INTERVIEW: H.E. Eng. Fathima Al Foora Al Shamsi, Ministry of Energy, on the UAE Energy Strategy and national energy-efficiency goals
APRIL 2015
Feature: More than just frills and trimmings HVAC accessories take front and centre as sector enjoys rise in demand
EDITORIAL CAMPAIGN:
IEQ in Schools Green school buildings for healthy learning spaces
e h t m Fro gence r e v n co zone d rent – an ged at e ff i d e r th es from industry conve nited c i o v d n u e Views a ers of th onference, in a n r o c – differing nual ME VRF C gling issues. n ig the 3rd A ring clarity to n b effort to
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GREE BRAND AGENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST COUNTRIES: Afghanistan: Heritage FZE, MA 03, Jebel Ali, UAE, Email: samimqay@hotmail.com • Bangladesh: Electro Mart Ltd • Egypt: Tiba Manzalawi Group, Email: Shady@tibagroup.me • Iraq: Hardland Electromechanical Trading and Contracting, Email: ramez@hardland-co.com • Iran: NIA Air Conditioning Company, Email: sadri@nialimited.com • Jordan: Izzat Marji Group, Email: mohd.taha@marji.jo • Kuwait: Al-Babtain Air-Conditioning & Refrig. Co, Email: Ghassan@albabtaingroup.com.kw • Lebanon: Societe Acsons S.A.R.L, Email: acsons@cyberia.net.lb • Libya: Mersin Inc, Email: nori.aradi@muzzn.com • Palestine: Triple r for trading and Marketing, Email: rami@triple-r.ps • Pakistan: DWP Technologies (pvt) Ltd, Email: malik.tariq@dwp.com.pk • Qatar: Al-Ta’adhod, Email:amged@greeqatar.com • Saudi Arabia: Al-Asasyah (Basic Electronics Company Ltd), Email: info@al-asasyah.com • UAE: Nia Limited Co, Email: zakir@nialimited.com, Hariet@nialimited.com
HVAC 360 Connecting the dots… raising the bar
15 - 16 June 2015 The Meydan Hotel, Dubai, UAE
An innovative communication approach
The eighth edition of The Climate Control Conference (C3) comes at a pivotal time for the region, with the blueprint of the Dubai Expo 2020 expected anytime soon, and with stadia-construction activity gathering pace in the peninsula.
Unlike traditional conferences, the pattern of discussions at C3 will follow an unusual approach aimed at arriving at unprecedented clarity and at unearthing answers of immense benefit to the construction and specific MEP industries.
In keeping with tradition, the Conference programme has been designed in a manner as to provide a platform for an innovative communication approach (see side-bar), aimed at arriving at qualitative answers, insights and recommendations, which can be applied while taking critical project-related decisions.
KEY SECTIONS
The two-day conference will see participants address a grand total of 82 topics, with a structured approach to arriving at insights and recommendations. The audience will comprise: • Government officials involved in policy-making, planning, regulation and enforcement • Quasi-government bodies • Utilities • Master-developers and developers
• Government aspirations, programmes & initiatives • Mega events, master-planning & master developments • What the owner wants, how to get everyone to read from the same page as a foundation to realising key aspirations and objectives • Getting into the design of things • Different shades of green • The contracting phase • Manufacturing and supply • Regulation, self-regulation • Cooling approaches • The air side of things • Broader IEQ issues • Energy efficiency and low-hanging fruit • Testing & commissioning • The critical role of FM firms in sustaining IEQ and energy efficiency aspirations
AGENDA
While the audience will listen to the insights and recommendations and also contribute to the discussions, a large team of journalists associated with Climate Control Middle East and its sister publications will be at hand to take notes with the aim of preparing a detailed report, which will be presented to all the participants and delegates and to the different, relevant ministries and other key influential bodies in the GCC region.
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WHY SPONSOR?
• Building owners and endusers • Consultants • Contractors • Manufacturers • Suppliers • Service providers
• Opportunity to share insights as an industry expert in a first-of-its-kind 360° forum involving all disciplines of the construction and MEP industries
WHY ATTEND?
• Unique, novel branding style that will guarantee a high-level of exposure
• Opportunity to learn, update or reinforce views on different aspects of the construction and MEP industries… a 360° vision of the two industries • Participate in a unique, first-of-its-kind, freeflowing format of discussions, intended to achieve unrivalled clarity and deep insights into critical issues
• Networking as a natural extension of conference discussions • One-on-one meetings
• Meet technology solutions providers, specialised contractors and specialised consultants related to energy efficiency, resource conservation and indoor environmental quality
• Exhibition opportunity as a natural extension of conference discussions • Sustained audio-visual branding in the foyer and exhibition area
WWW.CCUBE.ORG FOR PROGRAMME-RELATED QUERIES: B Surendar Editorial Director & Associate Publisher T: +971 4 375 6831 M: +971 50 509 2457 F: +971 4 434 1906 E: surendar@cpi-industry.com
FOR SPONSORSHIP / EXHIBITION OPPORTUNITIES: Frédéric Paillé Managing Director & Associate Publisher T: +971 4 375 6833 M: +971 50 714 7204 F: +971 4 434 1906 E: fred@cpi-industry.com
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In Asia (except India), contact: Judy Wang Our representative in Asia T: 00852-30780826 E: judy@cpi-industry.com
contents vol. 10 no. 4 APRIL 2015
page
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Interview
‘It is worth considering DC to achieve demand reduction targets’ H.E. Eng. Fathima Al Foora Al Shamsi, Assistant Undersecretary for Electricity, Clean Energy and Desalinated Water Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Energy, talks about the UAE Energy Strategy and its role in achieving national energy-mix targets and energy-efficiency goals
THE 3Rd Annual Middle East
Variable Refrigerant Flow Conference 30-31 March 2015 • Habtoor Grand Beach Resort, Dubai Marina, UAE
page
14 COVER STORY
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21
IEQ IN
SCHOOLS 24
page
‘Our aim is to help the country draft regulation on IEQ’
Dr Yousuf Noman and Iñigo Satrústegui, of the Qatar Green Building Council describe some of the IEQ initiatives involving schools in the country.
page
26
Why make all the noise about acoustics Studies show that excessive noise and poor room acoustics in schools impede learning, says Paul Schwarz. page
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The champion behind the IAQ champions
The US EPA has helped schools in the US provide healthier learning environments to students. Learn more about its IAQ Tools for Schools programme.
44 page
PROCESS COOLING REPORT The 3rd Annual ME VRF Conference served as a platform for end-users, consultants and manufacturers to discuss issues plaguing the VRF industry. We bring you the first part of the report.
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April 2015
Waiting for Godot With conventional methods of cooling not measuring up, oil and gas industry veterans think it’s time for HVAC manufacturers to come up with innovations in process cooling systems. But how long will the wait be? By Rajiv Pillai | Features Writer
PERSPECTIVE
32 page
page
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What ails our industry
In the first of a six-part series, George Berbari speaks his mind out on what he describes as the ‘miserable current status of the HVAC industry in the GCC’.
Timely relief!
Dan Mizesko concludes his two-part series on the benefits of condenser relief on centrifugal chillers.
Straight from the source page
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What’s the doctor’s diagnosis? page
Ahmad Bin Shafar
Towards the two million TR mark
The CEO of Empower, reveals the company’s plans for further acquisitions in an interview conducted by Rajiv Pillai, Features Writer.
page
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40 page
56 page
Yasser S Al-Jaidah
‘DC has a big role to play in QNV 2030’
The CEO of Qatar Cool, discusses cost optimisation measures DC providers can undertake while building and running DC plants.
Eqbal Al Yousuf
‘Small is pretty’
Eqbal Al Yousuf, the President of Al Yousuf Group advocates the cause of smaller air conditioning units that are networked to deliver cooling as per demand, in a free-wheeling interview with B Surendar.
FEATURE
Let's accessorise The global demand for HVAC accessories has been increasing rampantly. And in the region, speculation abounds that in the build-up to mega events like Expo 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the demand can go up even further. By Rajiv Pillai | Features Writer
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CASE STUDY
The green light signals change By implementing new eco-friendly initiatives backed by a green approach to lighting, Grosvenor House Dubai highlights the potential for sustainability in the hospitality sector.
Regulars
36
What is ailing air filters? What causes them to frequently fail or clog pre-maturely? What do we need to unlearn about air filtration practices? Dr Iyad Al-Attar explains...
Ed's note 06 The after-thought mindset NEWS 60 68 71 74 76
Regional Global Associations & Societies Marketplace History
Steiner: Renewables no longer R&D, pilot stages, it's mainstream. Last year 49% of electricity added to global grid was renewable #ACEnergy
Atlantic Council @Atlantic Council
April 2015
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The after-thought mindset
A
B Surendar Editor @BSurendar_HVACR
INTERVIEW: H.E. Eng. Fathima Alfoora Alshamsi, Ministry of Energy, on the UAE Energy Strategy and national energy-efficiency goals
APRIL 2015
EDITORIAL CAMPAIGN:
Product Feature: More than just frills and trimmings HVAC accessories take front and centre as sector enjoys rise in demand
IEQ in Schools Green school buildings for healthy learning spaces
the e From g enc r e v con zone t – and the differen erged at voices from industry conv a united in Views and corners of the ference, – differing ual ME VRF Con ling issues. the 3rd Ann g clarity to nigg brin effort to
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recent study by economists and public policy experts has concluded that improvement in air quality could add 3.2 years to the lifespan of over 600 million people around the globe. The study has concluded that 660 million people inhabit regions that fall short of meeting the annual PM 2.5 standard of 40 microgrammes per cubic metre and that 262 million people live in regions with air pollution levels more than twice that standard. The study was co-authored by Michael Greenstone, Director of the Energy Policy Institute at Chicago (EPIC); Rohini Pande of Evidence for Policy Design (EPoD), Harvard Kennedy School; Nicholas Ryan of the Department of Economics at Yale University; Janhavi Nilekani and Anish Sugathan of the Sustainability Science Program at Harvard Kennedy School and Anant Sudarshan, Director of EPIC’s India office. Given the fact that an adult, on an average, breathes 17,000 litres of air daily, the findings of the study assume significance. Though not specific to the GCC region, the study is a timely reminder that no effort ought to be spared in ensuring good air quality. The GCC region has a task in its hands to reduce outdoor air pollution. In February 2014, H.E. Hussain Nasser Lootah, the Director General of Dubai Municipality, alarmed by the rise in the level of pollution in Dubai’s major roads, had suggested that ownership of cars be restricted through a federal law. Pointing out to car emissions as the main pollutant, he had said the problem was not with the system or the roads but with the fact that there were too many vehicles plying on the streets of Dubai. The emirate has steadily been increasing public transportation options and has embarked on an ambitious programme of smart cities, but the pressures are significant. In 2020, it will be hosting the EXPO, and faces an inevitable increase in construction activity in the build-up, which would necessitate the inflow of more human resources, which in turn, would result in an increase in the number of vehicles on the roads. Faced with the scenario, the responsibility and the opportunity facing the HVAC community is enormous. How we design and equip our buildings or retrofit existing ones can play a critical role in ensuring the air we breathe is of an acceptable standard to keep triggers and respiratory disorders in check. Every day, we inhale billions of particles along with the ambient air. Many of these lodge themselves in the respiratory tract, with the quantity of the deposits dictated by the size, shape, density and charge. Air filtration systems, provided they are properly selected, installed and maintained, are a proven defensive measure to combat ill-health through air pollution. High-efficiency filters are capable of capturing particles of varying sizes. In that context, it is high time we stopped treating the science and engineering of air filtration as an after-thought – 3.2 years is not to be scoffed at.
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April 2015
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April 2015
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The
BIG PICTURE
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April 2015
W
hat’s the point in getting a jab, unless we can be certain the efficacy of the vaccine has not been compromised? Thermal abuse (heat or freezing) of vaccines reportedly robs them of their potency, rendering efforts to contain the spread of disease futile. With millions at risk of disease the world over, the cold chain industry shoulders a massive responsibility to ensure the pharma supply chain is robust and fail-proof.
April 2015
9
INTERVIEW
H.E. Eng. Fathima Al Foora Al Shamsi
‘It is worth considering DC to achieve demand reduction targets’ B Surendar of Climate Control Middle East in conversation with H.E. Eng. Fathima Al Foora Al Shamsi, Assistant Undersecretary for Electricity, Clean Energy and Desalinated Water Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Energy
Abu Dhabi has allowed the synchronising with the grid. Dubai is now opening the doors for Renewable Energy to be linked to the grid? Will we be seeing a unified Federal policy regarding distributed generation? The UAE vision for economic development is to achieve a sustainable and diversified economy, fuelled by an equally sustainable mix of energy sources and energy-efficiency programmes, and the target for clean energy is 24% by 2021. To achieve the target and to set the long-term targets for energy mix, the Ministry of Energy and the stakeholders concerned have formed the UAE Energy Strategy Development team to develop the UAE energy mix strategy and the demand reduction targets, compared to business as usual. The UAE government is conscious about the environment and is keen on reducing the environmental footprint, which is positively affected by cleanly distributed energy production.
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April 2015
When are we likely to see the details of the Energy Strategy?
For the electricity sector to be a sustainable business, the tariff should reflect the actual cost of the service. This depends on the energy mix, the cost of fuel and the cost of utility operation
The Energy Strategy will be announced after the endorsement by the government on the draft that will be proposed by the UAE Energy Strategy Development team.
How can the federal and local government policies be integrated regarding Renewable Energy and broad energy-conservation measures? For example, in the case of District Cooling, Dubai has a 30%-40% penetration target, in relation to the entire cooling market. We are eager to know if Abu Dhabi and the northern emirates have set any penetration target. And if there is going to be a Federal target for the penetration of District Cooling. The Ministry of Energy is directing attention to Renewable Energy, efficiency and conservation through the Energy Strategy, which will not be isolated from existing
strategies or policies in the emirates. And it is clear to us that energy-efficiency projects are the low-hanging fruit that produce fast results. District Cooling, as an example of energy-efficiency options, helps reduce energy consumption and costs compared to conventional air conditioning and, therefore, we believe that it is worth to consider it while developing the detailed policies to achieve demand reduction targets.
How can Natural Gas be used in the different emirates of the country? We see progress being made in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, but what about the rest of the emirates?
Natural Gas has the lowest impact on the environment during the combustion process of fossil fuel. And since the electrical power generation sector has the highest percentage of carbon dioxide emissions, Natural Gas is used in electrical power generation in all the emirates. More than 95% of the fuel used in electricity generation in the UAE is Natural Gas.
Will the local market in the country have priority when it comes to getting Natural Gas? Compared to other sectors, power generation, as of today, is getting nearly 100% of its fuel requirement from Natural Gas.
Is the UAE Government planning to give an energy rebate to District Cooling? In the US, there is a 30%-40% rebate given to Renewable Energy and also a rebate for ultra-efficient projects. When will we be seeing an integrated approach to that?
We are working towards a water and electricity efficiency and conservation law, which will be a major enabler for energyefficiency initiatives. The law has already been drafted and is being discussed by the stakeholders. We count on the law and the strategy to encourage all conservation and efficiency initiatives.
Is there any move to remove subsidy on the pricing of power and create a more uniform pricing strategy across the UAE? For the electricity sector to be a sustainable business, the tariff should reflect the actual cost of the service. This depends on the
To implement a real-time pricing system, an energy market mechanism, regulation and smart infrastructure are required
energy mix, the cost of fuel and the cost of utility operation. In the UAE, we have four electricity and water utilities, each with different costs for delivering the services to the consumer. Abu Dhabi has already revised its tariff, and Dubai has a slab system and fuel surcharge in place. If you look at the different sectors, some of them are already reflecting the actual cost of the service.
Many countries, like Singapore, are giving realtime pricing. They send out signals to consumers on what the price will be in the next half hour. When can we hope to see real-time pricing, so as to send the message that peak hours are, for instance, three to four times more expensive than non-peak hours? Real-time pricing is one of the demandresponse measures that is used to motivate changes in electricity use by end-use customers in response to changes in the price of electricity over time. It gives customers time-varying rates that reflect the value and cost of electricity in different time periods. With this information, customers tend to use less electricity at times when electricity prices are high, which helps in shaving the peak and in saving investment
in electricity infrastructure. To implement a real-time pricing system, an energy market mechanism, regulation and smart infrastructure are required. The shifting to smart meters from conventional meters is going on in the UAE, through which some of the electricity utilities have achieved nearly 100% smart metering systems, and others are progressing.
The UAE is rich in Natural Gas. Now, Natural Gas is highly subsidised at 0.9-1.4 for million BTU. In the US, it is four dollars. Would you agree that if the subsidy is removed, there is a possibility it will encourage the internal trading of gas instead of spending energy on liquefying. From a financial point of view, would the country consider exporting oil and using Natural Gas internally?
The UAE is an importer and exporter of Natural Gas. The government has recognised the need for meeting the increasing local energy demand while maintaining its reputation as a reliable supplier of oil to the world. As an oil and gas producer, we have commitments to the world, and that’s one of the drivers for undertaking measures to set a strategy to reduce the demand on energy and for energy resource diversification. The UAE started the initiatives for diversification of energy resources many years ago and is leading the region in clean energy projects. In addition to Natural Gas, the country is looking at solar and nuclear power. We are expecting the first nuclear plant reactor to come online in 2017. And from there, we expect to add one every year towards reaching a total of 5.6 GW. When it comes to solar, we have 11 MW at Masdar and100 MW in the Shams project. And in the Mohammad Bin Rashid Solar Park, we have a 13 MW plant in operation and another 200 MW under construction.
Tri-generation, it is being said, can save 75% of primary energy compared to the current standard of District Cooling. It needs Natural Gas, though, and it needs some rebate and encouragement from the government. This (offering of rebate) is what the Americans, the Europeans and the Japanese are doing. Isn’t
April 2015
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INTERVIEW
H.E. Eng. Fathima Al Foora Al Shamsi
it time the UAE considered this approach to address the increase in power demand, which is putting enormous pressure on generation? Most of the generation plants in the country are combined cycle, to achieve the highest efficiency. When it comes to tri-generation, the distance between the power plants and the District Cooling plant has to be studied. This can be one of the areas to be studied by the utilities to achieve the demand reduction target.
With IRENA putting a target of seven per cent, perhaps one of the best systems is one where we marry trigeneration with Renewable Energy to overcome fluctuation of Renewable Energy. Tri-generation can respond in 30 seconds compared to the hours
When it comes to tri-generation, the distance between the power plants and the District Cooling plant has to be studied
it takes to respond in the alternative scenario. So, many believe that tri-generation and Renewable Energy in combination represent an integrated approach, which is perhaps better, as opposed to putting isolated solar plants in the desert landscape. We don’t seem to have a coherent approach on this. It is believed that if tri-generation is synchronised with Renewable Energy, we can save 75%-80% of Natural Gas use for air conditioning purposes. Would this be an approach that the UAE will consider? As I mentioned earlier, we are in the stage of defining the energy mix and the technology; enablers and regulation will come in the second phase, where we will investigate the initiatives that best fit the UAE to achieve the targets.
SNIPPETS
UAE could run out of groundwater by 2030
This year 20 years ago Michael Jackson released his hit single, 'Earth Song' in 1995. The song, written and composed by the pop star, was part of the album, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. Through the single, Jackson endeared himself to environmentalists and animal welfare activists, as it had the destruction and the rebirth of the Earth as its theme. The song earned Jackson a Grammy nomination in 1997 and various honours from environmental organisations for its powerful impact on society.
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April 2015
Dubai installs ME’s first EV chargers Electric cars have yet to make their presence felt on Middle Eastern roads, but this may soon change. As part of the Dubai Government Smart City Initiative, eight electric vehicle (EV) chargers have been installed in DEWA stations across the city, with 84 charging facilities planned for the rest of the emirate. GreenParking, a parking company chosen by DEWA as one of the primary suppliers for the project, disclosed that the region’s climate poses a challenge to the technology but that it has modified its products to suit the environment. The company noted, “With the first installation of EV chargers in the Middle East, the vision of a greener, sustainable Dubai is not too distant.”
According to the UN Environment Programme, the UAE is among the countries with the highest per capita water consumption in the world – a resident on an average consumes about 550 litres of water a day. This is more than three times the world average per capita consumption. It is predicted that the UAE would have no groundwater to be circulated through taps by 2030. The UAE Ministry of Environment and Water, in addition to several initiatives, is holding regular awareness campaigns around the country, such as the Environmental Wall of Knowledge, to impress upon the general public on ways to use water more efficiently. The campaigns have reached over 23,000 people across the seven emirates.
April 2015
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cover story
The 3rd Annual Middle East Variable Refrigerant Flow Conference, held on March 30 and 31 at the Habtoor Grand Beach Resort, Dubai, served as a platform for end-users, consultants and manufacturers to discuss issues plaguing the VRF industry. Lack of operational data for VRF systems and a call for the harmonisation of regulations were the two topics that secured major time and attention amongst the stakeholders. We bring you the first part of the report. By Rajiv Pillai | Features Writer
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April 2015
T
he variable refrigerant flow (VRF) market is worth approximately USD 10 billion, globally. In the Middle East, several consultants and building owners are turning towards VRF technology, keeping in mind the flexibility it offers, energy efficiency and compact footprint, among other reported attributes. Simultaneously, the general belief amongst end-users and consultants is that the industry could have a much larger share of the market in the region, provided there is greater clarity on issues related to piping length, fresh air and performance, backed by independently reviewed operational data. The 3rd Annual Middle East Variable Refrigerant Flow Conference, produced by CPI Industry, publishers of Climate Control Middle East magazine, held on March 30 and 31, at the Habtoor Grand Beach Resort, Dubai, took over these issues by engaging the various stakeholders in discussions and presentations. Operational data was one of the themes of last year’s VRF conference. In the build-up to this year’s edition of the conference, Climate Control Middle East sent across questionnaires to various manufacturers to elicit answers on operational data, and was able to produce those responses to the audience at the conference. One of the key highlights of the conference was the presentation of real-time operational data by one of the manufacturers, which was a first-of-its-kind initiative for the region. The presentation of real-time data, on Day 2, was prompted by an interesting discussion involving consultants, during which one of the participants, George Berbari, the CEO of DC PRO Engineering, castigated the VRF industry for not doing enough to build confidence towards the technology, particularly a reluctance to present field validation data. More on that later, though. The proceedings of Day 1, moderated by EErick Melquiond, the President of Eurovent Certita Certification, revolved around the different set of regulations existing in the region, and on how they might help encourage energy efficiency. Faisal Ali Hassan Rashid, Director, Demand Side Management, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE), kick-started the proceedings, when he spoke about energy efficiency in air conditioning systems and the role played by Demand Side Management (DSM). “As the population grows, energy consumption will also increase and 70% of energy will go into cooling,” Rashid said. To address this, the DSCE has come up with eight DSM programmes, which basically focus on energy efficiency and reduction in demand, he said. “DSM strategy is in focus of the Supreme Council of Energy,” Rashid said. “HVAC is addressed through three separate programmes: building retrofits, District Cooling and standards and labels for appliances and equipment.” When asked on what he thought of VRFs as one of the possible energy-efficient cooling approaches, Rashid
April 2015
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cover story
Solar-centric innovation Zakir Ahmed, the Managing Director of NIA Limited (Gree), gave an Industry Leadership Address on the topic, “Advent of the solarpowered system: The efficacy of a solar photovoltaic-powered VRF system and the implications for the region, including zero power consumption from the grid”. Later, he spoke to Climate Control Middle East on the side-lines of the conference. Excerpts…
Could you elaborate on the solar-powered VRF system?
We have just launched the solar-powered VRF systems, and the reason why we have put this launch forward is because of the VRF Conference. Furthermore, new initiatives like the Shams Dubai coming on board, this is actually the first step forward. Perhaps talking about this much before may have been too premature.
Could you comment on the market awareness on VRF systems? Why are they not yet popular in the Middle East context in relation to other parts of the world?
This is the sad part of it. And throughout the conference, we have seen that happen. VRF is a new-generation alternative to the fixed based system this country was using, and it came late to this market. It started off in Japan about 20 years ago. It went to Europe. It came to neighbouring markets, such as Turkey and Iran, 10 years ago. It took time to come to the Gulf countries, because the inverter systems that were used in the VRFs could not handle the highambient conditions. That was the technology then, but they
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April 2015
have improved the protection for the inverter systems, which can now withstand high-ambient temperatures of 52 degree C. That was the first limitation from the supplier and had nothing to do with the industry. When the equipment came to the market, the issue that came to the fore was of VRF manufacturers not giving technical support. In such an atmosphere, it is obvious that the consultant will always be in doubt. So that’s the challenge that the industry has had, such as operational data not being available and installation procedures not being correct. So fear is instilled in the people that if the installation is improper, the building can give a problem. These are pertinent points. The intensity with which these are exaggerated has put fear into the minds of the consultants. So this conference is meant to educate and dissipate that fear. VRF is about three factors: the first is energy conservation – 30% is the norm that is expected from the industry. The second is about better quality comfort – a normal air conditioner would swing in the temperature range by two degrees C, and for VRFs it’s supposed to be half a degree
The government has to recognise the kind of equipment that has been going into the building pipe design for the lack of choice, and this equipment is guzzling too much energy unnecessarily C. It gives you this variation in temperature in the room. And the third is the ability to control the functioning of the air conditioning unit based on real demand. If you, for example, have a rooftop package unit, for a single household, even though you are using just one zone such as a living room, the equipment will be cooling the whole house. That’s the worst example. The best example is that with VRFs, for every room you can have a single control and, thereby, you can reduce your energy or rather rationalise your energy based
on actual use, rather than forced switching on and off of the machine. The last two parts may not have anything to do with government bodies, but conservation does. If Dubai has the plan 2021 to cut down consumption by 30%, initiatives like this from the industry will help the government meet the standards. Recognition of the problem is 50% of the solution. The government has to recognise the kind of equipment that has been going into the building pipe design for the lack of choice, and this equipment is guzzling too much energy unnecessarily. It’s a waste of energy. VRF is a product that has been precisely developed to cut the wastage and also conserve energy. The government cannot come and tell the end-user that you have to stop using this air conditioner and start using VRFs, though. They could use chiller systems, but what the government can say is that for every square metre of indoor space, you will rationalise the energy supply to only so much and when the government does such a thing, automatically the customer goes around seeking efficient solutions. VRF is one of them.
April 2015
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cover story
subtly responded by saying, “We look at best practices all over the world, and opinions are encouraged from various entities.” Rashid’s presentation was followed by a discussion on low-GWP refrigerants for high-ambient conditions, which was co-presented by HHassan Younes, Vice Chair, ASHRAE Falcon Chapter, Grassroots Government Affairs and Chapter Technology Transfer Committee, and Farah Al Zarooni, Head of Accreditation, Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA). Zarooni stated that ESMA had mentored discussions on the use of low-GWP refrigerants and was constantly trying to make progress on the issue. Speaking about the industry-specific 4th Refrigerants Symposium, held in October 2014 in Dubai, Younes said that the discussions at the symposium revolved mostly around the use of low GWP refrigerants and about handling those refrigerants in a safe manner by taking into account all the possible risks involved. Sarfraz H Dairkee, Secretary of the Board, Emirates Green Building Council (EGBC), then made a presentation on how the EGBC was working on a technical guideline for retrofitting existing buildings. The guideline’s main chapters, Dairkee said, would comprise sub-sections, which he added, would provide readers a choice of specific processes they could implement to improve their building’s performance, save money, and prevent further pollution of the environment. The release of the guideline, Dairkee said, was
I think the most important thing now is that there are different legislations everywhere, so I would hope that they would work together to come to one legislation for the whole region or at least implement the GSO legislations that are there. Otherwise, it’s very difficult to comply. Also, if the legislations are there and the standards are there, there are no clear rules on how to comply about the testing or how the inspection will be done. These rules change a lot. And this is very difficult for the manufacturers, because they want to comply, but sometimes it’s just not possible, or you have to change something at the last moment, which is expensive, of course.
– Dr Veerle Beelaerts, Environment and Compliance Specialist, Daikin Middle East
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We have projects in the size of 18,000 TR – a single project of 18,000 TR for VRF has never been found or never been sold, as far as my knowledge is concerned, in any part of the globe. The fact that we get to see these projects today means we don’t have to wait that long. The point to see is that the intensity of the project and the number of such projects is going to increase by the day. I will not say VRFs are not popular any more. The technology is very popular.
– Syed Jafar Imam, Senior Regional Manager – RLC (Middle East and Africa), AHI Carrier
in the second quarter of the year. Dairkee, quoting a report by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, said that the VRF technology was well-suited to retrofit applications in older buildings and that it could replace existing equipment in limited space conditions. He cautioned, however, that manufacturers of VRFs systems needed to address some concerns, such as the technology being a proprietary system and as having a high refrigerant charge. Next up, the discussion focused on the advantages and challenges of having a set of regional standards and how different regulatory and assessment authorities were working towards achieving a harmonised approach. Tarek Alsitt, Standards Specialist, GCC Standardization Organization (GSO), spoke about GSO Standards and their impacts on VRF systems. He said that the GSO Standards dealt with safety requirements, testing methods and rating for performance requirements for air-conditioner appliances. Revealing the lack of a specific common standard for VRF systems, Alsitt said that the GSO was ready to take recommendations from VRF manufacturers towards establishing a regime. This point was further taken up by Dr Esam Elsarrag, the Director of the Doha, Qatarheadquartered Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD-GSAS). He said that GORD’s objective was to create a sustainable built environment that minimised ecological impact through the development of a sustainability rating system supported by a set of performance-based standards that
VRF systems are going to be one of the players of the market competing against the chillers and standalone systems, owing to energy efficiency. I had done designs with VRF systems possibly nine years back, where we had installed five or six units combined with an outdoor unit, owing to lack of space. It was a retrofit job, and it is running successfully. It was one of the earlier jobs I had executed, and we were open to the technology. However, I observe a lack of knowledge among the manufacturers. We do get contradicting information at times.
– Kandasamy Anbalagan, Managing Partner, Proleed Engineering Consultants
As a consultant, we need to know the performance of the equipment at 50 degree C, because that is how we rate the equipment from different manufacturers. What we found from our previous experience is that some of the manufacturers don’t even guarantee that their equipment will run at 50 degree C; they don’t want to give it in writing. We basically are in a desert climate, where the temperatures go as high as 50 or 52 degree C, and so at that temperature, we should be able to meet the indoor comfort conditions. If the outdoor condensing unit is not sized properly to take care of that load, then it will be a problem.
– Gella Bharat, Discipline Specialist (HVAC), Tebodin & Partners
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addressed the specific regional needs. He said: “GSAS is the only performance-based system in MENA. We talk about building performance. We develop benchmarks. And once we develop benchmarks, the manufacturers will develop the right tools; this will help them. We look at issues from the macro level to the micro level.” Elsarrag went on to claim that GORD’s benchmark was 70% better than the ASHRAE standard. The highlight of Elsarrag’s presentation – and perhaps the entire conference – was an announcement he made about how Qatar was launching twin initiatives to encourage VRF manufacturers to showcase their technology. He said that the country had created two projects – the 800-square-metre Eco Villa in Lusail City, which was a real-to-scale local villa and the Innovative Technohub at the Qatar Science and Technology Park. He welcomed VRF manufacturers to showcase their systems at the two projects. “If you contribute [through sharing your technology],” Elsarrag said, “you must be willing to be open when it comes to sharing data. If you are willing to be open, you are welcome.” His speech was followed by a panel discussion, in which Alsitt and he participated and held court on the issue of harmonisation of regulations and unification of certification processes. They discussed that there was a need for interaction among GCC countries for developing the regulations, and for having proper follow-ups and arriving at a consensus on how to implement them. As if a logical sequence, Veerle Beelaerts (see side-bar, titled Voices), the Environment and Compliance Specialist at Daikin, in a subsequent presentation, said that the VRF technology was fully recognised in the GCC and was represented in legislations as a separate product category.
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The data must be provided to end-users and consultants. There should be consistency in manufacturer’s claims. And if you can measure it, then do it accurately. If you have measured it, then report it
She went on to add that VRF was optimised for seasonal efficiency, while delivering high comfort levels, thanks to the innate ability of the technology to adjust the refrigerant volume and the refrigerant temperature. Local legislations were in place to reduce the energy consumption, she said, adding that those were based on nominal efficiency, though. Seasonal efficiency would reduce energy consumption throughout the whole year, but there was no formula for high-ambient conditions in the region. The existing formulae for moderate climatic conditions could be adapted to highambient temperature conditions, though, Beelaerts said. “Currently, there is no formula for high-ambient conditions, then how can you put in a legislation?” she asked. The response to her question was unanimous, “There is a need to create a formula, and all the members of the GCC must come to terms with this, otherwise there will be different legislations.” Besides Beelaerts, Zakir Ahmed, the Managing Director of NIA Limited (suppliers of Gree VRF systems in the region),
spoke on behalf of the VRF manufacturing community on Day 1. Ahmed, making an Industry Leadership Address, spoke about the efficacy of solar photovoltaic-powered VRF systems and the implications of the innovative technology for the region (see side-bar, titled Solarcentric innovation). The fag end of Day 1 saw two back-to-back panel discussions, the first involving end-users and the second involving consultants. The first discussion, chaired by Dairkee, had Raied Al-Bitar, Manager (Mechanical), Meraas Holding; Amgad Abadir, Manager (Mechanical), Aldar Properties and Khalid Rabbani, Chief Engineer-Rail Projects, Planning & Development Department, Roads and Transport Authority as the panellists. They elicited concerns ranging from a lack of awareness about the technology, how to quantify (operational data) and the possibility of refrigerant leaks. The second panel discussion involved Kandasamy Anbalagan, Managing Partner, Proleed Engineering Consultants; Berbari; Gella Bharat, Discipline Specialist (HVAC), Tebodin & Partners; Shaher Rajha, Senior Mechanical Engineer, AECOM and Hassan Younes, Technical Director, Griffin Consultants. Berbari stirred things up by stating that he was not happy with the performance of VRF systems from an energy efficiency perspective. He revealed that he had come armed with data that he had measured himself, which showed VRF systems as being low on energy efficiency. “What claimed to have an EER of 20 was actually 8.5 when measured,” he said. He boldly went on to predict that by 2020, VRFs would be phased out completely and would be replaced by variable water flow systems.” He said the only way for manufacturers of VRF systems to convince him and his fellow
consultants was to present them with field data. “Manufacturers must come out with some operational data,” he said. “The data must be provided to end-users and consultants. There should be consistency in manufacturer’s claims. And if you can measure it, then do it accurately. If you have measured it, then report it.” The panel discussion involving the consultants set the tone for Day 2, with one of the manufacturers, Toshiba, represented by AHI Carrier, coming back with real-time operational data, as demanded by the consultants. The representative from the company presented the data during a panel discussion involving different manufacturers, at the end of Day 2. The Day began with a presentation on operational data by B Surendar, the Editor of Climate Control Middle East. The presentation, as mentioned earlier, comprised the results of a survey of different manufacturers on different aspects of operational data; the survey was conducted a week prior to the conference. Surendar summarised his presentation by saying that for a larger part, the responses to the questionnaire were generic and inconclusive. AHI Carrier, informally representing all the manufacturers, as mentioned earlier, partially redeemed the situation by presenting the realtime operational data. (To be continued in the May 2015 issue)
HAVE YOUR SAY! We welcome your views on the article. Write to editor@cpi-industry.com
PAIGN M A C L A I R EDITO T S A E E L D OL MID R T N O C E A CLIMAT
IEQ IN
SCHOOLS ENDORSED BY
HEALTH MINISTERS’ COUNCIL FOR THE COOPERATION COUNCIL STATES
April 2015
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IEQ IN SCHOOLS
t is not uncommon for the teacher to turn off the air conditioning system when wishing to make an important point. The subconscious act is played out in classroom after classroom in the GCC region, reflecting the general state of acoustical comfort in schools. Just consider the implications of poor acoustics, especially in classrooms, where the teacher is not willing to compromise on thermal comfort. Students unable to properly listen to the teacher’s instructions might miss out on important concepts and experience an incomplete learning experience. They might carry the poor understanding of conceptual knowledge to the tertiary stage and, perhaps, even to the workplace. The impact on their proficiency and self-esteem could be significant. And their ability to contribute to the development of the nation could be impaired. And to think that the root perhaps was interference from the air conditioning system in the classroom!
S
chools are among the most important buildings in society. They are pivotal in the education and advancement of young people. However, architects and designers place more emphasis on the aesthetics of the building than the quality of the learning environment. Creating the optimum acoustic environment, where students can concentrate on their learning, where they can clearly hear and be heard, is very reassuring. Furthermore, a noisy school
It is a well-known fact that the HVAC industry can significantly contribute to the classroom environment, such is the level of sophistication of the technology available, not to forget how MEP engineers design the air flow aspects. There is a lot that can be achieved at the fan-coil unit and ducting system levels and also through sound-absorbing walls and ceilings. With the increase in emphasis on socio-economic development in the region, GCC-wide regulators have a well-defined context to take stock of all the options available, and to mandate and enforce the use of proven technologies towards an enhanced learning experience. From a connectingthe-dots perspective, the prosperity and well-being of the region could very well depend on the steps taken now. B Surendar Editor, Climate Control Middle East
environment increases heartbeat, raises blood pressure and reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood, thus affecting a student’s and also teacher’s capacity to concentrate and learn, resulting in poor academic performance. By considering the building as a whole, and by providing an optimum acoustic specification that reflects the client’s needs as well as the regulatory requirements, specifiers can make a huge positive contribution towards achieving a good acoustic environment.
– Hicham Kabbage, Regional Sector Developer Healthcare / Education, Saint-Gobain Gyproc Middle East FZE
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IEQ IN SCHOOLS
This gave us encouragement that the country is doing something, and we want to do something in relation to IAQ.
Dr Yousuf Noman
Iñigo Satrústegui
‘Our aim is to help the country draft regulation on IEQ’ Speaking in tandem, Dr Yousuf Noman and Iñigo Satrústegui of the Qatar Green Building Council describe some of the IEQ initiatives involving schools in the country Could you please elaborate on the Qatar Green Building Council’s initiative aimed at ushering in IEQ best practices in schools in the country? Dr Yousuf Noman: The Healthy Building Group is one among many in the Qatar Green Building Council. As a Group, we are collecting data and working towards drafting guidelines for IEQ. We have a lack of regulation for IEQ, so we will share the results of our field study with the government. After satisfying the government, if the guidelines become regulation, it will be easy to implement in the community. Broadly speaking, we are aligning our efforts with
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the Qatar National Vision 2030, which talks of health, performance and achievement. Everything we want to do with schools is aligned with the Vision.
What prompted you to work on the guidelines?
Dr Yousuf Noman: The Qatar Foundation introduced the Welfare Guideline for the Ministry of Labour. The Ministry was happy with the document and adopted and implemented the contents in the oil and gas sector and the infrastructure sector. We are hopeful the IEQ guidelines will draw similar attention. Also, the Qatar Construction Specification 2014 is talking about building construction. It is probably related to noise level.
Iñigo Satrústegui: Our aim is to help the country draft regulation. We are trying to conduct a survey in a hotel, in the West Bay area of Doha, and in a school. And once we know what is going on there, we will prepare the guidelines. In Spain, where I come from, the regulation for IEQ in schools is very strict. Here, the lifestyle, climate and the construction are different. And so you have to factor in the variables and decide what to do from design, construction and O&M points of view. The guidelines will include all of these. The scope of our survey includes checking for indoor air quality, acoustic levels, accessibility, hygiene and maintenance. We are checking if the hotel and the school have any maintenance programme or schedule and, if so, how they are complying.
What will you be testing for? Dr Yousuf Noman: We will be testing for PM 2.5 and carbon dioxide in terms of ventilation rate. We will also be testing for microorganisms.
We will pursue other parameters, including benzene levels and also the issue of schools in close proximity to petrol stations
The work will include visual inspection of AHUs and checking the acoustical level in classrooms and in common areas. The survey is going to be done during school working hours. We will check what is going on at that time. Many times, schools say they are cleaning the surfaces, but the problem is with the chemicals they use. We will check for VOCs, as well, and hopefully, get useful data. Many schools don’t have windows, and so ventilation could be an issue. Overall, though, the aim of the survey is not to show that a particular school is not good but to recommend remedies. Within the group, we have people with different backgrounds and expertise and, hence, we can offer different technical solutions. We can look at the design and, if evaluated as not done properly, we can suggest remedial measures. As we go along, we want to evaluate new schools and also existing buildings. We will select a few new schools and a few old schools. The guidelines may borrow from international documents, but we will look to customise the contents to make them applicable to the country. In the Middle East, we experience extremely hot temperatures in summer, and mould is an issue in July and August.
Could you comment on an interesting initiative by the Green Schools Group of QGBC?
Dr Yousuf Noman: The Green Schools Group has taken the initiative of technical inspection of classrooms. They are focusing on a particular school for Bedouins outside the city. The school in question has created a sustainable campus, which includes planting trees and installing solar panels
for lighting. They are also looking at ways and means to save energy and water. The school was also interested in IAQ, and we are supporting them by taking measurements in labs and interacting with students on what they would do when faced with certain circumstances. It is an interactive project with children. And we are supporting the Green Schools Group in QGBC.
Iñigo Satrústegui: The clever thing is to bring international expertise and take the parts that will benefit Qatar; the rest, we will customise.
Would you also be testing for lead level in blood?
Dr Yousuf Noman: Our study is an initiative. Maybe we can’t cover everything immediately. Our primary aim is to draft the guidelines and build awareness, so you will find a lack of coverage of some areas. Later on, we will pursue other parameters, including benzene levels and also the issue of schools in close proximity to petrol stations.
UL
What will be the nature of the remedial measures?
Iñigo Satrústegui: The Qatar Supreme Council of Health is concerned about diabetes affecting children. They are also concerned about ambient air quality. We need to look at the problem indoors, as well. It is much easier to fight contamination inside the building, because you have the technology to counter that and to say it is possible to breathe clean air no matter what the surroundings, owing to the technology available.
April 2015
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Why make all the noise about acoustics Global studies related to schools have proved how excessive noise and poor room acoustics are impediments to effective learning, says Paul Schwarz
’m sure you can easily imagine being in a critical business briefing or meeting and only being able to understand half of what is being said. Many of us have experienced this in the UAE at some point for a variety of reasons. What are the chances you were able to contribute to the discussion in a meaningful way, or were worried about being able to meet your client’s expectations with the project deliverables after you left the room. This is an unacceptable situation in business and our everyday ‘grown-up’ lives, so why do we not expect, or demand, the same for our children within their learning environments. After all, do we not believe that the quality of their education is a critical part of their life-development? Isn’t that why we are all willing to pay very generous fees to the international schools who are promising ‘the very best’ quality education money can buy? In the commercial world, if this lack of understanding is a regular occurrence, the problem either is fixed quickly
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April 2015
or the company loses business; it’s as simple as that. If it is a language problem, then either the client’s representative is replaced or ‘relocated’. If it is a problem with the location, then a new venue is found. However, in educational buildings it is not a case of the teacher not being able to communicate – teachers in the UAE are among the best communicators in the world. The
majority have many years’ experience before they come to the Emirates. It is also not simply a case of relocating to another room or building. With schools regularly oversubscribed in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, spare rooms are hard to come by. Studies recently completed in Europe, the United States and Australia have all concluded that there are an alarmingly large number of classrooms within schools right across the fee-spectrum that have very poor acoustics and where excessive noise and poor room acoustics are impediments to effective learning. It is a big problem and one that has been identified as immediately requiring
There seems to be a delay in the adoption of these standards by school developers and architects in the UAE, either simply because they are unaware of their responsibilities to ensure this code is adhered to, or they are aware of it but, disturbingly, decide to take their chances that the local authorities will not check
serious consideration and solutions if we are to improve educational standards, especially as the number of children per class continues to grow and as school budgets are increasingly put under pressure. A typical classroom will have hard flooring; it needs to be easily cleanable in case of spills and hardwearing due to excessive use. Walls need to be able to take regular impact from jackets, bags, equipment and various other ‘projectiles’. Furniture must be hardwearing, durable and easy to move; so that leaves the ceiling as one of the very few areas available for acoustic treatment, which is also the only space for essential fireand life-safety monitoring and fire-fighting services as well as adequate lighting. It is for this exact reason that the United Kingdom, United States and Australia have developed mandatory acoustic design codes. There is a strict regimen of commission and testing of rooms and common spaces by law, before the school is allowed to open and commence operation. These regulations govern everything from the maximum noise levels of airconditioning in individual classrooms to the quality of
walls separating corridors and rooms from one another, and to the maximum reverberation time (the length of time it takes for a sound to die in a closed space) for almost every typical room in a school building. These regulations place a big emphasis on ensuring a good quality learning environment is provided for every child in every school. It also emphasises the greater need for this quality of design for children with learning difficulties – where the need for such attention is magnified many times over.
Information regarding suitably qualified acoustic engineering and design consultancies in the UAE can be obtained from the Middle East Acoustic Engineering Society (MEAS).
There are a number of qualified acoustic engineering consultancies based in Dubai and Abu Dhabi who are well placed to advise architectural and development
teams on the specific details. Perhaps it is time we expected, or demanded, the same standards of our children’s schools as we do with our professional environments.
The writer is Senior Partner and Principal Acoustic Engineer at Design Confidence Acoustics, and the Chairman of the Middle East Acoustic Engineering Society (MEAS). He can be contacted at pschwarz@designconfidence.com.
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The good news is that these regulations have now been adopted by the Municipal governments of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. As of January 1, 2014, it is now also mandatory for all new school developments to comply with UK Building Bulletin ’93 (BB93), which sets out minimum design and performance standards for acoustics in all buildings used for educational purposes, not just schools. However, there seems to be a delay in the adoption of these standards by school developers and architects in the UAE, either simply because they are unaware of their responsibilities to ensure this code is adhered to, or they are aware of it but, disturbingly, decide to take their chances that the local authorities will not check that the appropriate studies have been included in the design process, and so chose to save time and money by ‘value engineering’ this step out of the project.
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April 2015
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IEQ IN SCHOOLS
A champion of champions The US EPA has been credited for helping school districts across the United States resolve various IAQ challenges and provide students with a healthy learning environment. Here, Fatima de la Cerna dissects the body’s role in establishing a programme to give an IEQ framework to schools…
n the February 2015 issue, Climate Control Middle East featured a report prepared by Francine Locke, the Environmental Director of the School District of Philadelphia (SDP)*. The report spoke about SDP’s indoor environmental quality (IEQ) programme and its related activities and projects, and related how the district took both reactive and proactive approaches to the issue of school facility health based on, among other things, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (US EPA’s) Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Program.
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SDP is not the only school district in the US to credit the agency and its IAQ programme for the improvements it has seen in its indoor environment and the resulting improvements in student productivity and attendance. The agency’s Web site (www.epa.gov) indicates that the IAQ Tools for Schools guidance “has been implemented successfully in tens of thousands of schools nationwide”. Some of those schools and school districts, such as SDP, have been awarded the title of IAQ Champion. EPA states that the institutions are recognised as such, because they “demonstrate an exceptional commitment to maintaining healthy educational facilities while institutionalising comprehensive IAQ management practices”.
Components of an effective IAQ programme
EPA’s IAQ Tools for Schools guidance is anchored on what the agency refers to as the Framework for Effective School IAQ Management, which identifies six key drivers and seven technical solutions. The key drivers, described by EPA as “the essential elements of effective and enduring IAQ management programs”, are: organise (for success), communicate (with everyone all the time), assess (your environments continuously), plan (short- and long-term activities), act (to address structural, institutional and behavioural issues) and evaluate (results for continuous improvement). Meanwhile, the technical solutions, says the agency, define “the most common issues that schools need to address to effectively manage IAQ risks”. They are: HVAC, moisture/ mould, integrated pest management (IPM), cleaning and maintenance, materials selection, source control and energy efficiency. With the Framework to guide them, schools interested in implementing the EPA programme are encouraged
to use the programme action kit, which includes checklists on – just to mention a few – renovation & repairs, ventilation and building & grounds maintenance.
Success story
As previously pointed out, Locke’s school district is not the only one in the United States to utilise the EPA programme and see results. The agency has published several case studies on various school districts and the measures they have undertaken to improve their IAQ. One such case study was carried out in the Katy Independent School District (KISD) in Texas. According to the details of the study, published by EPA, KISD suffered from a mould crisis in 2002, which brought about the closing of one school and the relocation of more than 700 students. The crisis reportedly pushed the district to establish an IAQ programme that has produced tangible results, such as reduced absenteeism and “improved student, teacher and staff comfort, performance and satisfaction”. The published study also recognises the programme for the role it played in turning around a negative situation and transforming negative publicity into a story of success.
The expectation is that we will provide a clean, healthy environment for our students and staff
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IEQ IN SCHOOLS
Peggy Caruso, the Assistant Director of the KISD Maintenance & Operations Department, has been quoted by the EPA as saying: “The IAQ Tools for Schools guidance has become a part of the KISD culture and the ‘way we do business’. The expectation is that we will provide a clean, healthy environment for our students and staff, and the IAQ Tools for Schools guidance allows us to do just that. As time passes, we continue to instil those lessons in our employees and see buy-in at all levels; it has become an integral part of our day-to-day operations.”
Learning through teamwork
With mounting scientific evidence supporting claims that a school’s indoor environment has noticeable impact on the health and performance of students, EPA is driving the message home not only by promoting its IAQ programme but also by encouraging its school districts to work together by collaborating and sharing best practices with each other. The IAQ Champion title, for instance, is not handed out as a mere reward. Districts classified as IAQ Champions are expected to help those that are facing difficulties with the quality of their indoor environments. As EPA puts it, if a school or district has IAQ troubles, they are encouraged “to reach out to these exemplary programs to learn more about the strategies, challenges and commitments they have taken to protect student and staff health and safety”. If EPA had its way, having champions as mentors would eventually lead to the birth of new champions and a dearth in ailing schools. *The full issue can be viewed at http://www. climatecontrolme.com/en/ digital-issue-of-february-2015/
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Goodbye to inhaler doses How the North East Independent School District in the United States made the connection between asthma and IAQ to proactively manage environments… In 2006, the North East Independent School District (NEISD) recognised the link between IAQ management and asthma control, as a large number of students with asthma were visiting the school nurse regularly for reliever inhaler doses and for missing school. Once the connection was made to student health and productivity, NEISD’s IAQ management programme took on a new sense of urgency. By developing the Department of Environmental Health, the district sought to improve its control over IAQ in its classrooms by reducing airborne pollutants and other asthma triggers. NEISD strives to maintain a sustainable and institutionalised IAQ management programme, while continuing to transform its mission – to create healthy buildings for all students and staff.
Programme results NEISD captures cost savings from facility upgrades and improvements, tracks student health and performance and monitors IAQ parameters. • Installed Web-based HVAC software, which cut energy costs by 9.4% in 2009, saving USD 1.3 million • Increased State of Texas Exemplary and Recognised rated campuses to 87% of all schools and received a ‘Recognised’ rating for the district three years in a row • Converted to Green Cleaning custodial products, which resulted in a six-fold decrease in VOC levels in classrooms and reduced costs by 30% • Adopted LEED and CHPS school design recommendations and purchased low VOC emitting furnishings • Moved over 200 classrooms from temporary wood framed buildings to eight new twostorey brick-face permanent buildings. For more details about the study, visit… http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/casestudies/ North_East_Independent.pdf
Editor’s Note: Climate Control Middle East follows British English spelling. For the purpose of this report, proper names of programmes established by the US EPA appear in American spelling.
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April 2015
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PERSPECTIVE
George Berbari is the CEO of DC PRO Engineering. He can be contacted at gberbari@ dcproeng.com.
What ails our industry In the first of a six-part series, George Berbari speaks his mind out on what he describes as the ‘miserable current status of the HVAC industry in the GCC’. He begins by training his focus on the District Cooling industry…
T
hroughout my career, I have felt I have a message to express, a trend to set and a mission to keep challenging the prevailing status quo – be as it were hurtling towards a benumbing lack of progress – in a bid to help derail it into a path of hope. Today, the status of energy, global warming and current trends saddens me to a point of total disappointment and despair, but should I give up or keep trying to demonstrate through action and design new role-model projects, which I hope, will set trends like I did in the fields of fresh air, District Cooling, efficient ducted splits, EC motors-driven fan coil units (FCUs) and VRVs (also known as VRFs)? I regard myself as one of the pioneers of District Cooling in the region, but I am ashamed of the shape of the District Cooling industry today and consider it my duty to do my bit to alter the situation for the better. In my view, the major players have lagged behind in technology, as if reluctant to emerge from a decade ago, and are focused on competing on increasing capacity, revenues and
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District Cooling
size. They seem content in using the motto that they are saving 40% energy compared to aircooled systems and have not addressed customers’ complaints about expensive District Cooling services.
Are they trying to reduce the connected capacity up to 20% after three years of operation and after confirming the actual peak load? I am not suggesting there is anything wrong in aiming to be among the largest District Cooling service providers in the world and in trying to increase profits and size. However, District Cooling needs to evolve into an industry that embraces the future and offers serious solutions to global warming at competitive rates that customers can afford. The road to evolution and improvement comes through a willingness to introspect and to ask
questions of one self. Here are a few pertinent ones, in my humble opinion… • If the customer’s actual peak cooling load is 1,000 tonnes of refrigeration (TR) and the customer’s consultant has designed the building with a design peak of 1,600 TR, then why is the District Cooling industry happy in overcharging 600 TR x AED 750 (or AED 900) per TR per year, which equals to AED 450,000 (or AED 540,000) a year? Yes, it is true that District Cooling providers have to put in the investment in plant and piping and also in customer connection, based on 1,600 TR, but what are the corrective and preventive measures being considered? Are the providers publishing actual building peak? And what are they doing, so that their future customers do not find themselves in a similar situation, caused by not adhering to the recommended square metre per tonne? Are they trying to reduce the connected capacity up to 20% after three years of operation and after confirming the actual peak load? Shouldn’t this be the least we ought to expect from them? • When the District Cooling providers switch from the expensive fresh water to the
more affordable treated sewage effluent (TSE) in Dubai and, through doing so, achieve eight fils per tonne-hour reduction in cost, shouldn’t they pass on a major part of the savings to the customers and reduce the current 64-65 fils per tonne-hour to 56-58 fils per tonne-hour?
1.7 kW per tonne x 26 fils per Kwh average price of electricity translate into 44.2 fils per tonne-hour, and a minor advantage against aircooled chillers at 1.6 kW (chiller + primary chilled water pump) per tonne x 16 fils per kWh-hour, which equals 25.6 fils per tonnehour. How will the District Cooling industry benefit from the new regime in Abu Dhabi? Is connecting to residential villas and low-density developments more feasible than ever before?
Why are renewables not even on the agenda of the District Cooling industry?
• The ADDC (Abu Dhabi Distribution Company) has announced new utility rates in Abu Dhabi favouring District Cooling and central air conditioning schemes. Under the new regime, common building services and District Cooling plants are charged a commercial rate of 16 fils per tonnehour for electricity and AED 4 per cubic metre of water, while residential apartments are charged 21 fils per tonne-hour for the first 20 Kwh per day for apartments and the first 200 Kwh per day for villas; subsequently, they are charged 31.8 fils per Kwh for electricity and AED 5.95 per cubic metre for the first 0.7 cubic metres per day for apartments and the first five cubic metres per day for villas. (The District Cooling industry issued new peak and off peak rates, assuming the industrial rate of the past; they subsequently addressed the anomaly by issuing a competitive new rate of 24 fils per tonne-hour.) The new rates by the ADDC are gamechangers against ducted splits in Abu Dhabi, where the cost per tonne-hour at
• DEWA charges 44 fils per KWh for central air conditioning and District Cooling while selling power to ducted splits and VRFs at 29 fils per kWh. Similarly, in my opinion, the slab rate in Saudi Arabia is not favourable to the District Cooling industry. Residences are charged five halalas per kWh as the first slab rate to residences, whereas central air conditioning schemes and District Cooling schemes are charged 26 fils per kWh. In Dubai, DEWA has promised to revise the rates. The question is, what are the District Cooling providers doing to persuade DEWA and the other utilities to hasten the change in rates? • The GCC countries are putting aggressive targets in place to incorporate at least seven per cent Renewable Energy in electricity generation. Why are renewables not even on the agenda of the District Cooling industry?
cooling industry. The question that comes to the mind is how can the District Cooling industry benefit from the new technology?
Be it around the District Cooling plant or away in the desert, the District Cooling industry ought to work towards having at least 10% of their energy produced through renewables. • The Government of Dubai has announced the renovation of 4,000 government buildings under the Etihad Energy Service Company. The DEWA HQ has been awarded to a leading ESCO on the basis of using 3 x 200 TR variable speed centrifugal chillers with magnetic bearing, which makes the entire plant designed for less than 0.9 kW/tonne, as compared to 0.85 - 1.05 kW/tonne in the case of the District
• Tri-generation can save 70% of DC primary energy as compared to electric chillers. What is the District Cooling industry doing to promote trigeneration and to put a case where it can have a priority use of the Natural Gas in the UAE and diesel in Saudi Arabia? In the UAE, where we have 100,000 TR operating on Natural Gas, the District Cooling industry is entirely dormant. In Saudi Arabia and Oman, we are seeing greater momentum for trigeneration, but it is still
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PERSPECTIVE
#Emissions pledge analysis finds that major economies stand to grow by taking #actions to limit global warming to 2C: http://bit.ly/1OTYU2a
not sufficient to create a massive change. • District Cooling, despite 15 years of progress and growth, has managed to penetrate only around five per cent of the HVAC market, with the largest penetration – of 20% – reported in Dubai. Can the District Cooling industry change its tactics and technology to convince the majority of the remaining 95% of the market to adopt District Cooling?
UN Environment @UNEP
DEWA has announced the largest solar photovoltaic BOO scheme, under which ACWA Power, a leading traditional regional power producer with a strong renewables leaning to it, has offered a world record low price of 5.84 US cents per kWh or 21.5 fils per kwh. It is to DEWA’s credit that it has fully embraced the opportunity by raising the 100 MW target to 200 MW, or 260 MWp, in the process securing a cost that is lower than what a traditional combined-cycle power plant can offer. Case-in point, the combined-cycle power plant in Abu Dhabi will generate power at a cost of 8.64 US cents per kWh or 31.8 fils per kWh. DEWA’s achievement is not just at a regional level but also at an international level. In fact, it is a global game-changer,
District Cooling
when you consider the fact that it costs 12.88 Euro cents per kWh in the case of Germany’s feed-in solar PV tariff. One reason for that is that the solar PV, to be deployed in the DEWA
DEWA’s achievement is a global game-changer, when you consider the fact that it costs 12.88 Euro cents per kWh in the case of Germany’s feed-in solar PV tariff
project, can produce up to 1,650 Full Load Hours per year as compared to a mere 850 Full Load Hours in Germany. In Oman, my team and I have designed what we believe is the world’s most efficient tri-generation plant synchronised with grid power and onsite 1 MW PV power, which along with EC motor FCUs and thermal diffusers and ultra-efficient heat recovery wheel will enable an 86% reduction in primary energy. The project, for the Innovation Park, in Muscat, will have a fast payback of five years, and if the cost of the power plant and the power
distribution infrastructure is considered, the capital cost saving at a macro economy level is immediate. The project will soon be released for tender, and so we are in for an exciting time from a technology innovation point of view. At this juncture, the pertinent question is, ‘What can we learn from the Oman project?’ Equally pertinent is the question, ‘Shouldn’t the District Cooling industry strive to adopt a similar success story?’ I sincerely hope the District Cooling players would ask these questions of themselves. I cannot overemphasise the need for urgency in embracing technological innovations for the very survival of the industry. I, for one, wish and pray for the well-being of the District Cooling industry, and hope that the providers will regain their appetite for technology and take ground-breaking efforts towards developing successful role models for the whole world to follow. (To be continued)
HAVE YOUR SAY! We welcome your views on the article. Write to editor@cpi-industry.com
Sustainability is a way of life – a part of our behaviour. We are an importer of energy, Dubai especially. We don’t have our own natural resources, so we have the most potential in terms of how we can save energy for the next generations. If we don’t save, then we have to keep building power generation infrastructure, transmission lines, distribution lines and so on. Thus, what we do is part of our aspirations, definitely. It’s about efficient use of resources for future generations. Faisal Ali Hassan Rashid, Director, Demand Side Management, Dubai Supreme Council of Energy 34
April 2015
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April 2015
35
INTERVIEW
Ahmad Bin Shafar, Empower
Towards the two million TR mark In an end-February interview, Ahmad Bin Shafar, the Chief Executive Officer of Empower, revealed the company’s plans for further acquisitions, including a drive towards the two million tonnes of refrigeration (TR) mark. Here are excerpts from the interview, conducted by Rajiv Pillai, Features Writer, Climate Control Middle East‌ What developments can you report a year since the acquisition of Palm District Cooling?
There have been good changes between 2013 and 2014. We have witnessed 76% growth on turnover. We were able to achieve a savings of seven per cent to 15% in the year 2014. Following the acquisition of Palm District Cooling, last year, we have grown into a company that holds the largest District Cooling portfolio in the world. This has resulted in the growth of our projects, capacity, assets and customers. Our company is providing services to many prestigious projects, and in the last 12 months, we have added more unique and world-class projects to our portfolio. We are the largest in the world now with about 1,045,000 TR in capacity. The vision of our leaders, under His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has contributed to our success year after year over the last decade. It is their support that has primed this country to not only build businesses but also build sustainable businesses.
Could you elaborate on your current financial performance? Our revenues have reached from AED 850 million to AED 1.5 billion. Empower began 2014 with the acquisition of PDC, from Istithmar World, in a US$500 million agreement, and the year was significant as Empower successfully aligned operations of both the entities. Our company continues generating healthy earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA),
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April 2015
and has accordingly re-paid loans amounting to AED 350 million during the year. We have also declared dividends to our shareholders for the second consecutive year, which demonstrates the robustness and the strength of our business model and our financing strategy. The dividend payment this year amounts to AED 250 million. Our development strategy, coupled with the government support for sustainable sectors, like District Cooling, will enable Empower to continue growing in the future.
Dubai. Would that not result in a monopolistic set up?
What are the new projects you are supplying to, or working towards supplying to? Will you be supplying to the Madinat Jumeirah expansion project?
By 2018, we shall reach the two million TR capacity mark. Currently, we are 950,000 TR short. More acquisitions will definitely make it happen. We are predicting a 20% growth in 2016. Five new plants are already under construction. In 2014, Empower also completed its second plant in Business Bay. The plant is the region’s first District Cooling facility of its size built as per the green building principles.
You have said before you would like to see only one District Cooling company supplying to the whole of
Now that you have reached the one million TR mark, what do you aim for? For instance, do you hope to scale up to a capacity of two million TR?
62 plants
serving 49,850 customers
746 corporates
SNIPPETS
I have nothing specific to share. Our technology team has been infatuated with the concept of Thermosyphon (hybrid) technology. We are always willing to invest in research and development, because we are interested in efficient systems.
The company posted an
Empower recorded a
4% increase 11% increase
Empower has
EEB @Green_Europe
Do you have anything to share with the readers of Climate Control Middle East on the use of the Thermosyphon (hybrid) technology, resulting from the MoU you signed with JCI in December 2014?
Quick facts Out of the 49,850 customers, 49,104 are individuals and
Cities improving #airquality overall but need much more help from EU to get to #cleanair http:// sootfreecities.eu/
Anna Omelchenko / Shutterstock.com
We have an AED 750 million agreement with TECOM Investments to provide the Dubai Design District (d3) with 120,000 TR of District Cooling services; it signifies a 12% capacity addition to Empower’s network. We also have a significant retrofitting agreement with the Jumeirah Group, under which Empower will convert the existing systems of iconic properties like Emirates Towers, Burj-Al Arab, Jumeirah Beach Hotel and the Madinat Jumeirah to District Cooling. And yes, we will be supplying to the Madinat Jumeirah expansion project, as well.
We know our business direction for the next seven years. We control 70% of Dubai, and we need another 30% of control. We are the cheapest. Our competitors charge more than us. We are studying to acquire more.
in its customer base from the previous year, going from 45,000 to 49,850
in buildings, from 716 to 746
Burj Khalifa’s atmospheric water initiative Did you know that the Burj Dubai generates 42,000 gallons of condensed water a day? The world’s tallest tower has a dedicated system to collect the condensate from air conditioning and from external surface collectors. The water is routed through a set of pipes to the base of the tower, where it is used to irrigate the landscaping that surrounds the behemoth. Besides being an eco-friendly approach, the initiative gives the tower large cost savings in the maintenance of greenery.
April 2015
37
ADVERTORIAL
Towards a sustainable tomorrow with today’s solutions Argonaut’s rental solutions division rides notable first-year high, but there’s no resting on its laurels for the company as it identifies new targets for the coming years
“Audience-wise, we met our expectations,” Shoukry said. “The attendees were who we were looking for. They were either existing or potential clients, or people we would like to work with. And based on the feedback we received, I am optimistic that the seminar will generate results. In fact, we are already looking into the possibility of making the seminar an annual event.” The primary objective of the seminar, Shoukry said, was to create awareness in the industry of Argonaut’s new department, the current stage it’s at and the goals it’s aiming for. “Like I said, we started quietly, so we wanted people to know that our rental division is not just an untested undertaking promising results. We already have success stories, and we plan to make more.”
A cool partnership
O
nly 12 months have passed since the decade-old engineering solutions provider, Argonaut launched its cooling and power rental division, but already the department commands seven per cent of the UAE market – a portion that Ahmed Shoukry, the company’s President and CEO, regards as significant, owing to the division’s relative infancy. “In early 2014, we started quietly and worked towards establishing ourselves in the market,” Shoukry said, elaborating that in the months that followed, the company succeeded in building a network of business partners and acquiring good clients. Its success and growth, he states, can be attributed to four key factors: a capable and knowledgeable team, tough and reliable equipment, a young
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April 2015
Ahmed Shoukry
Essam Nour El Din
fleet – purportedly the youngest in the region, and high-quality and cost-effective engineering. As Shoukry reported in his opening remarks at the Climate Control Solutions seminar, which the company hosted on March 9, Argonaut managed to set up its new division “by acquiring quality talents to ensure smooth and reliable operation... backed by large refrigerant tonnage capacity and state-of-the-art, custom-made equipment to fulfil market needs and bridge
the market gap with reliable, energy-saving and green solutions”.
Post-event review
Carrying the theme, ‘Bridging to the future of reliability’, the seminar drew over 80 participants from various organisations, such as Emicool, Stellar Energy, Al-Futtaim Group, Imdaad and Petrojet-UAE and from client sectors, like events and real estate.
In line with its plans, the Argonaut Rental Division has identified two visions for the coming years, which it intends to achieve with the help of select business partners, Shoukry revealed. One of those business partners is Zamil Air Conditioners (ZAC), which has – through its Cooline brand – made the solutions provider its sole distributor in Egypt. Commenting on Zamil, Shoukry shared that Argonaut was satisfied with the collaboration with the Saudi Arabia-headquartered company. “They’re the Middle East’s top manufacturer of AC systems, and they’ve given Argonaut quality support in the form of custom units equipped with energy-saving features.”
Looking ahead
“At Argonaut, the coming years will be defined by two visions,” said Essam Nour El Din, the company’s MENA Director. “We have our three-
year vision, which is to more than double our market share in the UAE’s service and rental sector. From seven per cent, we will strive for 20 to 21%. And then, we have the five-year vision of ranking among the biggest engineering solutions providers in the GCC and in North Africa. We will add more solutions to our portfolio and offer total building efficiency by
adoption of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), which mandates that buildings must meet energy-efficiency requirements to get approval. For its part, Argonaut is confident it can contribute to the achievement of the nation’s efficiency targets through its aftermarket capabilities. Its chiller plant energy and optimisation services,
We will need to construct new power stations, but that will take years. The option that is available to us is to save energy offering all the services required by the real estate industry – energy audits, equipment maintenance, spare parts and everything else it might need. Our end goal is to become a total solutions provider.” Incorporated into both visions, El Din said was the company’s goal of aligning itself with the UAE initiative of reducing energy usage in the interest of sustainable development. “Development in the UAE is tremendous, and so is its cooling demand,” El Din said. “A large number of construction projects are in the works, and we have major events almost every week. But where will the country get the power? We will need to construct new power stations, but that will take years. The option that is available to us now is to save energy.” Consumption, he noted, could be reduced by as much as 50%, and that would be possible with the country’s
for instance, promise up to 30% reduction in operating costs. It also prides itself on its range of products that, it claims, are not only designed to perform under high-ambient temperatures but also guarantee more fuel efficiency than others in the market. “When we provide customers with solutions, we don’t just address existing problems,” El Din said. “We anticipate. We come up with a strategic and predictive approach to add value to what we are offering. It’s a matter of trust and respect. Our customers trust us, and we respect them, so we work with integrity. We give them the best solutions. We don’t want them to worry about equipment failures and high operation costs because of energy consumption. It’s about credibility. And it’s about solutions that work for the present as well as the future.”
ARGONAUT BRIDGING GAPS
Customer-speak Roslyn Abanilla, an Administrative Officer at Mawatheeq Properties, was among those who attended the Argonaut BRIDGING GAPS seminar. A representative of the real estate sector, she explained her presence at the event by speaking about a two-year-old problem her company has been having with its chillers. “They keep on breaking down,” she said, revealing that her company has worked with different companies for repair and maintenance, only to be repeatedly given false information. “They exploit our lack of knowledge by asking us to buy parts, which we later find out they don’t use, because the chillers break down again after only a couple of months.” Abanilla said the matter has proven to be a costly inconvenience. “Based on our last calculations, in these two years, we’ve spent as much as AED 500,000 on one chiller alone. That does not include our electricity bill,” she revealed. The decision to accept Argonaut’s invitation to the event, Abanilla shared, was made by her employer, who has become impatient with the malfunctioning chillers and the resulting complications. “We are hoping they can help us,” she said. “We want to reduce our expenses. The amount of money that is going out due to unreliable equipment and high energy costs is not proportionate to the rent we’re charging.”
ARGONAUT
April 2015
39
INTERVIEW
Yasser S Al-Jaidah, Qatar Cool
‘DC has a big role to play in QNV 2030’ B Surendar in conversation with Yasser S Al-Jaidah, the CEO of Qatar Cool How much is your belief in District Cooling, considering there are headwinds blowing in the region? Coming from the oil and gas industry, I wouldn’t have left it if I didn’t believe District Cooling would play a huge role in achieving the Qatar National Vision’s energy efficiency and carbon emissions reduction goals under the environmental pillar. Qatar is witnessing rapid infrastructure growth, and District Cooling plays a huge role in establishing the interdependent relationship of buildings and infrastructure. In Qatar, we are still in the design phase of infrastructure; as a District Cooling provider, this makes our life easier, as opposed to already built cities, where retrofitting is the only option. I am very passionate about what District Cooling can bring from a holistic point of view in conserving Qatar’s resources and providing an energy-efficient cooling solution.
One of the aspects that is often brought up is the need for District Cooling providers to optimise costs. What are you doing in that regard? We optimise costs on the internal as well as the external side of our business, such as through energy transfer stations. At the same time, my strategy is to sell the concept of District Cooling as a viable option for the country and how it benefits the country from a holistic point of view. Additionally, we are always on the lookout for new technologies and system advancements that would enhance the efficiency of our plants and operations. For example, we are in the process of preparing our plants for the use of Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE) in cooling towers instead of potable water, thus minimising the cost of water involved in energy production I want to build an alliance with the Qatar Green Building Council to advocate the industry of District Cooling in Qatar and to showcase what it can achieve for the Qatar National Vision.
Did you succeed in optimising costs on DCP3 in West Bay when compared to DCP1
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April 2015
and to DCP2? Or did you spend more? We are thinking about how we are going to manage cost escalation, which is mainly owing to labour costs. How we are going to manage risk is the key to success. First of all, it’s about building a strong relationship with contractors. Secondly, it’s about the expertise we bring from lessons learnt. Given the fact we have been in the market for some time now, we can challenge bids from other contractors. Control of costs means going into details and going through lessons learnt. It’s about the retrofitting we are doing in DCP1 and how we can apply what we have learnt on DCP1 to DCP3. With DCP3, we are also LEED-certified, which will contribute to reduction in the energy consumption. It’s about a cost-friendly approach and giving the satisfaction to customers that will ensure our survival.
How much of a challenge is it to negotiate with contractors? Over the past 10 years, we have succeeded in developing long-term strategic partnerships with a variety of business partners – that’s what we prefer to call them. Of course, we have learned that size matters when it comes to District Cooling. Not only does it build our bargaining power, but it also plays a bigger role in negotiating better rates with contractors on specific associated costs. Nonetheless, we have learned not to make procurement decisions based on cost only. More often than not, true value is found after careful consideration of other aspects, such as quality of work, relevant experience and professionalism. Our business partners appreciate our selection process.
We want to work with the regulator (Kahramaa), so District Cooling can become a viable sector that the government itself can drive What are the broad strategies to save expenses for the customer? We want to work with the regulator (Kahramaa), so District Cooling can become a viable sector that the government itself can drive. We want to ensure we are competitive and, thus, advocate growth. We are very hopeful that the regulator will implement a regulatory framework for District Cooling. It would be interesting to see the regulation in Dubai and examine the consequences of that regulation. I think regulators here will be vigilant of how Dubai pans out. It’s just a matter of time, because regulators are taking the subject very, very seriously. If urban planning plays a bigger role in taking the responsibility of pipe distribution networks, that will reduce the burden and enhance the viability of District Cooling. TSE will also play a key role in this area.
Will it happen? Do you see a central body taking the responsibility of doing the reticulation networks? It’s about advocacy,
communication, collaboration and about trying to lobby why it is vital for the country to meet the Qatar National Vision 2030 targets. How they deal with pipeline costs in terms of tariffs, etc. will be interesting. That’s probably the step forward. The biggest aspects associated with District Cooling is civil works costs and to coordinate with different entities. Having it centralised will increase cost efficiency that can be passed on to all the entities. The digging and the re-digging of roads lead to wastage. We have an opportunity to reduce the wastage and the inefficiencies, and to benefit the country.
What is your standpoint on tri-generation? Oman seems to be heading in that direction, with success. I am referring to a solar tri-generation project in Muscat. Would you be keen to adopt tri-generation in the peninsula? I am very much open to new technologies, but it needs to be supported by the regulators. Energy source is a concern, so the regulator has to play a role in building infrastructure. Private entities alone will find it challenging. If it has worked in Oman, what kind of support did they get? If absorption chillers, you have to take into consideration the footprint. Water consumption in the case of absorption chillers is more than that of water-cooled chillers.
But Qatar has abundant gas reserves to make trigeneration work, yes? Yes, it makes logical sense, but the infrastructure for us to use the gas is not existent in West Bay. Of course, if we have the support of the regulator and urban planning it would be more cost-efficient to use the gas. It’s cost-efficient, because you can run your facility using gas instead of power supplied
from the grid. I have no issue in being able to tap into that, if it exists. The pipeline needs to be installed, and the rate of flow has to be taken care of.
What are your thoughts on the use of renewable Energy? Renewable Energy would be great, owing to the kW/TR reduction, but it goes hand in hand with the grid to be able to use an alternative source of energy that is renewable in nature. It will be important to see how to make Renewable Energy economical. The beauty of Renewable Energy is that it marries sustainable development and energy efficiency, not to forget its environmentally friendly nature, in terms of carbon emissions. It would be great to see that. It is works in Oman, I would be the first to advocate something similar in Qatar.
Do you have an ambition to achieve 1 million tonnes of refrigeration as a District Cooling provider? We want to be the best-inclass District Cooling provider, regardless of how big we are. Size is not always an indication of profitability. Managing our risks and making sure we are cost-effective and efficient are important ideals. We don’t want to build a facility that is under-utilised, for that defeats our very purpose. It is important that we as a District Cooling provider get involved in the design phase to define the load profile. The biggest issue is passing the burden of over-capacity. We try to be very proactive to ensure the design is fit for purpose. It is better to be conservative, because at the end of the day, the cost has to be recovered. Through lessons learnt, you are able to better engage with designers. You have credibility and you are listened to; and that we have. We have mileage versus someone coming in new.
April 2015
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Dan Mizesko has been in the industry for over 38 years as a certified factory- and industry-trained centrifugal chiller engineer. He is with US Chiller Services and can be contacted at dan@uschillerservices.com
Timely relief PART 2
(The second of a two-part series on the benefits of condenser relief on centrifugal chillers)
L
ast month, I explained what compressor lift and compressor surge are, as well as how critical it is to keep a centrifugal chiller compressor within its lift range and keep the compressor out of a surge or stall condition. I also explained what can cause low-side and highside surge. Again, it is very important the reader fully understands this, as it will tie directly into condenser relief. Chillers nowadays should be selected and operated with ARI 550/590 part-load condenser relief calculations in mind. This rating, termed IPLV/NPLV for Integrated Part Load Value/Nonstandard Part Load Value, is part of the ARI Standard 550/590-98. The standard, which became effective in December 1998, also includes a revision of the evaporator fouling factor from 0.00025 to 0.0001. All chiller manufacturers must certify chiller performance to the standard. Why was the old rating changed to IPLV/NPLV? The introduction of the new IPLV/NPLV rating solves several problems with the old IPLV/APLV rating, which was based on several less-thanrealistic assumptions. Most notably, the IPLV/APLV rating
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April 2015
Surge Prevention What does SURGE/ HGBP Active mean?
Condenser relief not only is a power/ energy-saving procedure, but it’s also required to protect a centrifugal chiller from surge failed as an accurate measure of chiller performance at offdesign, real-world operating conditions. The new IPLV/NPLV rating provides a more realistic model of off-design performance. Chillers rarely operate at design conditions, because design conditions mean the simultaneous occurrence of both design load and design Entering Condenser Water Temperature (ECWT) or design Entering Dry Bulb (EDB) temperature, but design ECWT or EDB occur during less than one per cent of chiller operating hours. That means that over 99% of potential chiller operating hours are
Nearly all of our chillers are specified and then sold based on a standard called ARI-550 It states that the Condenser Water Temperature MUST drop from the Full Load design condition of 85°F, down to 65°F as the load drops off If this does not happen, our compressors MAY SURGE!
spent at off-design conditions, characterised by reduced loads, reduced ECWT/EDB, or both. The IPLV/NPLV rating accounts for this more accurately. You can see in the below paragraph the section that was directly taken out of a York O&M manual for a York YKEP Centrifugal Chiller.
Condenser water temperature control
“The YKEP chiller is designed to use less power by taking advantage of lower-than-design water temperatures that are naturally produced by cooling towers throughout the operating
year,” states the York O&M manual for a York YKEP centrifugal chiller states. “Exact control of condenser water, such as a cooling tower bypass, is not necessary for most installations. The minimum entering condenser water temperature for full- and part-load conditions is specified in the chiller engineering guide.” Whether you have a constant-speed or a VFD chiller, you should review your chiller data information sheets and operate the condenser water at IPLV/NPLV rating at 100%, 75%, 50% and 25% loads, with condenser relief included. Condenser relief not only is a power/energysaving procedure, but it’s also required to protect a centrifugal chiller from surge, which can damage a centrifugal chiller. Please see the slide (left) from a Carrier factory training class. Generally, chillers selected in this region are selected with entering condenser water at 35 degree C/95 degree F 100% load. At this full-load condenser water, your chillers will operate one per cent to five per cent of their entire lifetime, which means the condenser water will be below 35 degree C/95 degree F, 95% to 99% of their lifetime; thus, the chillers will operate more efficiently than shown in the 100% selections if you apply condenser relief.
Cooling Towers
A cooling tower primarily uses latent heat of vaporisation (evaporation)
A psychrometer places a thin film of water on the bulb of a thermometer that is twirled in the air to cool condenser water. Minor additional cooling is provided by the air owing to its temperature increase. Cooling tower selection and performance is based on water flow rate, water inlet temperature, water outlet temperature and ambient wet bulb temperature. Ambient wet bulb temperature will directly affect the performance of the condenser entering water temperature. Ambient wet bulb temperature is a condition measured by a device called a psychrometer. A psychrometer places a thin film of water on the bulb of a thermometer that is twirled in the air. After about a minute, the thermometer will show a reduced temperature. The low point, when there is no additional twirling, reduces
the temperature, which is the wet bulb temperature. The measured wet bulb temperature is a function of relative humidity and ambient air temperature. Wet bulb temperature essentially measures how much water vapour the atmosphere can hold at current weather conditions. A lower wet bulb temperature means the air is drier and can hold more water vapour than it can at a higher wet bulb temperature. Generally, a cooling tower will provide condenser water at 7 degree F/3.8 degree C above the wet bulb temp; in other words, the condenser water entering the chiller condenser will be 7 degree F/3.8 degree C above the wet bulb temperature. (Wet bulb temperature 28 degree C entering condenser water temperature 31.8 degree C – wet bulb temperature 22 degree C entering condenser water temperature 25.8 degree C.) The above section of the chart is taken from the 2005 ASHRAE handbook, showing Doha International Airport design conditions, as can clearly be seen with the average Doha design wet bulb temperature of 25.3 degree C for the entire year. This would mean that the average entering condenser water temperature would be 29.1 degree C, well below the design 35 degree C,
which would be huge savings for centrifugal chillers when condenser relief is applied. In closing, and as having been involved in centrifugal chiller service and operation in this region for over 20 years, I would suggest no matter the OEM of your centrifugal chiller and whether it’s a
constant-speed or VFD chiller, applying condenser relief will protect your chiller from surge and save you substantial energy. I recommend that you keep that entering condenser water as cold as possible – that way, you will be doing the equipment owner a great service.
April 2015
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THE PROCESS COOLING REPORT
Waiting for Godot With conventional methods of cooling not measuring up, oil and gas industry veterans think it’s time for HVAC manufacturers to come up with innovations in process cooling systems. But how long will the wait be? By Rajiv Pillai | Features Writer
J
ust like air conditioning, refrigeration and process cooling systems use a technology called refrigerant vapour expansion/compression (RVEC) for specialised purposes. Oil refineries, petrochemical and chemical processing plants and Natural Gas processing plants are among the many types of industrial plants that use large vapour-compression refrigeration systems. As is known, process cooling systems provide solutions where cooling is required at a specific location in manufacturing or for some other form of industrial process.
The need for fail-safe systems Process cooling systems are very critical, especially in the petrochemical industry, say insiders. And these cooling systems must be designed in such a manner that they are fail-safe. As Dr Moayyed
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Al-Qurtas, Chairman of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association’s (GPCA) Research & Innovation Committee and Advisor to the Board at Tasnee, puts it: “Manufacturers have to build [process cooling systems] around that [system failure]. It is part and parcel of every process. Every process has to be designed for every eventuality, including the failure of process cooling systems.” Fuad M Mosa, GM Technology (KSA & Emerging Economies), Technology & Innovation, at Saudi Basic Industrial Corporation (SABIC) concurs that process cooling systems are so important that they cannot afford to fail. He says: “…if I talk about Jubail [in Saudi Arabia], 80% of Jubail will be down in the event of a cooling system failure. And if you scale this to a global level, it will be a similar scary scenario. If you lose cooling in petrochemical and refinery processes, it means you are losing 60 to 70% of your production. So you need to
if you have a cooling requirement where you need to cool below the ambient temperatures of seawater or air, in a substantial way, then obviously, we have to use chilling systems have cooling available at all times. You also need to have the right cooling system, because if cooling is not right you are losing a lot.”
The need of the hour
Mosa says there should be an integrated process cooling system. “What we are looking for from all suppliers is [for them] to develop a cooling concept that can easily be
synergised to the current processes,” he says. He says the need of the hour is to be able to internally utilise the cooling, which means not only getting the benefit from the cooling and but also being able to utilise the energy from the cooling. Mosa’s call is for a consolidated concept. He reveals that most of the companies, like SABIC, are ready to revamp their entire cooling system, if they can get an integrated energy benefit out of process cooling.
What’s happening now?
Oil and gas production require cooling for equipment and processes in many different areas. Application conditions are made extremely diverse, especially in the Middle East, with different requirements, in the desert or offshore. Furthermore, production processing of crude oil and Natural Gas often requires the addition or removal of heat from the product stream. Production often must be cooled before transportation or storage to reduce volatility or to meet pipeline specifications. Structures installed on the seabed can weigh thousands of tonnes, and will become even heavier when equipment for subsea processing is added. One reason for this is that a cooling system will be required to cool the oil and gas from as hot as 150 degree C down to roughly 20 degree C before the separation process can begin. Most commonly, water or air is used in process cooling systems as a medium to transfer heat and sometimes also as a final point of heat rejection into the atmosphere. Dr Al-Qurtas says: “The most available medium for cooling is seawater or air, and both are utilised extensively. However, if you have a cooling requirement where you need to cool below the ambient temperatures of seawater or air, in a substantial
Dr Moayyed Al-Qurtas
way, then obviously, we have to use chilling systems.” There haven’t been many feasible innovations for process cooling systems that meet the demands of the petrochemical sector, in the past several years. “One of the main things that has happened in the last 10 years is the extent of usage of seawater in cooling towers,” Dr Al-Qurtas says. “Initially, our industry did not use that much of seawater in cooling towers. Of course, that technology is nothing new. I cannot say if this technology is what is commonly used all around the GCC, but it is utilised extensively in Jubail.”
Fouling, corrosion… Fuad M Mosa
However, there are several problems associated with using seawater, mainly owing
to its corrosive nature. A typical water-cooled system is vulnerable to fouling, scaling, corrosion, dust and microbial activity (do refer to the article, Foul Play, January 2015 issue of Climate Control Middle East). Mosa shares similar sentiments when he says: “Cooling is always affected by the lifetime of any machine because of scaling. Currently, we are looking for a good company, who can build a cooling system that cannot deteriorate with time. We cannot have a scare where the heat transfer will go down, and you need more cooling and this means you need to waste more energy”.
systems are quite a necessity in the petrochemical industry. Mosa says that all separation columns and all exothermic reactors require cooling. The number of separation columns with SABIC in Jubail run into the thousands, and all the columns require cooling. “We are in the era now where everybody is looking for energy conservation,” Mosa says, “and we should find a smart way of cooling.”
The era of energy conservation
HAVE YOUR SAY! We welcome your views on the article. Write to editor@cpi-industry.com
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April 2015
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ACCESSORIES
L e acc t’s esso r
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FEATURE
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April 2015
Manish Hira, the Managing Director of Hira Industries, says that HVAC accessories play a critical role in the cooling industry from reliability, energy efficiency and safety perspectives. The efficiency of cooling systems, he adds, depends on the quality of the accessories being used. Sekhani elaborates this, saying: “In addition to reliability, energy efficiency and safety, the whole lifespan of a system will depend on the accessories used. In short, these accessories can be termed as guards or catalysts that lift up the total system performance.” Explaining Prakash his view from Chablani a filter drier context, Sekhani says a faulty drier will result in damage of a compressor. “A bad-quality filter drier will result in the presence of moisture and solid contaminants in the system, which will eventually result in blocking the expansion valve, causing damage Manish Hira to the brazed assembly, further leading to refrigerant degradation and, ultimately, the failure of the compressor,” he says. Accessories are equally critical from a safety standpoint. As Abin P Kurien, the Sales Manager at the Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Division at Naser Al Sayer & Company (NASCO), puts it, safety valves, pressure switches and alarms are vital for achieving safety. It is for this reason, he adds, that they need to be incorporated during the HVAC installation stage of a project.
From fenders to flanges The list of HVAC accessories is seemingly a never-ending one. The range includes rubber products (impact-protection systems, fenders), adhesive tapes, pipe supports (hangers, flanges, clamps, bolts, adjusters),
fixing accessories (angles), insulation support (inserts, saddles, shields), antivibration products (isolators (springbased, elastomeric), bases, mounts, pads), ducting accessories (flexible duct connectors, insulated flexible duct connectors, insulation fasteners, damper accessories), service accessories and tools and, of course, filter driers. The top-selling accessories for Hira Industries are ducting accessories, extruded and
moulded rubber products, adhesive tapes and rubber insulation products. Sekhani says the list is even more exhaustive. “There are far more accessories sold in the HVAC market in the Middle East,” he says. “Big-value items include copper pipes, insulation, refrigerants, brazing alloys, coils and thermostats. The list is endless with so many manufacturers from all parts of the world.”
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April 2015
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FEATURE
ACCESSORIES
Safety first
As in the case of HVAC equipment, manufacturers of accessories must also adhere to safety regulations, local authority approvals, ISO Quality Management Systems and UL, to name a few. Hira Industries, for instance, claims that all its manufacturing and trading divisions are ISO 9001:2008 certified by Intertek Certification Limited, United Kingdom. Most of the manufactured products, the company claims, are UL-listed and FM-approved, where applicable. ATCO ducts, which are widely distributed by Unigulf, are UL (181 Class 1, UL 181 Class O, BS 476 Part 5, 6, 7 and 20) and Greenguard Gold (UL 2818) certified. NASCO says it also
follows testing and certification protocols. “We sell products that are manufactured in the European Union or in the United States, mainly,” Kurien says. Thus, most of the products would be automatically complying with the local safety regulations, industry approvals, etc.”
Also, we do have factory visits to evaluate various suppliers’ supply chain management and production capabilities
Production philosophy
In order to maintain high standards, companies tend to follow strictly regimented processes. Hira Industries talks of the principle of backward integration for all the manufacturing processes within the group, to ensure minimum dependence on external vendors. This principle also ensures that internal quality control guidelines are followed at each stage of manufacturing, from raw materials to the finished product. To implement this, Hira Industries says it has obtained machineries, such as rubber compound mixing plants, extruders, continuous vulcanising ovens and slitting machines. All of Hira’s products have dedicated production lines
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with an emphasis on automation to minimise human error. NASCO has systems and processes identical to that of Hira. “Regular dialogues happen between us and the suppliers regarding the market demands, technological advancements, and regulations by the governmental and industrial bodies,” Kurien says. “Also, we do have factory visits to evaluate various suppliers’ supply chain management and production capabilities. These kinds of discussions and feedback help our suppliers to constantly improve their production processes; moreover we can ensure that our customers get the best-in-class products.”
Obstacle course
With volatile oil prices and the possible associated uncertainty, there are several challenges confronting the HVAC accessories industry. “Projects are being delayed, and payments from contractors are getting in late,” Hira says. Another challenge is the inflow of cheap materials. Chablani and Sekhani are of the view that for a short time cheaper materials that do not follow any type of manufacturing standards or do not have any recognised certification have been entering the market. Furthermore, this being a price-sensitive market, the HVAC industry finds it a challenge to deliver on quality without compromising on profit margins. To counter this, Hira says, “By expanding local production facilities, supported by GCC governments (with the exemption of duties), and adhering to international manufacturing standards, we are able to offer best quality products at reasonable prices.”
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April 2015
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FEATURE
ACCESSORIES
Q&A Quick-snap Are there accessories that are exclusively sold only in the Middle East region, considering the rather unique ambient conditions of high temperatures and high humidity, not to forget sandstorms?
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Vikash Sekhani, Director, Sales and Marketing, SAFE A&T Technology Private Limited: As far as I am aware, there are no exclusive accessories sold for the Middle East region. However, looking at the very high ambient temperature and humidity, the accessories have to be of the best quality. For example, the powder coating (paint) on our filter driers and other line products can withstand 1,000 hours of salt spray test. This is important for Middle East climatic conditions.
Abin P Kurien, Sales Manager, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Division, Naser Al Sayer & Company: Rather than specially designed accessories, we see that the normal industry practice is to use over-rated accessories or components, considering the prevailing adverse conditions. But we do sell products, especially when it comes to the controllers and electronics with larger operating range in terms of temperature, IP protection, etc.
April 2015
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FILTER-TALK Dr Iyad Al-Attar is an air filtration consultant. He can be contacted at iyad@iyadalattar.com
comfort. Let’s address the first stage of conditioning – air filtration, which is the mandate of this column.
How can filtration help?
What is ailing air filters? What causes them to frequently fail or clog pre-maturely? What do we need to unlearn about air filtration practices? he escalating ambient air pollution has once again sharply focused the spotlight on indoor air quality (IAQ). Outdoor sources of pollution, engendered by rapid industrialisation, a steep rise in vehicular traffic, frequent and dreadful sandstorms and a significant increase in power plants, have greatly contributed to the deterioration of air quality. Indoor sources, typically the result of cooking, smoking and cleaning, have also had their fair share of impact in lowering air quality. Research has proven that exposure to Particulate Matter (PM 2.5, smaller than 2.5 μm) can dramatically impact human health even at low concentrations. Therefore, particle size is a common denominator for any filtration performance assessment and is critically important in aerosol measurement. For example, chemical composition measurements explore the
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toxicological effects on people exposed to it. Particle size (physical characteristics) affect the manner of transport in the air and the dynamics by which the particles are captured by filter fibres.
Conditioning the air around us
The objective is clear: the air surrounding us is polluted, and we need to condition it before we can breathe it. However, what does “conditioning” mean? The very mention of air conditioning evokes the thought of “heat removal”, which is as far from the truth as the Moon is from the Earth. The Filtration Dictionary1 defines air conditioning as “treating air to meet the requirements of a conditioned space by controlling its temperature, humidity, cleanliness and distribution”. So clearly, air conditioning does not just mean removing the heat. It involves several parameters, as clearly stated by the definition, with air diffusion being the
Figure 1: Fine filter cartridge with ruptured pleated media
final stage. The main function of air diffusion is to not only distribute supply air but also to remove indoor cooling or heating loads. It is also expected to provide air velocity and temperature distribution towards achieving occupant
Air filtration is the most effective method of separating particles from the air stream. Human exposure to indoor PM can be reduced through leakage-free air filters that are appropriately selected and installed, with desirable design features towards achieving energy efficiency, low-pressure drop and operational filter lifetime. So what is ailing existing air filters? What is causing them to fail or to prematurely clog? Why are we witness to filter failure, in the form of media rupture, in the case of some applications? Selecting and installing filters in an appropriate manner is usually a good start towards obtaining a better IAQ. However, certain undesired practices defeat the intended purpose. To highlight a few… • Washing the disposal filter by either compressed air or water, either of which is capable of destroying the structure of the filter media and reducing the permeability (Figure 1) • Leakage owing to weak or no sealing tapes, poor installing frame or inappropriate dimensions of the installed filters (Figure 2) • Operating the filter at flow rates higher than what they are rated or designed for • Installing filters with inappropriate surface area • Reducing or eliminating the number of existing filtration stages to save cost • Insisting on installing damaged filters with ruptured
Figure 2: Pre-filter with inappropriate filter dimensions and visible leakage spaces
design limitations of such a filter, designers increased the number of pockets in a bid to extend the surface area. Their act was based on the assumption that the greater the filter surface area, the better the filter performance. In fact, the real objective was to introduce additional surface area that would positively affect the filtration process. But, did the additional surface area, gained by incorporating the extra pockets, contribute to enhancing efficiency and to reducing the pressure drop? Indeed, did the air access the entire surface area? Perhaps
Filter media
Filter media constitutes an integral part of filter design and is mainly responsible for achieving filtration efficiency as a total product. However, typically, more emphasis is placed on the efficiency of the filter to capture fine particles, which may not be done efficiently using only micro-sized fibre diameters. Research has suggested that filtration media with smaller fibre diameters exhibit higher filtration efficiency. Nano-sized fibres stand as a great candidate today – they provide finer diameters,
But how can this be possible if our air handling units only allocate a modest depth for fresh and pre-filtration stages (usually 25, 50 and/or 100mm)
Figure 3: Damaged filter still installed in the fine-stage position with ruptured pockets
pockets in the fine-stage position (Figure 3) • Inappropriate installation orientation (Figure 3)
Pocket filter design
Historically, flat filters were used in the early shoots of experiments to clean air. At
a later stage, the concept of pocket filters emerged, and the emphasis shifted to manufacturing a filter with a surface area greater than its frontal area – the result of which was the introduction of a single pocket filter (Figure 4). Without realising the
Figure 5, which shows a sample of a multi-pocket filter with underutilised filter media, can best answer the questions. The careful consideration of filter design and performance are influential parameters in making appropriate filter selection. Ultimately, the purpose of filter design is to achieve the best possible efficiency at the lowest pressure drop, given the available resources. Ideally, “effective surface area” suggests no losses in the filter medium and, therefore, no permeability reduction. It is, therefore, very important to sensibly study filter design as offering optimised filter surface area, which is able to enhance filter performance.
large specific surface areas, and high length-to-diameter ratios. However, these nanofibres alone cannot stand the high flow rate and need to be part of a main fibrous substrate, as shown in Figure 6. Furthermore, lower fibre sizes increase the packing density, which would reflect an increase on the filter media’s pressure drop.
The modest fresh and pre-filters We demand clean air to breathe and ultimately the best air filter performance in our HVAC systems. But how can this be possible if our air handling units only allocate a modest depth for fresh and pre-filtration stages (usually 25, 50 and/or 100mm),
April 2015
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FILTER-TALK
Given the frequent sandstorms in our region, the need for reinforcement of fresh and pre-filters is a vital one
Dr Iyad Al-Attar is an air filtration consultant. He can be contacted at iyad@iyadalattar.com
Figure 4: The transformation of single to multiple pocket filter design
Figure 7: Illustration of the limited space for pre-filters (50mm) to protect the fine filter stage before the cooling coil
The secret sauce? as shown in Figure 7. In the same Figure, it is evident that a space-saving tendency dominated the decision of the AHU manufacturer, to the extent that the face of the pre-filter cannot be visually inspected after installation. Under the prevailing circumstances, including manufacturer apathy, how can better indoor air quality be achieved if the atmospheric dust has high particle concentration and encounters low surface area filters when introduced to our indoor spaces? How can we filter air professionally if the installation frames leak and fine filters can never achieve their rated efficiency? Given the frequent sandstorms in our region, which are one of the main contributors of high dust concentration, the need for reinforcement of fresh and pre-filters is a vital one. If properly addressed, it would facilitate the protection of subsequent stages of filtration from early surface deposition and, consequently, pre-mature clogging.
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Figure 5: A comparison between underutilised and dust-loaded filter media
Figure 6: Illustration of a nano-sized layer attached to an E10 filter media
The region has a pressing need to conduct urban- and IAQ-representative research of the climatic conditions in the Arabian Peninsula, characterised by temperature
and relative humidity ranges. This is of great importance from the point of view of filtration and dust-loading characteristics of air filters to assess their realtime performance in the GCC.
This article has addressed several platforms of enhancement. But, where is the secret sauce of success? Is it in the filter manufacturing quality? Is it in the filter design? Is it in the filter media properties? Is the emphasis being placed directly to translate into enhanced filter performance? Is modifying our HVAC system the answer to obtain better IAQ? Can changes to the airflow characteristics, enhanced filtration and increased ventilation rates positively impact IAQ to improve occupant health? If so, can industry practitioners and policymakers work jointly to protect occupants from exposure to particles by setting the air quality standards and their full implementation? Until this happens, we can only surrender our lungs to the air quality our HVAC system provides. Reference: [1] Tarleton ES and Wakeman RJ 2008. Dictionary of Filtration and Separation Filtration Solutions, Exeter. All pictures are copyright of the author.
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55
INTERVIEW
EQBAL AL YOUSUF, Al yousuf Group
How resource-friendly are we?
If you look at history, the population of human beings has increased in the last 100 years, and so has the average life of humans. The resources have also kept pace, but the problem we are facing is of humans, on an average, consuming more resources than ever. This is putting a toll on resources.
How energy efficient are we? Dubai wants to significantly curtail energy consumption by 2030. Are we on the path to doing so, do you think?
The global energy usage industry will climb to trillions of US dollars in a few years’ time from now. To be more energy efficient, we have to change our lifestyle – our food and entertainment habits. As far as the UAE is concerned I’m sure Dubai will, in fact, achieve its 30% reduction target before 2030. In the UAE, as we know, air conditioning is the biggest consumer of energy in a building. I believe it is not hard to save energy through better air conditioning approaches. Today, unfortunately, we are going from small to big air conditioning systems, though. And very soon, we will find out it is not a good strategy. We have cases of buildings with 60 TR or 70 TR of air conditioning, where the entire capacity kicks in even if you have only one person in the building. Which is more efficient, 2 TR or 60 TR? We have to change a lot of our beliefs or approaches. I started out in the IT industry in 1978. The 1970s were the start of the PC industry, and at the time, a lot of people questioned the need to move from mainframe computers to PCs; and look where we are today – we have gone smaller than PCs to mobiles and, more recently, smaller wearables. I believe small is pretty. I believe we will once again go back to smaller air conditioning systems. Maybe they will be networked. Today, networking of PCs is the norm, and you can do a lot more than what a mainframe used to do. Very soon, you will see software enabling the networking of air conditioning systems. I see software control and IT playing a big part. We don’t need dumb ACs; we need smart ACs.
‘Small is pretty’ Eqbal Al Yousuf, the President of Al Yousuf Group advocates the cause of smaller air conditioning units that are networked to deliver cooling as per demand, in this freewheeling interview with B Surendar. Excerpts…
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April 2015
What’s holding us back from the kind of innovation
You need to study human motion in building and, then, design the AC, but unfortunately what we are seeing is that all 20 floors have the same temperature
you are suggesting? How much is the impact of the subsidies regime in the GCC region?
The subsidised rate of energy is definitely holding us back. A barrel of soft drink is more expensive than a barrel of oil here. Today, energy is still cheap, but it’s going to be more expensive. Today, there are seven billion people populating the planet; in a few years’ time, we will be climbing to 10 billion people, so we will need more energy. There is a fast-growing middle class, which will need energy to power air conditioning systems, lighting systems and washing machines. I see a world in which energy requirement will skyrocket, and prices are bound to go up. When price starts to go up, so will efficiency. The human capacity for innovation has no limit.
What is the scene in your area of specialty – lighting? When we talk of energy efficiency in the sphere of lighting, we have to consider the short-run and the long-run plan. In the short-run, the concentration
is on lighting connected to sensors. When you speak of a typical office, on an average people are not in the office 60% of the time, so you have sensors to control the lighting. And then you have LED systems. LED is a new technology, and as such, people are ignorant of it. If people are not knowledgeable about products, they make mistakes. And unfortunately, owing to that, we are seeing a lot of non-quality products. As a market player, I would like to bring quality products to the market. Today, the biggest problem is customer knowledge on LED.
Sustainability reporting for the VRF industry
What are you doing to change the perception as a business organisation?
We are as frank as possible with our customers. We approach them with warranty, financing and cost benefit and show them what the return is going to be. We like their monthly payments to be below their electrical savings. In 90% of the cases, the ROI for the customer is less than 24 months, keeping in mind the life of LED lamps, which typically work for 50,000 hours. We live by example and are proud of our head office, which not only has LED lamps but also has controls for lighting and air conditioning systems. All the lights and air conditioning systems are controlled by presence sensors as opposed to motion detectors. Presence sensors will measure the heat, and if anybody is in the room, the sensors, in response to the 37 degrees, trigger the air conditioning system to run. Coming back to lighting, the energy savings in lighting is 80-90%. In the case of air conditioning, you need lot of changes in technology and good expertise to structure the system properly. A mainframe had to run for 24 hours – you could not switch it off, because it took a lot of time to restart. It is the same with central air conditioning, which has to run 365 x 24. And you need expertise to run the system properly. You need to study human motion in building and, then, design the AC, but unfortunately what we are seeing is that all 20 floors have the same temperature. Sure, you can switch off the fans, but most of the electricity is consumed by the compressors.
Sustainability reporting in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative’s international framework has clearly helped organisations improve their reputation substantially. Sustainability reporting has benefitted organisations from improved customer loyalty and from improved relationships with regulatory bodies. In the context of the UAE, this is very important with several federal entities taking lead in promoting sustainable development directly aimed at reducing energy consumption in Dubai and the UAE.
CPI Industry with its impeccable publishing track record brings this service in the UAE and the GCC to organisations keen on using Sustainability Reporting as a vital platform to promote their organisations to their various stakeholders, regulators and potential customers. Write in to Sougata@cpi-industry. com to know more about this service and how it can benefit your organisation. We will be happy to make a presentation to you and your management team on this.
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CASE STUDY ECO-FRIENDLY INITIATIVES
The green light signals change
had to be upgraded to LED by taking into consideration the aesthetics of the property.
The solution
GE Lighting stepped up to the challenge by partnering with Grosvenor House - Dubai in offering sustainable LED lighting. As the pioneer in LED technology, GE’s extensive lighting solutions were an ideal fit to the hotel’s requirements. The hotel chose LED lighting for both the common area and guestrooms. GE Lighting provided its Energy Smart range that created the desired ambience while saving energy.
By implementing new eco-friendly initiatives backed by a green approach to lighting, Grosvenor House - Dubai highlights the potential for sustainability in the hospitality sector. We bring you the case study.
Introduction
Hotels the world over need to perform a balancing act between meeting their business goals, fulfilling increasing expectations of a discerning clientele, creating the right ambience and adopting exacting environmental policies. Grosvenor House - Dubai set for itself the objective of harmonising these demands with its sustainability initiatives by using art from waste, featuring a dedicated Green Corner, the use of LED lighting and ECO wood and implementing a Green Programme.
Results and benefits
Laborant / Shutterstock.com
The background
Located in the heart of Dubai Marina, Grosvenor House Dubai, a luxury collection hotel of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, features two 45-storey towers offering 749 rooms, suites and apartments. It is a Green Key Certified hotel for rolling out a wide range of sustainable initiatives.
The challenge
The hotel pledged its commitment to promoting energy efficiency, minimising carbon dioxide emissions and creating a sustainable built environment. It was, in particular, seeking a lighting solution that not only complemented its architectural and interior design aesthetics, but also fitted with its “green
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The total energy savings per year through the LED lighting solutions is around 80% – an ongoing return on the upfront investment over 18 months policy”. In addition to providing the desirable lighting levels that maximised guest convenience, the hotel aimed at improving all-round sustainability. The key challenge in the
project was to ensure that a diverse selection of LED lighting was provided to substitute the halogen lamps. In all, more than 24,500 halogen lamps were identified in the lighting audit, which
The result of the green initiative has been significant, with savings in project cost, energy usage, maintenance cost and carbon dioxide emissions. The LED solutions also offer high lumen/watt efficiency, long-rated lifetime, low failure rate and assured maintenance savings. The total energy savings per year through the LED lighting is around 80% – an ongoing return on the upfront investment over 18 months.
What the client said… Pam Wilby, General Manager of the Grosvenor House, said: “Setting standards in environmental sustainability is a core commitment at Grosvenor House - Dubai; it is also one of our key differentiators in the industry. We adopt and maintain worldclass environmental standards and develop the required mechanisms for implementing them in line with the vision of both the Government of Dubai and Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Adopting LED lighting solutions was, therefore, a natural fit to our sustainability goals. GE Lighting’s LED solutions deliver significant energy savings in addition to minimising carbon dioxide emissions. A perfect choice for a green hotel, indeed.”
A leading European HVAC company based in Dubai is hiring for
A leading International HVAC Supplier is hiring for
ARABIC SPEAKING SALES MANAGER
SALES ENGINEER - INDOOR CLIMATE SOLUTIONS
Must be fluent in Arabic Must have 10-20 years of sales experience in HVAC industry in the region Preferably worked in a multinational company with clientele in MEP Must have a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering
PRODUCTION MANAGER Must have 10-15 years of sales experience in pre-insulated duct production Preferably worked in a multinational company Must have a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering Job responsibility: Ensures the safe, efficient and effective operation of the manufacturing facility Responsible for all aspects of key manufacturing areas as well as procurement of steel Overall coordination of production, scheduling, health and safety, quality assurance, coaching and development, and continuous improvement activities within the process areas Lead the production team to meet or exceed our customer’s quality expectations while also conformance to Group’s Initiative of Management xcellence Being a team player, the Production Manager needs to comply with company policies, regulations and values for safety & quality
Job responsibility: Sell the design, manufacture, installation and servicing of predominantly chilled beams but also displacement ventilation, grilles, diffusers and VAV systems. The role is 85% specification work; the majority of time will be spent with M&E consultants and architects, the remainder of the time will be spent with building service contractors and M&E contractors. Proven specification sales experience with M&E consultants. A technical sales background in chilled beams but also displacement ventilation, grilles, diffusers and VAV systems is desirable. Must understand the building service industry. Comfortable with the application sales, modifications of design etc as we are not selling an off the shelf HVAC product. Preferably have contacts within M&E consultants and M&E contractors. A Leading HVAC Company is hiring for a
SUPERVISOR MEA CUSTOMER SUPPORT Job responsibility: Act as primary oversight of any outside warehousing entity (3PL) utilized by PTS to warehouse PTS Products: Maintain up to date familiarity of international logistics requirements for both inbound and outbound shipping to and from MEA served countries including: Act as Liaison with US and Manila CS, Planning and logistics functions The canddidate Education: Required associate or 4 year degree in a related field or equivalent experience Experience: Prior customer service and/or planning experience a significant advantage Travel Required: as needed
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REGIONAL
Tabreed AGA approves 5 fils per share dividend Figure represents a payout ratio of 53%
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hareholders of Abu Dhabi-based Tabreed have approved a cash dividend of five fils per share at the company’s Annual General Assembly (AGA). The AGA was chaired by Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, Tabreed’s Chairman, and attended by Tabreed’s Board of Directors, shareholders, and the company’s senior leadership team. Tabreed’s approved dividend distribution of five fils per share represents a payout ratio of 53% and a yield of 4.6%, the company declared. Commenting on Tabreed’s performance in 2014, Al Muhairi said: “As a utility company, Tabreed distinguishes itself by providing sustainable and stable earnings yearon-year, a trend that we maintained in 2014 by returning a strong set of results that build upon the preceding years’ performance. “2014 is the third consecutive year that we have distributed cash dividends, which underscores the company’s commitment to enhancing shareholder value and its healthy financial position.” Addressing Tabreed’s shareholders, Jasim Husain Thabet, the company’s CEO, added: “Tabreed continued to benefit from its position as the only district cooling provider with regional operations as we made significant connections in Qatar and Saudi Arabia during the past year.” Shareholders also approved the Board of Directors’ Report, the Independent Auditors’ Report and the Financial Statements for the year ended
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UAE underground car parks in need of effective CO sensors Equipment calibration and maintenance are not being carried out, says expert By Fatima de la Cerna | Assistant Editor
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Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi
Jasim Husain Thabet
December 31, 2014. Robust economic growth and increasing demand for District Cooling across the region enabled Tabreed to reach several critical milestones in 2014, including an AED 1.05 billion acquisition of the existing district cooling plant on Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi in a consortium with Mubadala Infrastructure Partners, the company said. The company also signed a long-term concession agreement with Meraas Leisure and Entertainment to provide 45,600 TR of cooling to the new Dubai Parks and Resorts development in Jebel Ali, and has renewed its master services agreement with the UAE Armed Forces in a contract valued at AED 6 billion.
f all the enclosed car parks in the UAE, only about 60% are equipped with carbon monoxide (CO) monitoring systems, and while that is only his estimation, Syed Taqi Hussain, the Director for Sales & Services (HVAC) at Eco Evergreen, stresses that anything less than 100% is unacceptable. “We speak so much about green buildings, nowadays; well, CO monitoring systems can help achieve significant energy savings by only letting the ventilation fan run when there is an increase in the CO levels in the basement,” says Taqi, who clarifies that efficiency is but an extra benefit of using sensors, with the primary being that they can save lives. Referencing data from various sources, like the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), he points out that, depending on the concentration level, the toxic gas can cause different health hazards, such as headache, dizziness and nausea, and even lead to death. Taqi further reveals that the problem is compounded by the lack of regular maintenance and calibration of the monitoring systems that are installed. “The systems are in place, but they aren’t working as they should be,” he says. “CO detectors are to be recalibrated annually – at a minimum, but six months preferably – to ensure accurate and proper operations. If calibration instructions are followed, CO detectors should have an operational lifespan of five to seven years.” To address the problem with calibration, Taqi recommends that the HVAC industry take collective action. “We need to provide the initiative to clients, facility management companies, builders associations and the Municipality,” he says. “We need to make it a standard and repeat procedure to ensure the safety of the public and the environment.”
FM EXPO to showcase best practices and business opportunities Exhibition will also spotlight industry needs, trends and challenges Over 7,500 visitors and 150 exhibitors from all over the world are expected to attend this year’s three-day FM
EXPO, to be held from May 18 to 20 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, the show’s organiser, dmg events, has announced.
According to dmg events, the facilities management exhibition will bring together the FM industry to address critical needs and challenges, as well as discuss trends and showcase best practices in the sector. The organiser added that the event will also seek to provide visitors with tools to capitalise on upcoming business prospects. “The growth in the UAE’s construction sector has created fresh opportunities in the regional FM industry,” said Jaafar Shubber, Senior Project Manager of the FM EXPO. “The customer has become more aware and is demanding integrated, sophisticated FM contracts, which not only ensure enhanced services but also result in improved cost efficiencies.”
Shubber, describing the FM EXPO 2015 as the perfect place to gain direct access to key suppliers and engage in networking, further noted that the ninth edition of the exhibition “will highlight a wealth of new and creative ideas for the UAE’s FM sector”. Endorsed by Dubai Municipality and supported by the Middle East Facility Management Association (MEFMA) and the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM), the FM EXPO will play host to the annual World FM Congress and will be held concurrently with the Middle East Waste & Recycling and Commercial Cleaning & Hygiene.
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REGIONAL
Oman Electricity Holding Company, CESI in smart-metering initiative Sign agreement to make Automated Meter Reading a reality in the country
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ESI Middle East has signed an agreement with Oman’s Electricity Holding Company SAOC (EHC) (Nama Group), on behalf of distribution and supply companies in the Sultanate of Oman to introduce Automated Meter Reading (AMR) technology for high-value customers, the company said in a communiqué. EHC is a joint-stock company holding the shares of the Government in nine companies engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity and related water services.
The agreement with CESI was signed in the presence of senior executives from EHC’s subsidiaries, including Muscat Electricity Distribution Company SAOC, Mazoon Electricity Company SAOC, Majan Electricity Company SAOC, Rural Areas Electricity Company SAOC and Dofar Power Company. According to the agreement, CESI will help EHC and its subsidiaries to develop the blueprint for the implementation of AMR for high-value customers in Oman. CESI will be responsible for defining
(L-R) Dr Floris Hendrikus Schulze, Managing Director, CESI Middle East; Firoz Esmail Jariwala, Managing Director, Vanguard Engineering & Oilfield Services Co; and Eng Omar Al Wahaibi, CEO, Nama Group at the signing ceremony
the customer segments and functional requirements of AMR. In addition, CESI will plan the roll-out, outlining security measures and standards, designing the market messaging system, detailing the solution architecture and system level designs to be
employed in the AMR System, identifying meter specifications, telecommunications media and IT solutions and Meter Data Management System (MDMS) and charting out the testing strategy, governance practices, risk evaluation and mitigation practices.
SNIPPET
arindambanerjee / Shutterstock.com
Real-time info on air quality India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has launched the country’s first Air Quality Index, which will provide real-time information on the level of pollution on a daily basis, The Times of India reported. The initiative will be implemented in 10 Indian cities, to begin with. The launch of the index comes on the heels of worldwide attention on New Delhi over its alarming air quality. The System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research, which operates under India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences, reported that air quality in New Delhi in the winter of 2014-2015 was poor or worse on 86% of the days.
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Pentair showcases thermal building solutions at ME Electricity Also introduces BIM content for heat-tracing solutions
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entair showcased its thermal building solutions at the Middle East Electricity show, which ran from March 2 to 4 in Dubai. The company’s thermal building solutions include leak-detection solutions and energy-efficient hot water temperature (HWAT) maintenance systems. During the show, the company introduced what it called the industry’s
first Building Information Modelling (BIM) content for heat-tracing solutions. It did so to demonstrate to architects, engineers, contractors and building owners how the tool could help them incorporate heattracing content into their building models to optimise efficiencies and performance. “We’re very excited to introduce our portfolio of integrated solutions and services to customers in the Middle East,” said Krzysztof Czyzewski, Sales Director (Eastern Europe, India, MEA) at Pentair’s Thermal Building Solutions. ”Over the past few years, we’ve seen an increased demand in thermal building solutions in the region, in particular for largescale residential, leisure and commercial projects and are very keen to expand our offering in this market.”
WORLD
IEQ FORUM
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REGIONAL NEWS BRIEFS AESG awarded EAD “Class A” environmental consultant Alabbar Energy & Sustainability Group (AESG) has been awarded “Class A” status by the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi. The certification enables AESG to perform environmental impact assessments and studies in all sectors of the Emirate. The news follows the recent award to AESG of a complex environmental impact assessment for a new industrial facility in Abu Dhabi.
IMEC inks deal with Desmi
UAE-based IMEC Electro Mechanical Engineering has signed an exclusive agreement with Denmark-based DESMI Pumps for the sales of its entire range of HVAC pumps. IMEC Executive Director, Aslan Al Barazi and DESMI General Manager for the Middle East, Michael Hager, signed the agreement. Speaking on the occasion, Al Barazi said, “After a long break from selling pumps, after having earlier represented Holden Brooke Pullen Pumps for more than 20 years till their take over by Armstrong in 2004, IMEC are back strong in the HVAC pumps market again.”
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Cx players hoping to root out second-rate companies Cheap, inexperienced firms blamed for region’s poor commissioning scene By Fatima de la Cerna | Assistant Editor
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here building commissioning (Cx) is concerned, the past, it seems, is catching up with the region. Paul Kirby, Director of Commtech Middle East, implies this when he describes the commissioning culture of the GCC in the previous years as “horrendous” and points out that one need only pay attention to the news to see proof. “There have been, for example, reports of residential towers here in Dubai catching fire,” he says. “There was even one a couple of months back. Poorly executed commissioning is partly to blame for those incidents. And trust me, more cases like those will crop up, because commissioning problems only become evident later on.” Paul Kirby Despite his unfavourable assessment of the sector, however, he acknowledges that it has seen some improvements, saying that the situation is picking up owing to the few companies making a mark in the region. But progress, he notes, is happening slowly. “The trouble with most commissioning firms,” he says, “is that they sign off on projects that are not ready. If you’re an upstanding company, you don’t sign off unless you’re 100% sure – not 90 or 95, but 100%.” Companies who deliver mediocre jobs, he says, tend to be inexperienced or lack the required expertise. “Here in the UAE, those companies come in through the free zones, where there is no research into their qualifications,” he says, explaining that someone can, for instance, set up a business in a free zone, make false claims and call it whatever he or she wants – the Best Commissioning Company or something similar – and get away with it, because nobody will check. To introduce effective change into the industry, Kirby recommends making education a priority. “Clients, developers, consultants and contractors – they all need to be educated or, rather re-educated, on the importance of correct commissioning practices,” he says. He elaborates that with enough awareness, the industry should be able to root out non-performing companies. “Awareness is already growing,” Kirby says. “Clients are discovering that when they pay cheap for commissioning, they’re bound to have problems later on. And so through word of mouth, clients are learning which companies to work with and which to avoid.” Other than relying on word-of-mouth reviews, he suggests that clients also verify if the company is licensed or not. The Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) issues licenses in Dubai. “When a company has this kind of operating licence,” Kirby says, “it means it has been checked by the government and given its stamp of approval.”
S.K.M sustains Sharjah sports initiative Two-decade-old programme aimed at encouraging talented sportspersons
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.K.M Air Conditioning has touched the two-decade mark of its association with the Sharjah Sports Club towards encouraging talented sportspersons in the country, the company recently announced. The company sponsors multiple games, including handball, basketball and futsal every year, it said. What matters more than the association and sponsorship is the bonding with players, their passion for the game and their distinctive talents, the company said,
adding that with a pledge to inspire these talents, S.K.M has been relentlessly supporting every opportunity and initiative of the club. Being a resident company, S.K.M realises its social responsibility towards its society, the company said. Highlighting the company’s approach towards social development of the community, Shahnam Ali, the company’s Marketing and Communications Officer, said: “We actively organise and participate in activities and initiatives to improve the quality of people’s lives by way of encouraging sports
activities in the region, creating traffic awareness, conserving the natural resources – specifically energy and water – preserving our environment and celebrating the Spirit of the Union. It creates a sense of belonging and ownership in making the world a better place, and we want to instill this spirit of accountability in every employee.” At a national level, S.K.M has supported the handball premier league each year, the handball President’s Cup, UAE Vice President Cup and the Confederation Cup. At an international level, SKM sponsors the Sharjah International Basketball Championship every year in September. For 2015, S.K.M has fully sponsored the handball team on all levels.
CAIRO HEAD OFFICE:
Cairo, Egypt Tel: (202) 25161610 25163737 Fax: (202) 27549849 E-mail: admin@alliedco.org Web: www.alliedco.org
DUBAI, UAE
Tel: 0971 4 297 8500 Fax: 0971 4 2652 192 E-mail: alliedae@eim.ae Burj Khalifa, Downtown Dubai, UAE
Empower, Business Bay, Dubai UAE
Winner of Best Consulting Firm District Cooling in the Climate Control Awards 2011
BRAnCHEs:
• Jeddah, KSA • Toronto, Canada
FOUNDED TO LEAD
Allied has grown into one of the leading Engineering and Project Management firms in the Middle East, boasting offices in 3 major Countries in the Middle East (Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Kingdome of Saudi Arabia). Allied offers full range of Engineering and Project Management services provided by nearly 140 dedicated professionals distributed among Egyptian, UAE and KSA locations. The company is a multidisciplinary consulting firm and has a track record and specialization in Buildings, Industrial Works and District Cooling and Power Generation Plants.
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REGIONAL
Banking on banks Stakeholders need to be cognisant of the benefits of retrofitting existing buildings, says FM industry insider By Rajiv Pillai | Features Writer
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nadequate financial support for retrofitting existing buildings is blighting efforts in the UAE, said Khaled Bushnaq, the CEO of Energy Management Services (EMS). Bushnaq was speaking at the Retrofit Tech Summit on March 16 in Dubai. In his presentation, Bushnaq highlighted the gaps in available financial support to ease the capital outlay of retrofit programmes. He also outlined the importance of attracting capital markets investors into infrastructure finance.
The electricity consumption in the UAE has increased by 51.88 billion kW-hours in 12 years, representing a 277% rise, Bushnaq said, adding that the situation presented a big opportunity for building retrofits. He said that there were 30,000 buildings with high energy-efficiency potential in Dubai and that retrofitting these buildings had several benefits, such as electricity savings of 47-79 billion kW-hours, off-setting the increase in the whole of UAE; less capital expenditures by UAE utilities
Ladybird to build region’s first dedicated LEED Gold certified early years learning facility ,
YO U R T R U S T E D PA R T N E R F O R YO U R ENGINEERING, ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT SOLUTIONS
Khaled Bushnaq
and an improvement in carbon footprint reduction efforts. Bushnaq bemoaned the fact that despite all the evident benefits, banks normally requested several bonds, such as performance bond and savings guarantee bond, and other charges like fixed annual charge. All of this added up to 15% of the total contract revenues, which was just below a year’s worth of savings, Bushnaq said. The charges were not the main problem, as they were added
to the cost of the project to be repaid from savings, Bushnaq said, adding that however, banks most probably would block the values of the bonds. For example, if a project’s annual saving is AED 200,000, Bushnaq said, then banks would block the same amount. Therefore, it made it difficult for retrofit programmes to function without adequate financial support, he said. Bushnaq warned that until a new and significant initiative was taken to solve the financing bottleneck, the building retrofit market would be slow in achieving its targets. He said that stakeholders needed to step in to kick-start a retrofit insurance fund. Vendors should play a more active role if they wanted to benefit from the big retrofit market. And lastly, the transaction costs, Bushnaq said, must be reduced to offset negative perceptions about the benefit-to-cost ratio of greenretrofit financing.
Daikin VRV systems earn Eurovent certification The company’s high-ambient models also come under certification regime
D ENGI NE E R ING
EN ER GY
EN VI RON M ENT
Phone +971 4 445 7131, +971 4 447 4407 Fax +971 4 447 4410 P.O.Box 125787, Jumeirah Lakes Towers Tiffany Tower, 30th Floor - Dubai, U.A.E. info@en3solutions.com www.en3solutions.com
THE THREE FACTORS COMPANY
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Engineering
Energy
Environment
aikin’s range of air-cooled VRV systems, including high-ambient models are now certified by Eurovent, the company has revealed. According to Daikin, Eurovent certification provides added reassurance to Daikin customers of exceptional quality and high performance and demonstrates that Daikin’s Europe-sourced VRV range works in conformity with the specified efficiencies. Michel Farah, Daikin’s Middle East and Africa Product Planning Director, said, “Daikin is proud to have the first Eurovent-Certified High Ambient VRF System in the GCC.” Data on products awarded Eurovent certification is available to view online at www.eurovent-certification.com.
AHI Carrier in a major SMMSi drive Company aims to clock 100,000 HP in annual sales for Toshiba VRF systems in the region by 2020 According to AHI Carrier, with increasing global stress on sustainable energy resources, Toshiba’s SMMSi hi-ambient VRF series technology has found a large number of takers from different countries, especially from Oman, where the interest is fuelled by growing awareness of the importance of preserving and optimising the use of the country’s natural resources. According to AHI Carrier, PASI (Public Authority
for Social Insurance) and ROP (Royal Oman Police) are building huge residential colonies for their employees and, in the last few months, under the country’s GO GREEN resolution, have placed an order of over 10,000 tons of Toshiba SMMSi VRF systems. Toshiba Air conditioning, through AHI Carrier Fzc, a Carrier joint-venture company, offers air conditioning solutions for residential, light and large commercial buildings. The company claims that its SMMSi VRF systems offer high efficiency, precise control and an all-inverter technology. By 2020, AHI Carrier’s vision is to clock 100,000 HP in annual sales for Toshiba VRF systems in the region.
Rapid Cool Group acquires Al Ahli Air Conditioning Gains specialised duct-manufacturing capability
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he Rapid Cool Group has acquired Sharjahbased Al Ahli Air Conditioning Company, which specialises in the manufacturing of ducts and duct accessories, in addition to installing, testing and commissioning medium-sized HVAC projects. Rapid Cool’s Neeraj Bhojwani said that Al Ahli Air Conditioning has a highly experienced team that performs all types of onsite project work, including the installation of equipment, ducts, insulation and cladding etc. Al Ahli, he added, boasts a team of 40 skilled workers and counts such entities as Juma Al Majid, United Electronics, Eros Group and Geco among its clients. Following the acquisition, Al Ahli Air Conditioning will report to Rapid Cool’s Industrial Division, Rapid Cool Industries LLC, which is managed by Mashkoor Hasan.
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GLOBAL
eurammon to spotlight F-Gases Regulation at annual symposium Event to provide insights into the use of natural refrigerants in air conditioning and heat pumps
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urammon will be training the spotlight on F-Gases Regulation at its annual symposium, on the 25th and the 26th of June in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. The symposium, under the theme ‘Be Smart, Go Natural!’, will be focusing on visionary solutions with natural refrigerants, according to eurammon. End-users, planners, system manufacturers and other stakeholders will be given a comprehensive insight view into current European legislation,
together with practical examples of successful operation, especially from the fields of air conditioning and heat pumps, the Germany-headquartered association said. The latest revision of the F-Gases Regulation confronts users with the major challenge of converting their refrigeration plants to sustainable systems with climate-friendly refrigerants. According to eurammon, natural
One of the venues of the symposium
refrigerants are the first choice of viable solution – they fulfil the strictest ecological standards and can be put to successful and economically efficient use. The symposium will be providing comprehensive information about plant operation with natural refrigerants looking at three main areas: legislation and
regulations in the EU, airconditioning with natural refrigerants and heat pumps with natural refrigerants. During the symposium, eurammon will present the Natural Refrigeration Award for 2015 to the winners. The award honours outstanding academic research by young scientists.
Alstom to boost its presence in the Turkish market Will supply industrial plants with particulateremoval systems
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lstom has announced that it has been awarded two new contracts, worth almost five million euros, to supply two industrial facilities – a new fertilizer plant and an existing copper smelter plant – in Turkey with particulate-removal systems. The projects’ scope, the company said, includes “full engineering, supply, construction and commissioning advisory services for four electrostatic precipitators (ESPs)”. The plants, added the company, will also benefit from its Switched Integrated Rectifier (SIR), a control system upgrade that “significantly reduces particulate emissions, has high removal efficiency, low power consumption, a compact layout and (a) proven track record”. Omer Mafa, the General Coordinator of Eti Bakir A S, the firm behind the air quality control system contracts, expressed his confidence in the deal, saying: “To ensure that we have the most efficient and reliable electrostatic precipitators for our new fertilizer factory investment in Mardin City, we chose Alstom, because it is a proven and reputable equipment provider.” To date, Alstom said, it has installed more than 1,800 ESPs in various industries – 650 in the power sector alone – worldwide.
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Wolf takes over Pro-Klima Buys the Croatian air handling and ventilation systems manufacturer
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eating and air handling technology manufacturer, Wolf has taken over Pro-Klima, which is based in Samobor, near Zagreb in Croatia, and which has been present in the European market for over 40 years. According to Wolf, Pro-Klima is the market leader in Croatia and, on top of that, has an export share of 55%. The Croatian company, Wolf said, supplies mainly to Russia, Germany and Austria, besides its neighbouring countries in south-eastern Europe. Prior to the acquisition, Pro-Klima generated an annual turnover of about EUR 13 million, Wolf said. “Pro-Klima is an ideal partner for us,” Bernhard Steppe, Speaker of the board of Wolf, said. “Through this acquisition, we will open up new market segments and will be able to pursue our internationalisation strategy consistently. The highly flexible, innovative and Eurovent-certified air handling units programme of Pro-Klima represents an optimal supplement of our existing product portfolio. Consequently, we can jointly meet the customer demands worldwide in the future.”
Systemair acquires German energy engineering company Company has signed an agreement to acquire Lautner Energiespartechnik
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ystemair has acquired Helmstadt, Germany-based Lautner Energiespartechnik, a company founded in 1991 that specialises in the manufacture of rotary heat exchangers for air handling units and data centre cooling. The company has 17 employees and an estimated turnover of approximately EUR 2 million, Systemair revealed through a press communiqué. “This is a strategic acquisition for us,” said Gerald Engström, the CEO of Systemair. “Lautner has unique expertise in the development and production of high efficiency rotors. This is a perfect supplement that strengthens us in the important air handling unit business area.”
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April 2015
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GLOBAL
Distech Controls to join Acuity Brands
Bry-Air to manufacture and sell adsorption chillers
Company will continue full operations in Brossard, Canada headquarters
Signs an agreement with US-based Power Partners to enable production and marketing processes
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istech Controls, which provides building automation and energy-management solutions, has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Acuity Brands, a provider of intelligent lighting solutions, the company said in a press communiqué. The Quebec, Canadaheadquartered company claimed in the same communiqué that the acquisition will create the opportunity to offer solutions that can provide true end-toend optimisation of all aspects of the building for enhanced occupant experience, quality visual environment, seamless operation, energy efficiency, operational cost reductions and increased digital functionality. Distech Controls will continue to employ its 190 team members worldwide, led by current executives, including Founder, President and CEO, Etienne Veilleux. The company will maintain its head office
in Quebec, Canada, as well as its European office in Lyon, France, and continue to execute its global growth strategy. The manner in which buildings are utilised and operated is evolving. The deployment of intelligent digital networks provides the opportunity to create an indoor environment that increases productivity, improves operational efficiency and enhances safety, the company said, adding that the technologies resident in lighting, temperature, ventilation, access control and fire safety systems are converging into a single digital ecosystem. This convergence, the company claimed, provides a singular opportunity to couple the building management portfolio of Distech Controls with the smart lighting and control systems of Acuity Brands to deliver fully integrated digital solutions.
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ndia-headquartered Bry-Air (Asia) and US-based Power Partners (PPI) have signed a license agreement for Bry-Air (Asia) to manufacture and sell Power Partners’ Eco-Max brand of adsorption chillers in India and other markets, the former said through a press communiqué. The agreement means that Bry-Air (Asia) can further expand its broad product portfolio to include closed-loop adsorption products, the company added. Under the agreement, Power Partners will share its knowledge of adsorption chiller design, manufacturing, applications and marketing with Bry-Air (Asia) and assist with product commercialisation, the communiqué said. “Adsorption chillers use energy from waste heat, with very low electricity consumption, to provide chilled water for process cooling and air conditioning, and they do this with “green” refrigerant (water) and desiccant (silica gel),” said Deepak Pahwa, the Managing Director of Bry-Air (Asia). “We are excited about the opportunities for revenue growth and innovation that this agreement provides.” Adsorption chiller technology, Power Partners said, is attractive to hospitals, universities, office complexes, data centres, tri-generation facilities, processing plants, manufacturing plants and government facilities.
BACnet gets eight new members Kamstrup, Sontay among new members
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Smart Metering - get connected
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he BACnet Interest Group Europe (BIG-EU) has announced the coming on board of eight companies as members, saying that the growing membership was proof of the positive implications of modernisation efforts taken by the association. The new members are Building G100, Janitza, Kamstrup, LonMark International, Oppermann, Romutec, Sontay and Sontex. The Association now counts 112 companies as its members.
ASSOCIATIONS & SOCIETIES
ASHRAE Falcon Chapter to conduct energy modelling course ASHRAE Accredited, the course will explain how to use modelling to guide design decisions
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he ASHRAE Falcon Chapter will be conducting an Energy Modelling Best Practices Course on May 5 at the Arjaan by Rotana Hotel, Dubai, Dr Ahmed Ala’a Eldin Mohamed, the Regional Vice-Chair, Region At Large – Grassroots Government Affairs, said. An ASHRAE-Accredited course, it will cover the fundamentals of building energy modelling and explain how to use modelling
to guide design decisions, with an emphasis on HVAC, Dr Mohamed said, adding that participants will learn how to integrate modelling into the design process from the programming stage through post-occupancy and measurement and verification. Sam Mason, the Principal of Encompass Energy, will be conducting the course. Mason provides energy analysis, code assessment and
design assistance services for developers, contractors and architects and engineering firms across North America. Mason has 10 years of experience in the design and construction industry, Dr Mohamed said, adding that his expertise includes detailed HVAC design and whole building energy simulation and optimisation. Mason previously taught technology at the Parsons School of Design, in North America. The course, which will run from 8:30 am to 5 pm, is of interest to energy modellers, building simulators, architects,
engineers, ESCOs, sustainability consultants and authority regulators, Dr Mohamed said. For more details, including registration formalities, write to Liju Thomas at liju@ ASHRAEuae.org or call +971 55 708 0146 or to Rami Al-Khalil at ralkhalil@ASHRAEuae.org or call +971 50 491 5088.
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ASSOCIATIONS & SOCIETIES
ASHRAE Qatar Chapter ASHRAE IAQ guideline to conduct PICV seminar comes up for revision Spotlight on payback and lifecycle cost analysis using PICVs
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he ASHRAE Qatar Oryx Chapter, in association with Arabian Controls and Pettinaroli, will be conducting a technical seminar on balancing of chilled water distribution systems on April 25 at the Intercontinental Hotel Doha, Kinan Fahs, the President of the Chapter, revealed. The seminar, which will run from 9am to 1pm, will focus on how PICVs can deliver a more sustainable solution for a greener world, Fahs said. The seminar will include an introduction to, and fundamentals of, PICV technology. It will also include a module on feasibility, payback and lifecycle cost analysis using PICVs. Further, it will include a module on system controllability using PICVs. Luca Baroli, who has been responsible for the development and management of Pettinaroli’s PICV range and related actuators, will be conducting the seminar, Fahs said. Baroli has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnics of Turin in Italy and is a registered member of the Italian Society of Professional Engineers. He has contributed to the development of the “Remote Commissioning Method” for PICVs and to the development of the “2 Curves Commissioning Method”, Fahs added. For other details, including registration, contact Chris Sabordo, Attendance Committee Member at the Oryx Chapter on +974 7 049 0954 or Gendalou Ladroma, also an Attendance Committee Member, on +974 3 363 6674.
Swiss Business Council forms environment focus group Members envision it as an avenue for collaboration and information-sharing By Fatima de la Cerna | Assistant Editor
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n mid-March, representatives of member-companies of the Swiss Business Council (SBC) for Dubai and the Northern Emirates got together to establish an environment focus group. Satish Adurkar, CEO for UAE Operations at Energy Automation JLT, said that the group, which he chairs, was created to direct attention to the reality of issues that often remain mere topics of conversation. “People have been talking about energy conservation and carbon footprint reduction,” he said. “But what are their implications on the utility sector and the government? What about on business operations and the personal lives of endusers?” Adurkar said those questions would be brought to the fore
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Public input is being sought into a proposed revision of ASHRAE’s residential indoor air quality guideline.
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SHRAE Guideline 24-2008, Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings, is the companion guideline to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.22007, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings. Guideline 24 provides information on achieving good IAQ that goes beyond the requirements contained in Standard 62.2 by providing explanatory and educational material not included in the code-intended standard. A revision of the guideline is currently open for public comment until May 11, 2015. To learn more or to comment, ASHRAE has invited industry stakeholders to visit www.ashrae. org/standardsactions. This marks the first time since 2008 that the document is being revised, according to chair, Paul Francisco. The revision includes a range of changes intended to provide clarification to previous guidance and to update the Guideline for current understanding. The guideline, which was written by the committee responsible for maintaining Standard 62.2, includes information on envelope and system design, material selection, commissioning and installation, and operation and maintenance.
with the creation of the group, despite it starting out small. “We’re aiming for 20 members for now, but we will seek to involve different industry stakeholders.” He added that the group was guided by four objectives, which were: to synergise and share information, to (possibly) create clusters of mutual business interest utilising the SBC platform, to collaborate with Swiss Business Hub GCC and to get associated with other Swiss green tech companies and organisations. Supporting the objectives, he said, were several action targets identified during the meeting, such as addressing continuous conflicts between CAPEX and OPEX, pouring collective efforts into representing issues to government authorities and decision makers, conducting need analysis, identifying pain areas or outstanding problems, promoting education and training and capitalising on the strengths of focus group members. As of mid-March, the group’s members included Siemens, Belimo, Honeywell, Landis+Gyr, EPFL Middle East, Vahntech and ABB.
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Confirmed key speakers
Topic highlights
• Darrell Strobel, Managing Director - MEP Engineering, KEO International Consultants • Don Boynton, MEP Service Group Manager - Building Hydraulics Service Line Leader, GHD • Abubaker Al Hadrami, Director of Operations & Maintenance, Marafeq Qatar • Fuad Habayeb, Design Manager –Rail, Drake & Scull International PJSC • Crowe Kachikwu, Head of Mechanical, Arab Engineering Bureau • Manveer Singh Yadav, Director of Engineering, Grand Hyatt Doha • Allen Ong, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Hamad General Hospital - Surgery Extension Project, KEO International Consultants • Lee Hall, Head of Operations - Property Design, ATKINS Qatar • Hassan Sultan, ASHRAE Qatar Oryx Chapter and MEP Head, MZ & Partners • Husam Mohammed, Senior Mechanical Engineer, CH2MHill • Syed Mustafa Ali, Senior Mechanical Design Engineer, Al Hamdan Consulting Office
• Energy Optimization and Energy Conservation • Issues relating to the HVAC and Civil Defense approval • Moving from Building Management Systems (BMS) to Building Automation and Energy Management systems (BAEMS) • Improving Indoor Air Quality • The future of district cooling in Qatar (incl. challenges, opportunities and the new requirements for TSE usage) • Alternative Technologies in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning • Facilities Management: Duct Maintenance • Challenges with authority approval of Smoke Ventilation Systems
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MARKETPLACE
FLIR C2 thermal camera FLIR Systems
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he FLIR C2 is the first full-featured, pocket-sized thermal camera designed to help building professionals identify hidden heat patterns that clearly show where problems are, such as sources of energy waste, signs of structural defects, plumbing issues and more, FLIR Systems has said through a press communiqué. The C2’s compact and slim design enables it to fit comfortably into any pocket, available for immediate use to uncover invisible building issues and to show customers where potential problems are located. At 125 × 80 × 24 mm (4.9 × 3.1 × 0.94 in.) and 130 grammes (.29 pounds), the sleek architecture makes the C2 the most convenient, full-featured thermal camera available on the market, the company said. Featuring FLIR’s patented MSX real-time image enhancement and a brilliant, simple-to-use touch screen with auto orientation, the camera creates thermal images with stunning details to help identify problem locations easier, the company claimed. MSX adds key details (captured by the onboard visible camera) to the C2’s thermal
images, so numbers, letters, texture and other features are clearly recognisable without compromising the thermal image, the company further claimed. With a simple point-and-shoot operation, the C2 can store radiometric JPEGs with the push of a button, the company claimed, adding that the images can be downloaded later using the free FLIR Tools software that allows the user to adjust thermal image levels, isolate and add temperature measurements, change colour palettes and create persuasive reports.
MVW01 medium-voltage variable speed drives WEG
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EG, which supplies drive technology, recently said it has more than doubled the maximum power of its air-cooled MVW01 medium-voltage variable speed drives – from 6.5 MW to 16 MW for voltages from 2.3 kV to 4.16 kV – to meet the needs of medium-voltage three-phase induction and synchronous motors across a broader power range. The overall product line, the company said, now covers the voltage range from 2.3 kV to 6.9 kV and the rated power range from 400 kW to 16 MW; a water-cooled version is also available, the company added, offering up to 40% higher rated power than the air-cooled one. According to WEG, with efficiency levels of more than 99%, the MVW01 achieves the best efficiency of any medium-voltage drive currently available on the market. This means customers can increase energy efficiencies in their application, reducing their environmental
footprint and making associated cost savings, the company added. WEG said the MVW01 combines robustness with ease of use and handling, reliability and safety, so end users can improve their operational processes. The drive, the company added, is suitable for a variety of applications, including pumps, fans, mills and agitators in the oil and gas, mining, minerals and metals, chemical, paper, plastics and rubber, and water and wastewater sectors.
looking for looking for HVACR HVACR products? products? 74
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Aluminum airfoil low leak damper Ruskin Titus Gulf
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stablishing that most commercial dampers are used in buildings to regulate the flow of air in HVAC systems and that they can be used with intake, exhaust and mixed-air applications, Ruskin Titus Gulf has claimed that its aluminium Aerofoil CD 50 damper offers commercial benefits when used in LEED projects. The benefits, the company said, can be identified through the energy savings in the building envelope and throughout the ductwork. The uniqueness of the Airfoil blades design provides greater strength as well as reduced pressure drop and noise, the company claimed, adding that the product – by leaking less than three cfm/sq ft at one-inch static pressure – is the first AMCA-licensed low leakage Class I damper to meet the requirements of IECC and ASHRAE 90.1. The CD50, Ruskin Titus said, is suitable for auditory provisions, because it comes with maximum sound-absorbing features.
Just told some people I am working with in the UK that we have Senators who don't believe in Climate Change. They all thought I was joking.
Mark Ruffalo @MarkRuffalo
Motion Analyzer Web tool Rockwell Automation
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ockwell Automation has rebuilt its Motion Analyzer software as a Web tool, the company said through a press communiqué. The tool offers new user-friendly features and a vastly expanded product catalogue to help engineers more easily specify, design and validate complete motion control systems, the company claimed. The Motion Analyzer Web tool is cloud-based, allowing users to access, update and collaborate on projects stored in a single location, reducing version control issues and the need to share project files back and forth. A cloud-based platform also means users are no longer limited by the processing speed of their computers when designing systems for more complex applications. The tool’s new browser-style format allows users to filter, review and compare products and general pricing, similar to search capabilities on popular e-commerce sites, the company said. “Incorrectly sizing a motion system not only generates unnecessary costs in wasted engineering time and re-stocking fees, but it can greatly slow a machine’s time-to-market,” said Pankaj Shrivastava, Business Leader – Architecture & Software, Rockwell Automation. “The latest Motion Analyzer release is an
evolution of the platform that is more collaborative, expansive and easy to use. When engineers can quickly create and examine complete motion control systems within a single platform, they can spend more time innovating and improving their machines.” The Motion Analyzer Web tool provides machine builders access to a wider range of motion control products than ever before. It now incorporates products from nine Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork Encompass product partners, including STOBER Drives, NIDEC-SHIMPO, item North America, Tolomatic, Nook Industries, WITTENSTEIN, Exlar Corporation, Bonitron and Elwood Corporation.
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How does Prez Obama keep his cool? He’s called “No drama Obama”. A cool customer, this US chief. But a lot has gone into maintaining the temperature of the White House, so presidents can take those big decisions in thermal comfort. Here’s a peek at over 200 years of air conditioning the First Home. By Pratibha Umashankar, Associate Editor
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he abode of the POTUS (President of the United States) is a national monument. Tourists come to flock and gawk at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC. The sprawling traditional country house, designed by James Hoban, is not only the official residence of the president since John Adams moved into it in 1800, but it’s also the principal presidential workplace. However, it was only in 1809, when President James Madison came to occupy it that the White House got its first heating system – a gravity-based Pettibone furnace – a device invented by Daniel Pettibone – that kept most American homes and public institutions warm in the early 19th century. The furnace began its life as an iron/copper stove with a grate made of hollow bars for better heat transfer via currents of warmed air. Pettibone kept tinkering with it, till in 1807 he finally developed the “rarifying air-stove” – the first successful, large-scale
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central-heating system in the country. It evolved further into a brick and iron, with iron acting as a heat-exchanger to warm currents of outside air, which was then conveyed through insulated sheet-iron ductwork into various rooms. And then, the White House had to wait for nearly three decades – 1837 – to get a primitive version of the first central heating system. This was replaced in 1840 by a gravity hot-air heating system while President Martin Van Buren was at the helm. It consisted of a self-contained furnace with an
iron firebox enclosed by plastered brick ducts that extended to the furnace room. However, it was not a central heating system in the real sense of the term, as it provided heat only to the state rooms and the hallway. Five years later, in 1845, the system was extended to the second floor of the White House. It took another
five years, and President Zachary Taylor to extend the heating system to the family’s living quarters and to a few of the offices and the basement of the building. In 1853, President Franklin Pierce, who was then in office, ordered an upgrading of the heating system with the addition of a hot-water furnace that was considered not only more efficient, but also less of a health hazard, as the air was warmed directly by coils, instead of the warming happening outside of the air chamber. In the 1860s, when President Abraham Lincoln occupied the White House, the heating system was further expanded to warm the entire White House. The Ulysses Grant’s era ushered in a new ventilation system to provide thermal comfort for areas meant for socialising during summer. It was something basic – long cords near the fireplace, one to open the ventilator and another to close it. With the unfortunate shooting of President James Garfield on July 2, 1881 – a warm summer day – a form of air conditioning was installed in the White House to make his last few days more comfortable. This rudimentary system forcibly expelled air through a long iron box that was encased with cotton screens. The air moved with electric blowers and was chilled by huge amounts of ice. The chilled air was then pumped into the rooms through a vent. It was only in 1910, almost three decades later, that another kind of system made its way into the White House, when President William Howard Taft occupied it. The system worked by forcing air by way of electric fans over ice blocks located in the attic. The chilled air was then made to pass through the air ducts of the existing heating system. But it wasn’t the most efficient kind of air conditioning and was, therefore, abandoned. It was the presidency of Herbert Hoover in 1930 that first saw central air conditioning
system in the West Wing of the White House. Carrier Engineering Company, which had two years earlier, in 1928, installed central air conditioning at the Chamber of the House of Representatives, was assigned the contract. This was done along with reconstruction work of the building after a freak fire caused major damage to the structure on Christmas Eve in 1929, just weeks after the big stock market crash. And in 1933, air conditioning units were installed in the private living quarters of the White House when Franklin D Roosevelt was in office, and on the second floor, a few years later. So, it was only in the 1930s that modern air conditioning came to the presidential home. But FDR was not a big fan of the fan or ACs (pun intended), as they affected his sinuses. In a memo, Carrier employee, Logan Lewis is supposed to have written that the president “had a strong dislike of air-conditioning and never hesitated to say so”. Air conditioning had become commonplace in homes, restaurants and office buildings during the Post-World War II economic boom. Therefore, air conditioning systems installed in the White House thereafter ceased to be of historical interest. But the economic crisis of the 1970s, prompted President Jimmy Carter to start a campaign for energy conservation. He set an example by getting solar energy panels on the roof of the West Wing in 1977. They were, however, removed in the 1980s. The National Park Service got three solar energy systems on the White House grounds in 2002. A system of 167 photovoltaic panels was placed on the roof of the central maintenance building, and a solar thermal application for providing hot water for the grounds maintenance staff was added to the building. A third system was integrated into the roof of the cabana next to the pool and spa. It’s believed to heat water for the tub and shower, with overflow energy channeled to the outdoor pool. And, oh, it looks like the White House is loyal to Carrier, based on a photograph of a unit outside the building. But of course, several companies may be chipping in to cool/ heat the sprawling mansion.
TRIVIA TIME
The First Lady Helen Taft, who loved entertaining, ordered a “Forty-quart Ice Cream Freezer” with direct current motor.
By the 1920s, the White House kitchen had an electric refrigerator.
The reason the Capitol Building was air conditioned in 1928 was because the US lawmakers started complaining about the place being stuffy. However, the senators took a while to get used to the artificially cooled interiors. The upshot of the White House and the Capitol being cooled was shorter summer breaks. Earlier, lawmakers took off for the summer and government departments worked with minimum staff till things begin to cool off in September. The government had to now function right round the year, as no one could complain that it was too hot to work!
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