awareness, training and certification • Completion of the first retrofit project in government buildings, for four buildings of Ras Al Khaimah Municipality, with 31% guaranteed energy and water savings • Contracting of two retrofit projects, for 24 buildings of RAKEZ and RAK Academy, and development of a pipeline of retrofit opportunities for the next two years of targets • Set up of an ISO 50001-compliant energy management system at the Municipality to work as a pilot for extension to other government and private organisations • Completion of the energy-efficiency retrofit of 1,500 street lights in the Jazeera Al Hamra Free Zone by RAKEZ • Contracting for initial solar PV rooftop projects, including the first government solar PV project for a 230kWp carport at Ras Al Khaimah Municipality • Installation of 12 public electric vehicle-charging stations in Ras Al Khaimah

July 2020

Apart from the above achievements, the government body spoke of several preparatory activities that have been initiated to support further development of the programmes and activation of key enablers for the long-term success of the Strategy. The most notable of the activities, it said, are: • Enhancing policy and regulation, including the ongoing development of new public landscaping standards, green procurement guidelines, electric vehicle-charging station standards and sustainable community guidelines. An extensive stakeholder consultation process has been set up to ensure each of the regulations remains in line with international benchmarks and is relevant to market conditions in Ras Al Khaimah. • Raising awareness around energy and water conservation, including launch of an energy-efficiency competition for schoolchildren across Ras Al Khaimah, preparation of a social media campaign targeting residents, and organisation of multiple industry events. Initial plans are being made for the first RAK Energy Summit, which will bring regional and international experts and businesses in the fields of energy efficiency and renewables to Ras Al Khaimah. • Building capacity in the energy efficiency and renewables sector, including the launch of a supply market development strategy to attract leading businesses and entrepreneurs to Ras Al Khaimah – through planned outreach initiatives, start-up and SME competitions – and the activation of training programmes, among which is a Barjeel online training platform for engineers and consultants. His Excellency Munther Mohammed bin Shekar, Director General, Ras Al Khaimah Municipality, said: “The current market situation elevates the importance of energy efficiency, for its contribution to energy competitiveness and resilience and also for economic stimulus. We see increased value in efficient buildings, efficient public service networks, renewable energy, better consumption practices and so on. Our commitment to the goals of the Strategy remains strong and unchanged.”

Empower continues its commitment to implement international standards

District cooling utility renews three ISO certifications in Quality Management System, Environmental Management System and Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems

By CCME Content Team

ubai-headquartered Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower) has renewed three ISO certifications in Quality Management System (ISO 9001: 2015), Environmental Management System (ISO 14001: 2015), and Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSAS 18001: 2007) that are related to internationally recognised practices for management Systems in Quality, Environment and Health and Safety, respectively. Making the announcement through a Press release, the district cooling utility added that it is certified for all the three International Standards since 2006. The standards, it further added, are integrated into one platform, which adds values to all stakeholders from Quality, Health & Safety and Environmental perspectives. Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO, Empower, said: “Empower’s Quality Management System is based on ISO9001:2015 Standards,

which works to minimize business risk, enhance the business process to achieve customer satisfaction and Ahmad Bin Shafar high quality delivery of chilled water to its customers. Every project of Empower is designed with highest standards of Quality by understanding the customer requirements clearly, designing the project with international standards, construction of plants with highest Quality Control and Operations & Maintenance with latest technologies to ensure high quality cooling service is delivered to its customers. “Empower’s Environmental Management System is based on ISO14001:2015 standards. From design to construction and during operations & maintenance of plants, detailed environmental aspect impact analysis is

conducted and necessary control measures are implemented to ensure that Empower is minimizing CO2 emissions in its operations, energy is saved and sustainable model is created to meet the objectives of Dubai Energy Strategy.” Health & Safety is of paramount importance for Empower, Bin Shafar said. “Our Health & Safety Management System is based on OHSAS18001:2007 standards,” he said. “Detailed Occupational Health & Safety risk assessment is conducted from design to construction and operation of its plant rooms as well as for all its business processes and activities. Control measures are implemented to ensure the health & safety of its staff and all stakeholders.” The renewal, Empower said, also Key Perspectives on underlines its keenness in achieving the highest quality levels in providing district cooling services and operations, and in achieving the utmost satisfaction and happiness of the company’s more than 120,000 customers across Dubai.

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REGIONAL NEWS

Honeywell promotes real-time IAQ insights Company says its Healthy Buildings solutions help building owners comply with new hygiene and social-distancing policies and enable business continuity

By CCME Content Team

oneywell announced an integrated solutions portfolio to help building owners in the Middle East improve the health of their building environments, operate more cleanly and safely, comply with social-distancing policies, and help reassure occupants that it is safe to return to the workplace. By integrating air quality, safety and security technologies along with advanced analytics, Honeywell’s Healthy Buildings solutions are designed to help building owners minimise potential risks of contamination and create business continuity by monitoring both the building environment and building occupants’ behaviours, the company claimed through a Press release. The company’s new solutions provide building owners with more control over critical health, safety and security factors to encourage sustained George Bou Mitri compliance with changing building standards, safety guidelines, governmentissued regulations and a company’s risk management policies, it said. The innovative solutions also provide transparency into a building’s health status to its occupants, it added. “We’re all facing a new normal – including how buildings are managed,” said George Bou Mitri, Vice President and General Manager, Honeywell Building Technologies, Middle East, Turkey and Africa. “We’re working with entities in the region to support well-being, as building owners, operators and occupiers return to work, consider travel, visit shopping malls or healthcare facilities. Honeywell has developed outcome-based solutions that allow building owners in the

July 2020

region to transparently address how they limit exposure to and the spread of viruses while supporting their business continuity needs. We’re giving them the data they need to confidently reassure their employees to accelerate their business operations.” The company said its Healthy Buildings solutions are part of a comprehensive effort among Honeywell’s businesses to come together to quickly develop solutions that are helping important sectors of the global economy recover. The solutions provide a holistic view of a building’s health based on key factors, such as indoor air quality, occupant flow, personal protection equipment (PPE) analytics, thermal screening, social distancing, anti-bacterial wiring devices and sanitation efficacy. The solutions feature two packages – one focused on indoor air quality and another on safety and security, the company said. The Air Quality package, it said, monitors, manages and controls key parameters to create a healthier built-environment while still managing energy efficiency. The Air Quality package, it said, can: • Help building owners implement the latest local guidelines • Manage pressurisation, ventilation, temperature and humidity • Gauge environmental and occupancy parameters • Provide real-time insights on contaminant risk, alerts to change HEPA filters, cleaning and occupant behaviour • Control and optimise UV sterilisation, air filtration and air composition. In addition, Honeywell’s #HealthyBuildings Score analytics provides real-time alerts to building owners and operators, so they can quickly address non-compliance issues or deal with infection-related incidents, the company

said. The #HealthyBuildings Score comprises key building health metrics that can be provided to occupants in a simplified view on a dashboard, it said. Healthy Buildings outcomes are powered by Honeywell Forge and monitored via the #HealthyBuildings score, it said. The Healthy Buildings solutions can support the needs of any building, and features specific solutions for premium commercial buildings, airports, hospitality, banking, stadium, healthcare and education sectors, the company said. The fully integrated air quality, health, safety and security controls are backed by expert services and remote monitoring support, it added. Customers can also leverage their existing infrastructure, including third-party solutions, to affordably enhance air quality and security outcomes, it further added. Other businesses within Honeywell are introducing innovative new technologies to provide a healthier environment for customers and end users, it said. For example, Honeywell recently announced temperature-monitoring solutions, which can be rapidly deployed at the entryway of a factory, airport, distribution centre, stadium or other commercial buildings to quickly and efficiently identify whether personnel exhibit an elevated facial temperature, it claimed. The company has also developed an Environment Control System Health check that allows airlines to quickly use aircraft data and advanced analytics to monitor for and improve cabin air quality, the company said. Additionally, the company said, it is applying the Honeywell Forge platform to help customers operate their buildings, factories, warehouses, supply chains, and aircraft more efficiently and in ways that promote the health and safety of occupants, workers, and passengers.

Al Salem Johnson Controls outlines COVID-19 precautionary measures Company recommends steps to be taken for safe return to the workplace in the wake of Saudi Arabia easing restrictions of movement

By CCME Content Team

l Salem Johnson Controls (YORK) has highlighted the need for effective building and utility systems’ procedures to ensure that offices and buildings provide safety and protection from contaminants. The Rabie Makki announcement, through a Press release, comes at a time of easing of restrictions in Saudi Arabia, and of life gradually returning to normal, with employees across all sectors returning to their workplaces. Effective building and utility systems, including HVAC Systems, are indispensable in fighting the spread of any pandemic or infection, as they help in eliminating and reducing the impact of airborne viruses, thus ensuring the health and safety of employees and visitors inside the building, the company said. The outbreak of COVID-19, it added, has raised concerns about the virus’ airborne transmission, calling for an urgent re-evaluation of ventilation systems inside closed spaces in order to ensure a superior Indoor Air Quality (IAQ). The company recommended several important precautionary measures, noting that such measures are optional and not mandatory, since they do not eliminate the risk of infection but help to reduce its transmission, especially with the possibility of viruses travelling through the air at a higher rate in closed spaces, in addition to the possibility of viral particles travelling between surfaces, if the air flow is higher than the required limit. Rabie Makki, Product Manager – Airside, Al Salem Johnson Controls (YORK), stressed the importance of maintaining IAQ in buildings, through a number of basic requirements. It is essential to ensure the filtration and purification of air entering the building through the HVAC Systems, and the setting of temperature and humidity at specified levels, he said. Underlining the significance of maintaining the highest levels of fresh air in closed areas, he said that the percentage of fresh air differs from one place to another, depending on the application and utilisation purposes – such as office buildings, factories, warehouses and hospitals – and the type of HVAC Systems it is equipped with. Makki said that the best way to ensure that virus particles do not hover or linger in common enclosed spaces is to increase the rate of

ventilation and air circulation, and to ensure the methods of expelling the particles outside the building. International Air Quality Standards – including ASHRAE Standard 62.1 – recommend that air should be regularly changed and circulated in rooms every hour, depending on the size of the room, its use, the number of individuals inside it and other related factors. For example, the air inside smoking rooms needs to be changed 15-20 times/hour, laboratories 6-12 times, warehouses 3-10 times, offices 6-8 times, office buildings’ dining rooms 7-8 times, meeting rooms 8-12 times and parking in building basement 15-30 times. Makki highlighted the company’s recommendations of providing air-handling units with high-quality, efficient filtration systems that can filter out viral particles of all sizes. He also spoke of the need of carrying out periodic preventive maintenance check-ups, and of increasing their frequency during the pandemic. Furthermore, he spoke of the need of cleaning and sterilising air ducts, water ducts, filters and other components, and of switching off and restarting the system from time to time, while ensuring optimum humidity levels inside the units, to combat the spread of viral particles, mould and bacteria in them. Makki said project owners, consultants and contractors ought to consider several factors when designing new buildings and facilities. The HVAC equipment should meet a building’s requirements, taking into account the necessary and the required levels of fresh air, and the need for increasing the ventilation, whenever required, as ventilation and an exchange between indoor and outdoor air is vital to reduce airborne pollutants and to reduce disease transmission rates. Furthermore, he said, it is advisable to place the HVAC equipment in a part of the building that is easy to access for frequently carrying out the necessary maintenance and cleaning procedures. Humidity levels inside the building, he said, should not be less than 40% or exceed 60% in order to prevent the growth of mould and the multiplication of pollutants that will inevitably affect the health of people inside the buildings.

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REGIONAL NEWS

Eurovent Middle East highlights value of product certification in latest webinar

Foucherot said that the importance of thirdparty certification permeates throughout many industries, citing the European car sector as an example of issues that can emerge in its absence, where there was a growing gap between the claims of the manufacturer and what was happening Representatives from Eurovent Certita Certification and UL elaborate in real life. “It is important to focus on the on the importance of ISO 17065 accreditation relationship between the manufacturer and end-riskers,” he said. “We are not pushing By Hannah Jo Uy | Assistant Editor innovations, we are here to enable [bodies] to create standards that are applicable economically and to be sure that there will added, leaves customers at some level of risk, urovent Middle East elaborated be programmes from these new standards.” some of which can be minimal, while others on the importance of product He added that independent, third-party could potentially be lethal. certification in ensuring certification creates a fair playing field and Traversi also discussed ISO 17065 performance, safety and reliability, is the most effective and consistent way for requirements, pointing out that the overall during a webinar, titled ‘Product Certification manufacturers to bring confidence to market. aim of certifying products, processes or Value’, on June 9. The virtual gathering, Foucherot pointed out that standards services is to give confidence to all interested which the industry association organised, also contribute to market surveillance, and parties that a product, process or service featured presentations from representatives highlighted the importance of partnerships fulfills specified requirements. “The value of Eurovent Certita Certification (ECC) and with authorities, adding that ECC is a of certification is the degree Underwriters Laboratories (UL), member of technical committees and of confidence and trust that followed by a panel discussion energy-efficiency bodies. “More and more is established by an impartial on how authorities, investors, authorities now rely on the fact that we and competent demonstration planners, consultants and endare independent,” he said. “We are there of fulfillment of specified users can benefit from third-party to enable the sector to be sustainable.” requirements by a third-party,” certification. Foucherot also took the platform to provide he said, adding that the main Brian Suggitt, President, Brian Suggitt clarity on misconceptions in the market. objectives of ISO 17065 is to Eurovent Middle East, welcomed “There are some misunderstandings ensure consistency, impartiality the participants and spoke that a certified product offers the top and competency. Speaking on on the essential nature of level of performance,” he said. “It’s not the fundamentals of testing and certification and standardization. calibration of laboratories, Traversi correct. A certified product is a product He highlighted four key elements that is compliant to the manufacturer’s added that when a laboratory anchoring the discussions of the declaration. It’s not necessarily the top, is accredited to ISO 17025, its day. “Firstly, product standards are it just needs to be in accordance to what compliance is not only assessed to an important foundation, which Stefano Traversi they said. What we certify is in the generic standard. serves as a common and workable accordance to declaration. If When it comes to framework for all stakeholders,” there is any difference, if there ISO 17025, the laboratory has to he said. “It is a reference point we can go any degradations, if they claim comply and meet management back to, and we have to have them as a basis. C and we witness D, they must system and technical Secondly, impartial certifications of products publish D.” He added that there requirements to demonstrate it is provide trust. Thirdly, compliance is important is also an issue when it comes competent to perform specified – all manufacturers have to comply without Eric Foucherot to the certification of complex tests and calibrations. “The fail; it is essential. Last, but not the least, it systems. Presenting the AHU scope for which the laboratory is important to have continuous conformity as an example, he said some does testing needs to be clearly assessments. We have to police everything we AHUs might get an advantage specified and stated,” he said. do, and that’s where government bodies have by using certified components, “Usually, scope is supported by a part to play. We are working with them now but using certified components is listing the specific test methods to help build platforms for these discussion.” not sufficient and that a holistic for lab. It also allows for the Stefano Traversi, Engineering Leader approach to these more complex customers of the lab to identify HVAC, Underwriters Laboratories (UL), Markus Lattner systems is needed. a suitable laboratory for their followed with a comprehensive overview of Markus Lattner, Managing purpose and have confidence in UL’s role in meeting safety, performance, Director, Eurovent Middle East, concluded the tests and measurements made by the energy efficiency and environmental the virtual event by highlighting how thirdlaboratory.” considerations. Traversi pointed out that in party certification, based on ISO 17065, is a Eric Foucherot, Director International addition to building a common framework useful tool for market surveillance, and while Affairs, ECC, began his presentation by for all stakeholders, standards help protect certification offers great value for regulators, highlighting the body’s trust in the value people and the environment and drive the manufacturers consultants, investors and end of ISO 17065 accreditation, considering industry and market by increasing energy users, it needs to be understood and always its contribution to the development of a efficiency and environmental requirements. checked for validity. more robust ecosystem within the industry. Not complying with standards, Traversi

July 2020

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oVErVIEW Whilst the world awaits with bated breath for the emergence of a vaccine to be able to manage COVID-19, to put the menacing threat to human health and the months of economic uncertainty behind us, a crucial question is: “Are we preparing well for the likely unprecedented mobilisation of vials of the potentially life-saving vaccine?” And this is a question not only for the global South, considering how most parts of the world have been caught unawares and exposed as being largely unprepared or underprepared in tackling the pandemic. Indeed, the question needs the undivided attention of global cold chain stakeholders, including policymakers, advisors, end-users and technologysolutions providers. The importance of a robust cold chain cannot be overemphasised. To quote, Toby Peters, Professor in Cold Economy, University of Birmingham: “The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that, as a result of broken cold chain, there are more than 1.5 million deaths globally from vaccine-preventable diseases every year – 30% of which are among children under five. WHO estimates that more than 25% of some vaccines may be wasted globally every year because of temperature control and logistics failure.”

COVID is placing a burden of the need for global mass mobilisation of vaccines upon us. Such is the nature of SARS-CoV-19 that the spread of infection is rapid, and the mortality rate and suffering the world over is deeply worrying. As Shubhashis Dey, Associate Director of Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, India, says: “The vaccination program will require millions of citizens of all age group to be vaccinated within a short span of time.” Hand in hand with that is the need to safely transport and store the vaccines in a sustainable manner, not only from a carbon emissions point of view but also from a reliability angle. The world at large needs off-grid solutions, amongst others. Vaccine Virtual, the next in the series of webinars by CPI Industry, is a meeting of government bodies, including health ministries; global advisors and policymakers on cold chain; pharmaceutical companies; and cold chain equipment and infrastructure companies. It has an ambitious programme agenda revolving around the need for ensuring vaccine integrity till the last mile, even in places with unreliable electricity-related infrastructure.

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GLOBAL NEWS

Camfil wins Grand Indoor Climate Prize Company wins honour for its Megalam EnerGuard HEPA filtration for cleanrooms

By CCME Content Team

amfil said it won the 'Grand Indoor Climate Prize' in Sweden for the Megalam EnerGuard HEPA filtration for cleanrooms. The filter has three times longer life span than other HEPA filters with membrane media and can generate energy savings of 30-50% compared to traditional fibreglass filters in the industry, Camfil claimed through a Press release. The media also provides safer handling, with minimal risk of damage during transport and installation, Camfil said. According to Camfil, the main drivers that motivated the jury to select Camfil were innovation, high filter efficiency, and a combination of best features of traditional fibreglass and membrane filters. The filter technology in the Megalam EnerGuard, Camfil claimed, efficiently separates particles from ventilation air, maintains a lower pressure drop and contributes to better energy savings than traditional fibreglass filters. The filter design, Camfil further claimed, is durable that significantly reduces the risk of damage to the filter during transport and installation. Torbjörn Bäck, President, Camfil Northern Europe, who received the Award, said: “We at Camfil are elated and proud to be nominated in the first place, and now with this victory,

July 2020

our success reflects the focus towards sustainability in several dimensions. Our R&D team is dedicated to developing filters that meet future demands for efficiency, reduce energy consumption and produce less waste

through a longer filter lifetime. Thanks to the commitment and efforts of our colleagues in the industry and the industry associations, together we keep driving the indoor air quality technology development forward.”

Ziehl-Abegg invests 16 mn euros for growth, post Corona Company announces expanding the production of its energy-saving fans

“T

By CCME Content Team

he global markets will continue to need highquality electric motors and fans in the future,” said Peter Fenkl, CEO, Ziehl-Abegg, while announcing that the company is investing 16 million euros in the expansion of its production buildings at its Kupferzell site. Dr Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister for Economic Affairs, praised the investment during the official ground-breaking ceremony for the site: “The new construction project is a clear commitment to Baden-Württemberg as a location for manufacturing and innovation. Our state needs companies like Ziehl-Abegg SE that take on a leadership role in our economy, particularly during difficult times. The Hohenlohe industrial company has also been affected worldwide by the COVID-19 crisis, it said, adding that sales are close to the previous year. “However, a higher-than-average 8.6% increase in sales across the industry in 2019 provides a solid foundation,” Fenkl said. In the current year, the company said, it will benefit from the wide range of applications, which contain Ziehl-Abegg products. In particular, in the current year, the Drive Technology Division, which manufactures electric motors for elevators, is enjoying one record high order intake after the other, it added. In the new building, the company said, an additional approximately 8,400 square metres of production area will be created for the manufacture of its energy-

Dr Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut and Peter Fenkl

efficient electric motors. “The durable and efficient electric motor has been our core area of expertise for more than 100 years,” Fenkl said. Ziehl-Abegg said it is simultaneously the leader in the technology of biomimetic fan design. However, since many geometries with ideal aerodynamic characteristics cannot be realised in steel or aluminium, the company said it is expanding its composite materials area. “It is essential for us to create extra space for additional composite material injection moulding machines” Fenkl said. Overall, Ziehl-Abegg is expanding its production facilities or optimising existing

plants, worldwide – in Schöntal-Bieringen, where the aluminium casting operation is based, as well as at its locations in America and Asia. “Corona has demonstrated, in particular, that we and our customers must take a close look at the use of long-delivery routes,” Fenkl said. Hoffmeister said: “Ziehl-Abegg SE epitomises the ‘stand-out’ characteristic of our economy in Baden-Württemberg: rooted within the region but with a global operation. With this investment, the company is further expanding the resilience of its supply chains and the high level of value added at this location.”

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GLOBAL NEWS

Norway launches Green Transition package and hydrogen strategy Government plans to use green route as the motor for accelerating out of COVID-19’s impact on energy and industry

By CCME Content Team

he Norwegian government on May 29 put forward a "Green transition package" of NOK 3.6 billion, SINTEF Energy, one of Europe’s largest independent research organisations, said through a Press release. The investment objective, is to underpin the green transition and use this as the motor for accelerating Nils Røkke out of COVID-19’s impact on energy and industry, SINTEF Energy said. Solutions such as hydrogen, building renovation, batteries, offshore wind, circular economy, green shipping and other forms of green energy are mentioned specifically in the package, SINTEF Energy said. Funding will be provided through public and public-private mechanisms, whereof the bulk will focus on supporting medium- to high-TRL activities supporting industrial competitiveness in emerging solutions, SINTEF Energy said. Following the announcement, a hydrogen strategy was launched, SINTEF Energy said. Norway is following suit of many other European countries, which are also looking into the benefits of a hydrogen economy, being a true cross-sectorial enabler and key for reaching net zero GHG emissions by mid-century. “Norway’s investment into hydrogen and other green technologies is a good start, but more needs to be done urgently,” said Nils Røkke, Chairman of the Board, European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) and Executive Vice President Sustainability, SINTEF Energy. “Pilots and demo activities are highlighted, but we need to scale initiatives to create change. The hydrogen economy is crucial for Europe and Norway to reach ambitious energy and climate goals. We must dare to invest and take a bet on hydrogen now.” According to SINTEF Energy, implementing a hydrogen economy would decarbonise the economy and significantly improve Europe’s ability to reach climate goals. When used, hydrogen only emits water, SINTEF Energy said. But for hydrogen to be a low or emission-free energy carrier, it must be produced with no or low emissions, for example by electrolysis using renewable power or from natural gas with CO2 capture, transport and storage (CCS), SINTEF Energy said. Hydrogen can also support the phase-in of less controllable renewable power and become the preferred option for storing large amounts of energy over longer periods, SINTEF Energy said. “Hydrogen has exciting opportunities in store for Norway, both as an energy and a technology nation,” Røkke said. “We must seize the opportunity to support the transition towards an emission-free Europe.”

July 2020

BNL Gruppo BMP Paribas sets up “positive loan” for LU-VE Group Value of loan is 40 million euros, company says

By CCME Content Team

NL Gruppo BNP Paribas has set up a “positive loan” of 40 million euros for LU-VE Group, which produces static and ventilated heat exchangers for the refrigeration, air conditioning and industrial process cooling markets. LU-VE Group made this announcement through a Press release. LU-VE said it has 3,200 qualified employees, 16 production facilities in Europe, Russia, China, India and the United States, and exports 83% of its production to 100 countries, worldwide. The “positive loan” from BNL has conditions, which become even better for the company when it achieves specific sustainability objectives, LU-VE said. In particular, in the context of environmental sustainability, LU-VE said it is increasing its use of natural refrigerant fluids, such as carbon dioxide, ammonia and propane, with zero or very low ODP (Ozone Depleting Potential) and GWP (Global Warming Potential) in its heat exchangers, replacing the hydrocarbons (HFCs), thus meeting the green requirements of customers.

Carrier launches Healthy Buildings Program Company says the initiative is aimed at helping customers reinvent their buildings for occupant health

By CCME Content Team

arrier in early June launched the Healthy Buildings Program, which the company described as an expanded suite of advanced solutions to help deliver healthy, safe, efficient and productive indoor environments across key verticals, including commercial buildings, healthcare, hospitality, education, retail and marine. Carrier said it launched the programme to help customers consult with Carrier’s engineers to take advantage of the broad range of the company’s healthy building technologies. “COVID-19 has reinforced the important role that buildings play in ensuring and protecting public health,” said Dave Gitlin, President & CEO, Carrier. “As people return to work, hotels greet guests, schools

welcome back students and stores reopen, indoor air quality and safe buildings are of paramount importance. For the economy to successfully recover, people need to have trust in the safety of the buildings they are entering. New technologies, like microscopic filtration systems and touchless building controls have gone from nice-to-have conveniences to must-have protections. The Carrier Healthy Buildings Program can help enable healthier and safer indoor environments as we get back to our new normal.” Rajan Goel, who leads Carrier’s Healthy Buildings Program as the head of Carrier’s Building Solutions Group, added, “Through the Healthy Buildings Program, Carrier’s experts will work closely with customers to not only design but operate, maintain and upgrade buildings that protect what’s most important – the health of those inside.” Carrier said its Healthy Buildings Program will draw from a comprehensive suite of solutions and services designed to help improve indoor air quality (IAQ), increase outside air ventilation and enable touchless interactions.

Siemens Energy establishes network for efficient energy storage solutions Launches “Future of Storage” initiative to promote sustainable energy systems

By CCME Content Team

iemens Energy has launched the "Future of Storage" initiative, the company said through a Press release. The aim of the initiative is to bundle knowledge and build an ecosystem of technology partners in order to offer energy-storage solutions tailored to customers' needs, the company said, adding that one of its key goals is decarbonising the world's energy systems. An essential component of climate-friendly energy systems of the future will be efficient energystorage systems, which compensate for the fluctuating feed-in of renewable energies and stabilise the grids, making them a key driver of decarbonisation, the company further added. With "Future of Storage", the company said, a global team of experts is being formed that covers all available energy storage technologies, from batteries to thermal and thermo-mechanical energy storage systems. “We want to offer every customer the optimal energy-storage solution that best suits their needs," said Anette Ossege-Schaffrath, who heads

the team at Siemens Energy. "To do this, we need access to a broad portfolio of storage technologies. We need to have the necessary expertise and develop suitable business models. With Future of Storage, we are creating an important prerequisite for achieving these goals." Added Jörn Schmücker, CEO Large Rotating Equipment, Siemens Energy: "Energy storage is the key to a decarbonized world. With Future of Storage and our partner ecosystem, we will be able to offer our customers exactly the solutions that fit their needs – with the advantage of improving the efficiency and, thus, the profitability of their plants.” At the beginning of June, Siemens Energy entered into a long-term partnership with the Norwegian technology company, EnergyNest. The start-up is a supplier of thermal energy storage systems, the company said. The aim of the partnership is to jointly offer modularised

and standardised thermal energy storage systems for industrial customers, the company said. EnergyNest has developed a heat battery that can be charged with renewable energy or with waste heat and can discharge completely renewable steam directly into customers' plants, when required, the company said, adding that this reduces the demand for fossil generated heat and, at the same time, increases the flexibility of the plants.

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Analysis

July 2020

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July 2020