Why recirculate indoor air?

This is the question Samuele Peli, General Manager Sales EMEA of Seeley International likes to ask, adding that increasing the intake of fresh air will increase energy consumption, which in turn, will drive the demand for more efficient systems, like evaporative cooling. Excerpts from the interview he gave to Ranjana Konatt of Climate Control Middle East

WHAT ARE THE IAQ-RELATED MANUFACTURING AND SUPPLY TRENDS WE ARE LIKELY TO SEE IN THE COMING YEARS?

Increased ventilation rates and increased percentage of fresh air – as opposed to recirculating indoor air – will certainly be a key trend, as well as improving filtration rates. Increasing the fresh air component through systems designed to mostly work based on air recirculation, like most current compressor-based systems, would mean a significant increase in power consumption; this will drive the demand for more efficient systems and for systems based on different concepts, such as evaporative cooling. The balance between energy efficiency and IAQ will be the key parameter driving system design, going forward. Smarter controls and air quality monitoring systems – also to adapt rates to buildings’ occupancy rates – will also gain popularity.

HOW DOES THE GCC REGION COMPARE TO THE REST OF THE WORLD WHEN IT COMES TO THE UPTAKE OF IAQ STRATEGIES AND TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS?

With a combination of extreme climatic conditions – in terms of peak temperatures and humidity levels – and gigantic buildings, the GCC [region] is one of the most demanding and challenging markets, globally. Comparatively low – although on the rise – electricity cost has allowed for many projects to be oversized, with the necessity of increasing the fresh air component and bypassing heat recovery wheels and the like. Cooling demand might surge once businesses will go back into full swing mode.

IAQ HAS TRADITIONALLY BEEN IGNORED. DO YOU SEE GREATER UPTAKE NOW? SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT MAKE SOME ASPECTS RELATED TO MEP DESIGN AND INSTALLATION MANDATORY TO ENSURE GREATER ADHERENCE TO IAQ NEEDS?

My answer is “yes” to both questions. There has certainly been a significant uptake of practices to fight COVID spread, and HVAC organisations have done a great work in regulating this matter, but going forward, these should be made mandatory by governments.

WHAT IAQ-RELATED R&D HAVE YOU UNDERTAKEN THAT YOU CAN SHARE WITH READERS OF CLIMATE CONTROL MIDDLE EAST?

We have invested more than 25 million Australian Dollars in R&D every year and are employing more than 70 expert HVAC engineers, who are working on revolutionary, “over the horizon” product innovations. At Seeley International, we are proud to have always been in the front line when it comes to IAQ attention.

Most of our products operate providing 100% fresh, filtered, cooled air, thus overcoming all issues related to indoor air recirculation. More new products are in our R&D pipeline, all of them with maximum focus on IAQ. Most of our R&D was already going in this direction – delivering our customer healthy cooled air at a fraction of the energy consumption of “conventional” technologies.

COULD YOU BRIEFLY DESCRIBE CW3? YOU CLAIM THAT IT DELIVERS UP TO 80% REDUCTION IN ENERGY COSTS, AS COMPARED TO REFRIGERATED SYSTEMS. WHAT ARE THE TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS MADE IN THIS PRODUCT?

The CW3 uses Seeley International’s latest innovation – a new Micro-Core technology for smaller or uniquely challenging applications. The concept of how it works remains basically unchanged, combined with equally effective cooling performance found in Seeley’s Climate Wizard’s other commercial models. The new Micro-Core technology allows a much more compact footprint, making the new product also suitable for residential or small commercial applications.

WHAT ARE THE FEATURES AND BENEFITS OF USING INDIRECT EVAPORATIVE COUNTERFLOW HEAT EXCHANGE CORE TO PROVIDE HYPER-EFFICIENT COOLING?

There are many benefits to this new technology. If I were to just pick three, I would say: (1) The improvement in IAQ, thanks to no recirculation and pre-filtration. (2) The fact that total cooling performance increases when the air temperature rises is an especially interesting feature in very warm climates like in the Gulf. (3) The fact that it reduces the energy use and improves the cooling performance of existing refrigerated systems, and all these without using any synthetic refrigerants or chemicals to harm the environment is a plus.

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SAVING ENERGY, MOVING AWAY FROM R-22

Converting to inverter-based systems can help the UAE save 5,000-10,000 GW of energy a year, and a concerted shift to R-410a systems would help the country achieve its emissions reduction goals, says Visakh Tom Jose, Sales Manager, Air Solutions Division, LG Electronics Gulf, in this interview to Surendar Balakrishnan…

While the emphasis over the years has been on retrofitting for energy efficiency and water use optimisation, are we seeing a trend of retrofitting for IAQ, instigated by COVID-19?

IAQ, over the years, did not attract major attention, even if acknowledged as necessary. A reason for this was the lukewarm demand among customers for good IAQ, which made it the least specified factor. As a result, you wouldn’t find any mechanism installed across the Middle East region and, in fact, most parts of the world. COVID-19 has triggered a deeper sense of awareness on IAQ. Today in construction – and this involves the full cycle of investors, suppliers and users – we are seeing a slow rise in demand and are observing an increase in enquiries for air purifiers and other IAQ-related solutions. We are seeing IAQ being accepted as a major factor now. I hope the demand does not fade away after COVID, because a pandemic like this can bring the whole world to a standstill.

What steps has LG taken in this direction – of providing solutions that cover energy efficiency and IAQ/IEQ?

For LG, retrofitting is about replacement of equipment for not only power and space saving but also control flexibility, IAQ and ROI. All our products are 100% inverter-based technology and ensure power savings. As far as energy saving factor is concerned, LG’s central control systems and wi-fi module allow for the indoor units to be connected to a cloudbased platform. This provides control and monitoring aspects to customers from anywhere in the world.

LG considers IAQ as a moral responsibility to the world. Besides our standalone air purifying devices, including portable-type mini air purifiers, we are able to offer duct purification kits and cassette air purification kits. The duct purification kit includes MERV 13 filter and UV sterilisation, which removes 99.9% of germs. The cassette air purification kit has five stages of filtration, including deodorisation.

While retrofitting, what are you doing to address the balance between energy efficiency and IAQ? Are you proposing solutions with more air changes to lower the risk of spread of disease in the built-environment? Are you an advocate of highefficiency filters? If so, are you able to address pressure drop in an energy-efficient manner?

We believe that IAQ cannot be achieved

only with high-efficiency filters; it can be realised only through a combination of factors, including providing the right ventilation and filters. FAHUs (fresh airhandling units), one of the major pieces of equipment, have to be made mandatory in all residential and commercial buildings. Providing sufficient ventilation is equally important, because it lowers the spread of diseases in the enclosed environment. As for the recommended air changes – it varies depending on the nature of the facility. For instance, you would need 6-7 air changes an hour in operation theatres, and fewer in residential buildings. An important point for consideration is the presence of radon gas, indoors. It is one of the major causes of lung cancer. It is an inert, colourless and odourless gas. In an open environment, it disperses; in a built-environment, it gets trapped indoors. Proper number of air changes will help eliminate radon. Likewise, particulate matter of certain size is a Grade I carcinogen, for which you would need highefficiency filters to help stave off the threat.

If I have an old LG unit, and if I add our air purifying kit, the pressure may drop. But, we can change the ESP level of our motors in the case of our indoor units series produced after 2018-2019. So, we can increase the ESP and still cater to the required air flow in the room. In the case of older units – say, those installed 10 years ago – we would have no choice but to replace the units to add the air purifying kits. We are talking of a deep retrofit, here.

What has been the response from owners of commercial properties in the times of COVID? Many have seen a drop in occupancies. In this regard, are they willing to spend on retrofitting at all, or are they taking recourse to business-as-usual?

I would like to classify customers into two types – those that are energy conscious and those that are not. I have an interesting customer, who has no relation to energy sustainability. He has a couple of labour camps. In 2019, he appointed an energy consultant to take care of energy consumption to drastically reduce energy. The consultant responded by going around the facility, auditing it and giving a report. Such customers are rare in the market. Most of them are only concerned about increasing profit in their primary business. In the preCovid scenario, most were not interested in retrofit.

Those customers that are not energy conscious can be divided into two – those that don’t have knowledge on how a retrofit job can change their facility, and those with knowledge. My aim would be to motivate these customers.

In pre-COVID times, the government took the initiative of bringing the ESCO model of shared services and guaranteed service contract. Even though the initiative was taken, large portions of the market were untapped, especially small-scale residential and commercial building owners. The situation in the wake of the onset of COVID saw a lot of uncertainty in the market and a drop in investment, which dissuaded many from pursuing the retrofit option. I was speaking to 3-4 small-scale ESCOs, who depend on private investors. All of them stopped pursuing the green concept. Again, we must keep in mind that 50% of the ESCOs are not more than five years old.

COVID brought uncertainty, and many commercial properties remain unoccupied or minimally occupied, with work-fromhome still the popular option. Owners of commercial properties were heavily impacted and had no other option but to drop the thought of retrofitting for a brief period of time.

Now, post-COVID, many customers are thinking about decreasing their operational costs, which has triggered the retrofit market. In H2 2020, we could not see the graph going up. In 2021, there has been a dramatic rise in retrofit activity.

Given that the UAE has signed a new set of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), in line with the Paris Agreement, as a commitment to lower its emissions, what role does LG see for itself in contributing to the building industry and, thereby, to the UAE and, for that matter, to other GCC region countries, in helping lower emissions?

The UAE intends to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 23-24%, in relation to the busines-as-usual scenario, by 2030. Demand side management is a key area of focus, when you consider the energy sector.

LG has a moral responsibility to be energy conscious, and it has acted by making the shift to 100% inverterbased systems since 2018. This move increases energy efficiency and decreases power demand from the air conditioning sector, which consumes 60% of the electricity used in buildings. LG’s aim is to reduce at least 40% energy usage in existing building by undertaking retrofit assignments.

An estimated 5,000-10,000 GW of energy can be saved per year in the UAE by converting to inverter-based systems. The baseline 30-40% existing non-inverter-based systems, if converted to inverter-based systems, can, indeed, help achieve 5,000-10,000 GW of energy savings a year.

The inverter conversion ratio in the UAE is 20%. In the EU, it is more than 80%. LG has been contributing through its inverter systems to lower energy consumption in buildings, which in turn reduces dependence on fossil fuels, which, in turn, leads to a drop in greenhouse gas emissions.

As for retrofits, 95% of the enquiries we are taking are related to systems already installed with R-22. If repair is the focus, each time they top up the gas, a minute amount of R-22 is released into the atmosphere. If 100,000 such units release minute amounts of R-22, the volume of greenhouse gases released is significant. That’s why we push for retrofits, because you can replace R-22 systems with R-410a systems. So, by pushing for retrofits, we reduce the import of R-22 gas and, that way, contribute to the country’s NDC initiative.

Visakh Tom Jose

HAVE YOUR SAY!

We welcome your views on the Q&A. Write to editor@cpi-industry.com