Climate Control Middle East October 2014

www.climatecontrolme.com

NEWS

UAE Ministr y of Energy bolsters energy conser vation measures p36

Empower signs USD 127.8mn financing agreement p16

US HVACR industry announces USD 5bn refrigerant R&D plan p6

EXCLUSIVE: Interview with IDEA President Rob Thornton p37

LICENCE TO CHILL: District Cooling versus stand-alone watercooled systems p56

SPOTLIGHT:

The revised F-Gas Regulation, and what it means in practical terms p60

PLUS: Marketplace, ASHRAE Update

OCTOBER 2014

Â

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News

UAE Ministr y of Energy bolsters energy conser vation measures p36

Empower signs USD 127.8mn financing agreement p16

US HVACR industry announces USD 5bn refrigerant R&D plan p6

Exclusive: Interview with IDEA President Rob Thornton p37

Licence to chill: District Cooling versus stand-alone watercooled systems p56

Spotlight:

The revised F-Gas Regulation, and what it means in practical terms p60

PLUS: Marketplace, ASHRAE Update

OCTOBER 2014 Headline HVACR Media Partner International Building & Construction Show

17 - 20 November 2014 Dubai World Trade Centre www.thebig5.ae

Copper CREEP corrosion Controlling gaseous contamination in data centres is vital to protecting information worth millions of dollars

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Vol. 9 No. 10 | OCTOBER 2014 04 from the editor

The need for a new front

happenings

contents

06 At large 12 Marketplace 16 The region

INTERVIEW 37 The second coming

The International District Energy Association (IDEA) will be conducting the District Cooling 2014 conference in December in Dubai, with Empower playing the host. The conference will mark the return of IDEA to the region after four years. B Surendar in conversation with IDEA President Rob Thornton on what to expect at the meeting.

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DataCentre Digest Air conditioning best practices for protecting data

Data-centric best practices 44 Data centres have become the backbone of most modern companies.

In today’s highly globalised and interconnected world, a momentary failure or outage in data centre operations can bring about disastrous consequences, both financially and operationally. What can one do to ensure that data centres run smoothly and efficiently?

battling heat, humidity and dust 46 Andrew Walker, Airedale, contrasts the different approaches to data centre cooling between the MENA area and the UK and offers innovative solutions to obviate the challenges posed by harsh conditions to cooling systems in the region.

PPP for data centres - an opportunity for colocation providers 48 A colocation data centre based on a Public Private Partnership model could lead to a win-win situation, believes Mohammad Abusaa, H.H. Angus & Associates Limited, and walks us through how it could work.

Beating data centre contamination 52 Enumerating the challenges of keeping data centres scrupulously clean, Dinesh Gupta, Bry Air (Asia), focuses on gaseous contamination and offers solutions to combat it.

SPOTLIGHT 60 Getting fit for the phase-down

LICENCE TO CHILL 56 District Cooling versus stand-

The revised F-Gas Regulation will be applied from January 1, 2015 onwards. But what does it entail in practical terms? To answer this, eurammon has put together the most important facts and figures and background data on the regulation.

alone water-cooled systems – basic facts

Challenging the axiomatic assumption that District Cooling is always more energy efficient than conventional water-cooled technology, Dan Mizesko, Al Shirawi US Chiller, endeavours to prove otherwise.

October 2014 www.climatecontrolme.com

3

from the

editor Publisher Dominic De Sousa

The need for a new front

T

Managing Director & Associate Publisher Frédéric Paillé | fred@cpi-industry.com Editorial Director & Associate Publisher B Surendar | surendar@cpi-industry.com CEO Nadeem Hood | nadeem@cpidubai.com

o even the least discerning, it is obvious District Cooling has had a polarising effect on the consultant community in the GCC region, with some swearing by it and some reacting to it with some degree of ambivalence or outright derision.

Contributing Editors Pratibha Umashankar prati@cpi-industry.com Anoop K Menon anoop@cpi-industry.com

The second camp grew in numbers post-Lehman, and today, it is this group of consultants that the District Cooling community is seemingly trying to woo back into its fold.

Business Development Manager

One of the impediments in its efforts to enlist support is the use of temporary cooling infrastructure to provide chilled water to some communities. The second camp repeatedly points to disgruntled customers, who it says, have to pay higher charges, stemming from the use of air-cooled chillers, which reportedly are inefficient in comparison to water-cooled systems. Emicool CEO, Adib Moubadder, in a mid-year interview to Climate Control Middle East, acknowledged how in Dubai Sports City, he had to use temporary chillers, because the piping network had not reached there, with the nearest plant 2.4 kilometres away from the community. Mindful of the use of air-cooled chillers, which yielded 1.2 KW/TR, he said he was subsidising the service to his customers and that he would continue to do so for a year longer, after which, a plant within the Sports City would become operational with a water-cooled system in place.

Anup Dominic anup@cpi-industry.com Design Genesis Salao | getty@cpi-industry.com Ulysses Galgo | uly@cpi-industry.com Webmaster Troy Maagma troy.maagma@cpimediagroup.com Database/ Subscriptions Manager Purwanti Srirejeki

It is a situation IDEA President, Rob Thornton (see interview) characterises as “growing pains” and as something that was perhaps beyond the control of District Cooling providers during the downturn, especially in instances where developers lagged behind in delivering projects, putting the purveyors of chilled water in a dilemma: whether to build a plant and absorb a burn-rate on their capital or not proceed till the project development had come up and the occupants had moved in.

purwanti@cpi-industry.com Advertising Enquiries Frédéric Paillé: +971 50 7147204 fred@cpi-industry.com Anup Dominic: +971 55 974 5317 anup@cpi-industry.com

In recent times, rental cooling tower companies are trying to pitch their tents in the GCC. While the rental cooling technology is largely untested in the District Cooling realm, the possibility of temporary water-cooled systems doing the job in nascent projects cannot be ignored.

USA and Canada Kanika Saxena Director (North America) 25 Kingsbridge Garden Cir Suite 919

The District Cooling industry needs allies in its bid to raise its stakes. With a reported 15% penetration rate in the UAE and a three per cent penetration rate in Saudi Arabia, the industry needs to find the strength from within to emerge as a robust option.

Mississauga, ON, Canada L5R 4B1 kanika@cpi-industry.com Tel/fax: +1 905 890 5031 Euro Zone and UK Sandip Virk Group Sales Manager Cell 1: +971 50 929 1845 Cell 2: +44 7734 442 526

B Surendar Editor @BSurendar_HVACR

Skype: sandip.virk1 sandip.virk@cpimediagroup.com

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news

UAE Ministr y of

Empowe r signs USD Energy bolsters energy 127.8mn financing conser vation measures p36 agreeme nt p16 US HVACR industry announces USD 5bn refrigerant R&D plan p6 excLusive: Interview with IDEA President Rob Thornton p37

www.climatecontrolm

e.com

Licence to chiLL: spotLight: District Cooling versus The revised F-Gas stand-alone waterRegulation, and what it means in cooled systems p56 practical terms p60 pLus: Marketplace, ASHRAE Update

OCTOBER 2014 Headline HVACR Media

Printed by: Excel Printing Press, Sharjah, UAE

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Climate Control Middle East October 2014

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happenings at large

US HVACR industry announces refrigerant R&D plan

Will invest $5bn for new environment-friendly refrigerants and equipment

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t a White House event on September 16, AirConditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) President and CEO Stephen Yurek announced that the nation’s HVACR industry will invest $5 billion in R&D funds over the next decade to develop the next generation of refrigerants and the air conditioning and refrigeration equipment in which they will be used.

The event, sponsored by the White House Council on Environmental Quality, highlighted the positive work by the private sector in developing alternatives to high global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants, the announcement said.

Yurek told those in attendance, which included Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, Environmental

Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, and State Department Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern, that the HVACR industry has been proactive in developing refrigerants with

lower GWP. “Close to $2 billion has been spent by the industry since 2009 researching energyefficient equipment and the utilisation of low-GWP refrigerants, and over the next

eurammon gives access to short film: Naturally Cool Tells the story of natural refrigerants

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aying that the ancient Egyptians were already using ice to cool their food more than 5,000 years ago, eurammon has made available its illustrated short film Naturally Cool.

The film, said eurammon, shows the evolution in the use of natural refrigerants up to the present day, and highlights those areas of our daily lives where environmentally

6

friendly refrigerants, such as ammonia, CO2 and hydrocarbons like propane are already used.

In addition, the explanatory film illustrates the circumstances that resulted in natural refrigerants being the right choice as a future-proof solution for sustainable refrigeration and air conditioning technology, eurammon elaborated.

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

10 years, the HVACR industry will invest an additional $5 billion for R&D and capital expenditures to develop and commercialise low-GWP technologies,� Yurek stated.

Lauding the efforts by the HVACR and water heating industry in energy conservation and environmental stewardship, he said that in the late 1980s, the industry supported international efforts to protect the ozone layer by developing non-chlorine-containing refrigerants, and agreeing to an aggressive timetable to phase out ozone depleting chemicals while steadily improving the energy efficiency of its equipment.

He noted that, with no encouragement from government, AHRI and its member companies launched the Low-GWP Alternative Refrigerants Evaluation Programme in 2011, the first phase of which was completed at the end of 2013. The second phase of the programme is currently reported to be under way to evaluate different refrigerants in several applications.

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happenings at large

Trane opens its first European store

The Bordeaux outlet to provide quicker solutions to customer needs

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rane, a brand of Ingersoll Rand, has announced opening its first store in Europe in Bordeaux, France.

The outlet, which opened in September, with over 16,000 items of spare parts, and a range of components, accessories and tools, will provide HVAC professionals with local expertise and direct support service, the announcement added.

“At Trane, our constant goal is to meet our customers’ needs and better satisfy their requirements,” said Bertrand Kieken, Parts Business

Developer at Trane. “The first Trane Store in Europe is part of this approach and will help our customers perform effective maintenance and repair of their HVAC solutions for greater productivity, performance and profitability.”

In another news, Trane said that on September 17 it commenced its “Acceleration Now European Tour” featuring the new chiller portfolio designed for European markets.

The tour reportedly aims to bring its HVAC systems, controls and

AHRI releases US heating and cooling equipment shipment data US shipments of air-source heat pumps increased

I

n an official communiqué, the Air-Conditioning, Heating, & Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), has released the following July 2014 US heating and cooling equipment shipment data: Central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps US shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps totalled 710,279 units in July 2014, down 1.6 per cent from 721,979 units shipped in July 2013. US shipments of air conditioners decreased 7.4 per cent, to 483,850 units, down from 522,289 units shipped in July 2013. US shipments of airsource heat pumps increased 13.4%, to 226,429 units, up from 199,690 units shipped in July 2013.

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services to building owners and operators, architects, engineers and contractors in France, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, UK, Ireland and Switzerland.

Year-to-Date

US manufacturers’ shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps Month Year-to-Date

Year-to-date combined shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps increased 6.6 per cent, to 4,541,415 units, up from 4,259,917 units shipped in July 2013. Year-to-date shipments of central air conditioners increased 2.9 per cent, to 3,016,398 units, up from 2,932,810 units shipped during the same period in 2013. The year-to-date total for heat pump shipments increased 14.9%, to 1,525,017 units, up from 1,327,107 units shipped during the same period in 2013.

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

NOTE: Industry figures are estimates derived from the best available figures supplied by a sample of AHRI member companies and are subject to revision. Year-to-date figures are correct as issued.

Alfa Laval India receives APAC Award

Was recognised for promoting AHRI Liquid-to-liquid Heat Exchanger Certification Program

H

eat exchanger manufacturer Alfa Laval has announced receiving the Asia Pacific District Cooling Equipment Manufacturer Award.

The award was presented on August 26 during the 3rd Annual Asia Pacific District Cooling Conference 2014 held from August 26-28, the announcement revealed.

The company was recognised for being a strong promoter of the Air-Conditioning, Heating, & Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) Liquid-to-liquid Heat Exchanger (LLHE) Certification Program to the HVAC/District Energy Industry, Alfa Laval said.

According to the company, AHRI Liquid to Liquid Heat Exchanger Certification program is currently the only third party performance certification available in the world for gasketed plate heat exchangers.

“The Alfa Laval AlfaQ series were the first heat exchangers to be certified in accordance with the LLHE certification standard, and they have met this performance standard for over a decade,” said Marcus Teo, Associate of ReEx Capital Asia, the organiser, citing comments from the judges.

“We are honoured to receive this award,” said Stefan Linde, Market Manager HVAC, Alfa Laval.

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happenings at large

EIA turns 30 Dubs them game-changing years of exposing environmental crime and exploitation

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he Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has announced turning 30 on September 17.

Tracing its three-decade history of campaigning to expose environmental crime and exploitation, EIA said that it began with three young activists seeking to make a difference and has grown into what it claimed to be a hugely effective organisation, driving changes in international law and putting the concept of organised transnational environmental crime onto

political agendas around the world.

According to EIA, it works on a wide range of environmental crimes, including illegal wildlife trade, illegal logging, hazardous waste and trade in climate- and ozonealtering chemicals, and has a strong focus on environmental criminality, dispatching investigators to work undercover with hidden cameras, false-front companies and assumed identities, often in harrowing

and potentially dangerous circumstances.

It revealed that it shares its findings with appropriate enforcement authorities for action and highlight issues to bring pressure to bear on them.

The agency has reportedly earned praise from its peers: “EIA has been the boots on the ground in this effort way before we came to the fight

VRF market enjoys steady growth in India

Expected to reach 30,000 units this year

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Engineering

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

Energy

Environment

… in the environmental movement, EIA is the equivalent of Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” said Louie Psihoyos, Director of the Oscar-winning documentary, The Cove.

“The reason for their success is not just the information gathered, it is the way they use it as a political lobbying tool,” BBC Wildlife Magazine stated.

n an exclusive communiqué to Climate Control Middle East magazine, Rajkumar S Iyer, Consultant at Mitsubishi Electric India Pvt Ltd, has revealed that the market in India has widely accepted VRF as an alternative solution for air conditioning from the traditional chilled water system.

Iyer has listed the following factors for the steady growth VRFs in the country: • Emerging tier II and III cities • Increasing investments and purchasing power • Companies with local manufacturing/ assembly facilities have an edge with overseas manufactures • Running cost V/s payback Observing that price rather than technology is the deciding factor, Iyer said: “Only a handful of segments is for a quality product or brand lovers, and the memory of the

market is very, very short.

Timely advertising and branding are key factors, in line with local culture for improving market share.”

By way of a disclaimer, Iyer added: “My comments are only personal after understanding the trend, and not on behalf of Mitsubishi Electric.

However, a JARN news report, echoing Iyer’s views said that demand for VRF systems in India was estimated at 24,000 units in 2013.

As calculated by cooling capacity, a total capacity of 300,000 hp has been reached in the Indian market, showing 15% year-on-year growth, the report stated. It went on to highlight that based on current economic development, the market was expected to continue growing at around 15% annually, with the sales volume of VRF systems expected to reach 30,000 units this year.

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marketplace

This section contains regional and international products information

*For more information on the latest HVAC products, please visit our website, www.climatecontrolme.com

Frese

Frese CirCon and TemCon thermostatic valves

D

ubbing them a new generation of valves, Frese has announced introducing CirCon and TemCon range of thermostatic valves for domestic hot water applications.

The manufacturer lists the following product features and benefits: n The Frese CirCon/TemCon range is constructed in stainless steel AISI 316 to ensure the highest resistance against corrosion and is designed to automatically control the temperature of the water that circulates through the valve, ensuring the thermal balance of the system. n The valves are made to meet the approved industry standards. n To further increase the energy efficiency of the product, the twin ranges are supplied with insulation as standard. n They have a PN10 pressure rating and are available in sizes DN15 and DN20 with female connections and DN20 with male connections. n They have a temperature range of 37°C to 65°C and are supplied pre-set as standard. n The Frese TemCon also has an additional bypass function for the periodic pasteurisation of the system with high temperature hot water to prevent the development and spread of bacterial issues such as Legionella. n This function can be operated manually or automatically by mounting a Frese actuator kit to the TemCon valve and connecting to the buildings BMS.

Yokogawa Electric Corporation

EP-Analytics – energy performance analytics software

Y

okogawa Electric Corporation has announced the November release of EP-Analytics, an energy performance analytics software tool.

Yokogawa claims that the tool uses energy performance indicators (EnPI) to track how energy is being consumed in a plant in real time, identifies gaps between EnPI targets and actual performance, and helps identify countermeasures to improve energy performance.

12

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

The manufacturer lists the following product features and benefits: n EP-Analytics software is based on Yokogawa’s knowhow in production processes and operations and is powered by Soteica’s Visual MESA energy management and optimisation technology. n The software runs on a workstation that is connected via an OPC interface to the control system, giving it access to pressure, temperature, flowrate, and other plant data. n It uses rigorous first principle models to track energy flows throughout the plant and calculate the energy performance for each individual process unit and piece of equipment. n It compares actual performance against expected energy performance to pinpoint underperforming units and equipment that helps plan specific countermeasures. n It supports ISO50001 methodologies, such as the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle, as well as activities such as management reviews. The British Standards Institution (BSI) has assessed the EP-Analytics software scope and functionality with regard to the key requirements of the ISO50001:2011E standard.

marketplace

This section contains regional and international products information

*For more information on the latest HVAC products, please visit our website, www.climatecontrolme.com

E Instruments International

AQ Comfort Handheld Indoor Air Quality Monitor and Data-Logger

T

outing it as the latest in Indoor Air Quality Monitoring and real-time data logging for IAQ analysis in homes, schools and offices, E Instruments International has announced introducing AQ Comfort Handheld Indoor Air Quality Monitor and Data-Logger.

The manufacturer lists the following product features and benefits:  With the AQ Comfort Handheld Indoor Air Quality Monitor, contractors and HVAC professionals can quickly

     

determine which residences need HVAC and ventilation components, thanks to the immediate response time provided by the internal sampling pump.

It is a convenient and compact all-in-one instrument that provides the HVAC professionals their own "comfort" audit.

It comes with CO2, temp, % RH, dew point, wet bulb.

It includes magnetic rubber boot, PC software and USB. It features Li-Ion rechargeable battery.

It offers optional CO sensor for safety.

It features an easy-to-use menu system.

Carrier Transicold

Citifresh units of refrigerated transport solution

C

laiming that they are designed to meet India’s growing demand for transportation of fruits, vegetables, dairy and confectionary products using longer refrigerated trucks, Carrier Transicold India has announced introducing new Citifresh range of refrigerated transport units.

The Citifresh range will be debuting at the National Center for Cold Chain Development’s “Farm to Fork” event in Bangalore, Carrier Transicold, a division of Carrier Airconditioning & Refrigeration, added.

The company lists the following product features and benefits:  The Citifresh range is ideal for transporting chilled products on medium- to large- commercial vehicles with a loading capacity of 16 to 55 cubic metres.  It can handle a broad chilled temperature range of 4°C to 22°C.

 The range operates in tandem with the truck engine and provides a high airflow of 2,200m3/hr, crucial for proper air circulation.  Its robust design and stainless steel evaporator are easy to install and maintain, as well as ideally suited for demanding applications, including high-ambient conditions of up to 50°C, while a dashboard-mounted DIN controller offers ease of use.  The Citifresh 500, the first unit to be introduced within the Citifresh range, uses non-ozone-depleting refrigerant R134a.  The unit’s high-efficiency compressor delivers refrigeration capacity up to 4,500 Watts in high ambient temperatures.  It has low initial cost and lower maintenance and operational costs.  It helps reduce food waste.  It comes with an extensive aftermarket service network, supported by a highly skilled team of certified technicians trained in the installation, maintenance and repair of Carrier Transicold refrigeration products.

E+E Elektronik

CO 2 transmitter series EE850 and EE820



 laiming that they provide clean measurements even in polluted environments, E+E Elektronik has announced introducing CO2 transmitter series EE850 and EE820.

The manufacturer lists the following product features and benefits:   The new CO2 transmitter series EE850 and EE820 allow highly accurate and reliable measurements of CO2 concentrations up to 10,000 ppm.  The applied infrared measurement principle – dual wavelength NDIR procedure (non-dispersive infrared technology) – is particularly insensitive to pollution.   The transmitter’s autocalibration function automatically compensates for aging effects.  The multi-point CO2 and temperature factory adjustment

C

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Climate Control Middle East September 2014

procedure leads to excellent CO2 measurement accuracy over the entire working temperature range.

The measured values are available as either analogue current or voltage outputs. An optional kit facilitates easy configuration and adjustment of the transmitters.

The EE850 CO2 and temperature transmitter for duct mounting is ideal for applications in building management or process control, as a mounting flange enables easy installation of the sensing probe directly into the ventilation duct.

The CO2 sensing cell is well protected inside the transmitter.

For CO2 measurement, a small amount of air flows through the divided probe, into the transmitter housing, and back into the duct. The temperature sensor is located inside the probe. The EE850 offers an additional option for a passive temperature sensor output with a two-wire connection.

The EE820 CO2 transmitter is designed for particularly demanding applications, with robust functional housing with a special integrated filter allowing for use in environments, such as agriculture, stables, incubators or greenhouses.

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happenings the region

DEWA starts work on transmission network across Dubai Will connect 17 locations to ensure reliable water, electricity supply

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ubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has announced commencing work on a 25-kilometer-long watertransmission network project across Dubai.

At a cost of AED 170 million, the project will connect 17 locations with the main transmission lines to increase flow, ensure reliable supply and raise the network pressure to meet current and future demands, the announcement highlighted.

“In line with its strategy and plans to meet developmental requirements that align with the Dubai

H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer

Strategic Plan, DEWA is upgrading the efficiency and capacity of the infrastructure to generate, transmit and distribute electricity and water to secure the needs of customers, developers and other business categories in light of the ongoing increase in demand on electricity and water,” said H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA. Al Tayer explained that the project included extending Glass-Reinforced-Epoxy (GRE) main water pipelines in different diameters, in addition to a remote control and monitoring system. “Work on extending and launching the main water transmission network is expected to be completed by the end of 2015,” he concluded.

Empower signs US$127.8 mn financing agreement Dubai Islamic Bank facility aims to fund Empower’s development plans in Dubai’s Business Bay area

E

mpower, the Dubaiheadquartered District Cooling services provider, has announced securing a US$127.8 million financing from Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), marking the first Islamic financing-facility availed by the company.

The facility has been

granted for a five-year period payable over halfyearly instalments to fund Empower’s multi-plant District Cooling network in Dubai’s Business Bay area, the announcement elaborated.

The Business Bay District Cooling network will eventually consist of

Dr Adnan Chilwan and Ahmad Bin Shafar

16

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

350,000 Refrigeration Tonnes (RT) worth of capacity for business, retail and residential buildings across this rapidly expanding neighbourhood, Empower informed.

The DIB funding has reportedly been based on a Mudaraba financing structure and has been provided on a standalone basis.

“The agreement between Empower and Dubai Islamic Bank is an important milestone, as this is the first bilateral deal between the two entities,” said Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO, Empower, commenting on the agreement. “We are looking forward to our partnership that will support the development of a world-class

District Cooling network in the United Arab Emirates.”

Dr Adnan Chilwan, CEO, Dubai Islamic Bank, added: “DIB is on an established growth agenda, successfully executing the next phase of its medium-term strategy. A key component of this phase is alignment to initiatives and entities that are critical to, and support the infrastructural development of Dubai.

We view Empower as an organisation integral to the growth and development of the Emirate and welcome its first foray into Islamic finance.”

happenings the region

Empower CEO receives special recognition from Board of Directors His leadership role in company’s success acknowledged

Ahmad bin Shafar, Empower’s CEO receives the special recognition certificate from H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, in the presence of other senior officials

E

mpower has announced that Ahmad bin Shafar, its CEO has received special recognition from the company’s Board of Directors for his leadership.

The recognition comes in the wake of the company successfully expanding its portfolio from 250,000 Refrigeration Tonnes (RT) to an estimated one million

RT in 2013, signalling a 30% cumulative growth during this five-year period, the announcement added.

According to Empower, it recently finalised an agreement with TECOM Investments’ to provide 120,000 RT District Cooling services for Dubai Design District (d3) project. The multi-phase AED750 million

World Future Energy Summit in 2015 Will take stock of global energy developments

I

n an official communiqué, World Future Energy Summit (WFES) has announced that its eighth edition will take place from

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January 19-22, 2015 in Abu Dhabi.

Business leaders from 170 countries and 30,000 policymakers are expected to

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

development will reportedly boost Empower’s portfolio by nearly 12%, with the first phase expected to begin in Q4 of this year.

Commenting on the success of the company, H.E. Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board, said: “Since its birth in 2003, Empower has emerged as the world’s largest District

come together to take stock of all the important energy developments around the world and discuss the pursuit of a secure, safe and reliable energy to power world economic growth, the communiqué added.

According to WFES organisers, the various sessions chalked out will reflect and respond to the most critical concerns and needs regarding energy

Cooling services provider due to its constant growth and capacity expansion.

Empower has followed the vision of a green economy of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai. The company’s solid progress over the last decade makes it a unique success story that can be attributed to Ahmad Bin Shafar’s leadership of a 600 strong team.”

On receiving the recognition, Bin Shafar added: “Our success is a group effort and could not have been possible without the contribution of each and every employee. As a Dubai company, we have the responsibility of fulfilling the vision of the government that not only satisfies the demand for current residents but also provides valuable and lasting services for future generations.”

worldwide, help pinpoint opportunities for growth and profitability and provide access to the best thinking, best practices and innovations in clean energy deployment.

Key Growth Markets; Finance; Business & Industry; Integration & Deployment; and Next Wave of Innovation are reportedly the key themes and tracks of the 2015 Summit.

happenings the region

Systemair conducts seminar Focus on AHUs, fans and air curtains

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ystemair, dealing in HVAC products, conducted its inaugural seminar on September 16 at Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai.

Held under the rubrics of ‘Energy-Efficient Solutions’ it was helmed by a team of Systemair experts from its European operations. Mike Hurrie, Product Manager addressed the issue of fans, while Fatih Gulcemal, Export Sales Manager, focused on Air Handling Units, with Pontus Grimberg, International Sales Director, Frico, speaking on air curtains.

Hakkan Lenjesson, Marketing Director, Systemair, presenting the

20

company overview, said, “The future does not belong to the largest companies, but the fastest”, setting the general tone of the seminar.

Grimberg, highlighting issues on air curtains observed that the possibilities with an open door are that they offer uninterrupted vision and attract visitors and customers.

However, he pointed out that they allowed valuable thermal energy (cooled air) to rush out. “It is important to keep air conditioned air inside, and that’s where as is well known, air curtains step in to help,” he said, and underscored: “So, the whole thing is about saving energy, saving money,

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

saving the planet. We can reduce the size of the air conditioning unit through installing air curtains.”

Apart from thermal problems (valuable cool air rushing out) in the absence of air curtains, there is the problem of sand and fumes rushing into the building, so air curtains have a role to play there, as well, he highlighted.

Air curtains, he said, are invaluable not only in commercial office buildings and residential buildings, but also in cold storages, where there is a need to maintain temperatures at -23°C. He went on to list the problems arising out of lack of air curtains in cold storages: • Huge energy losses • Ice on the floor • Temperature rise in cols sections • Frost as a result of leaking plastic strips (where they install plastic strips instead of air curtains) Pointing out that air curtains are a good replacement for plastic strips, Grimberg said: “Now, two questions arise: “Are there any standards for air curtains?

And how do we measure the effectiveness of air curtains?”

Systemair, with 40 years of experience in creating air curtains, can realise 70-75% energy savings, if air curtains are installed correctly, he claimed. He cited the size of opening (width and height) and loads as two

among several factors to be considered while selecting air curtains. A better criterion, Grimberg believed, would be to compare the power of air barriers at floor level.

“Will air curtains with the same velocity at the floor level give the same barrier?” he asked and said that the answer would be ‘Yes’.

Hurrie, during his session, spoke on EC technology (electronically commutated motors). “The natural greenhouse gases (GHGs) raise the temperature, else the Earth would experience a temperature of -18°C,” he pointed out. “So, GHGs are needed, but not in excess,” he observed.

Highlighting that the complete power consumption of fans in Europe was 344 TwH per year and expected to rise to 560 TwH by 2020, Hurrie conceded that fans consumed a lot of power. In light of this, saving energy and money and reducing CO2 could be achieved through EC motors in fans, he claimed.

He cited variable input and versatile technology as the two main advantages with EC motors. Using of energysaving EC motors; setting fans to the correct working point; and demand control needed to be part of the drill, he said, and concluded, “By 2017, all nations in Europe must fulfill IE3 requirement, so that’s the target.”

AHRI to serve on Industry Advisory Committee to SASO Saudi Arabia to continue MEPS work for commercial AC with industry inputs

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ir-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), in a policy brief has revealed that it will serve on an Industry Advisory Committee to the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) that intends to publish labeling requirements and minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia this year.

The requirements and MEPS would go into effect in two stages, in January 2016

and January 2017, the brief informed.

According to AHRI, The new MEPS cover an extensive list of categories of equipment: air conditioners (AC); condensing units; chillers; variable refrigerant flow units; and ACs and condensing units for computer rooms. The committee’s recommendations on MEPS levels, reference standards, implementation timing, and testing and inspection procedures will be reviewed

and possibly amended by the Board of the Saudi Energy Efficiency Committee (SEEC), and forwarded to SASO for approval and publication, AHRI elaborated.

At the committee’s most recent meeting on August 31 in Riyadh, the group reportedly discussed testing and inspection procedures to be applied by Saudi Customs and Ministry of Commerce and Industry officials when the standard comes into force.

The news brief informed

that in addition to AHRI staff, the following AHRI members and participants in the AHRI global certification programme attended the meeting: Awal, Carrier Corporation, Daikin, Johnson Controls, LG Electronics, Rheem, Petra Engineering, Zamil Air Conditioners and Home Appliances and Trane.

The testing laboratories that attended were: Motabaqah, Bureau Veritas, TUV Rheinland, Applus, UL and Intertek.

October 2014 www.climatecontrolme.com

21

happenings the region

IRENA launches REthinking Energy

IRENA launches REthinking Energy, says global shift to renewable power urgently needed

Chief Strategist and Renewable Energy Team Leader at King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE), Dr Ibrahim Babelli; IRENA DirectorGeneral, Adnan Z Amin; Director of the Energy and Climate Change Department of the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UAE permanent representative to IRENA, Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi; and Head of Regulatory Affairs for Enel Green Power, Felice Egidi.

S

peeding up the adoption of renewable energy technologies is the most feasible route to reduce carbon emissions and avoid catastrophic climate change, says the first edition of the report, REthinking Energy, released recently by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

According to IRENA, the report draws on worldwide research and analysis and reviews progress in the world’s transition to a sustainable energy future, while focusing on the global power sector and how technological advances, economic growth and climate change are transforming it.

Speaking at the launch event, UAE Minister of State, H.E. Dr Sultan Al Jaber, called REthinking Energy a “game-changer” and observed that it marked an important milestone in IRENA’s development as a centre of knowledge for the renewable energy industry.

Adnan Z Amin, IRENA 22

Director-General, added: “A convergence of social, economic and environmental forces are transforming the global energy system as we know it. But if we continue on the path we are currently on and fuel our growing

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

economies with outmoded ways of thinking and acting, we will not be able to avoid the most serious impacts of climate change. He highlighted the urgent need of bringing renewables into the mainstream to prepare

for this transformation.

H.E. Suhail AlMazroui, UAE Minister of Energy was also in attendance at the event, along with other high-level officials from the public and private sector.

Founded to lead Allied Consultants Ltd is a dynamic consultant corporation that is poised to capture substantial market share in one of the fastest growing service industries in the country, Electro-Mechanical building services.

The firm was established in 1997 to provide consulting services for the design, technical assistance, site supervision, and project management of Electro-Mechanical systems including Fire Fighting and Life Safety Design services.

Engineering and Project Management Allied Consultants 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, Kingdom 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, district cooling and power generation plants. The company is planning to expand in the Gulf region, the Middle East and Africa and has acquired the resources and knows how to maintain the target growth.

Allied Consultants was announced as the District Cooling Best Consulting Firm in Climate Control Awards 2011, and was given Empower’s Excellence Award 2007 for the contribution in the design of several district cooling plants in Dubai. Allied Consultants is honored to write two chapters of ASHRAE’s newly published DISTRICT COOLING GUIDE.

Cairo Head Office:

Dubai Branch Office:

Branches:

11b/1 US Aid St., Maadi, Cairo, Egypt Tel.: (202) 25161610 / 25163737 Fax: (202) 27549849 E-mail: admin@alliedco.org

Al Yassmen Bldg., Deira, Dubai, UAE Tel.: 0971 4 2978500 Fax: 0971 4 265 2192 E-mail: alliedae@eim.ae

• Jeddah, KSA • Toronto, Canada

www.alliedco.org

happenings the region

Climaveneta opens new subsidiaries in Russia and ME Strengthening company’s direct presence part of expansion strategy

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limaveneta, dealing in HVAC and HPAC systems, has announced strengthening its presence in Russia and the Middle East by opening two new subsidiaries.

Climaveneta, headquartered in Moscow will have responsibility of the Russian

and the Euroasian Economic Union countries, while “Climaveneta Middle East, headquartered in Dubai will be responsible for the UAE as well as the Gulf region, the announcement elaborated.

The two new subsidiaries will operate as business

units as well as coordinating an extensive network of distributing partners, dealers and service centres to ensure appropriate market coverage and customer support in their areas of responsibility, Climaveneta said.

The company, which has

already been operating in the two regions for several years, highlighted that this was part of its expansion strategy in markets with potential.

Corroborating this, Maurizio Marchesini, Climaveneta’s Managing Director, said: “The completion of these two operations is a further successful step in an expansion strategy we have been pursuing for some time now. Despite current turmoil in these areas, these markets are of great potential with strategic importance for Climaveneta.”

Winners of the Middle East Municipalities Excellence Awards felicitated Event held in conjunction with the 4th GCC Municipalities and Smart Cities Conference

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he Middle East Excellence Awards Institute has announced honouring the winners of the Middle East Municipalities Excellence Award on September 25 at the Burj Al Arab Hotel.

The ceremony attended by regional and global dignitaries was held in conjunction with the 4th GCC Municipalities and Smart Cities Conference, the announcement added.

The awards honour exceptional municipalities and its officials who have brought recognition to their respective constituency, community and country through their achievements, the Institute elaborated.

The chief guest of the event, Sayed Agha, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Representative, in his keynote address reportedly stressed the emerging role of technologies and municipalities in developing a globally competitive region 24

and discussed the role of smart cities in this era.

The awards, he added, focused and scrutinised the path-breaking achievements and paradigm shift of the region towards smart infrastructure.

The Middle East Excellence Awards Institute shared the following list of winners of the 2014 Middle East Municipalities Excellence Awards:

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

• Middle East Urban Development Planning Excellence Award: Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, Saudi Arabia • Middle East Public Facilities Management Excellence Award: Dubai Municipality • Middle East Utilities Usage and Management Excellence Award: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority – DEWA • Middle East New Urban and New Housing Project Excellence Award: Abu Dhabi Municipality • Middle East Culture and Heritage Preservation Excellence Award: Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities • Middle East Infrastructure Development Excellence Award: Alriyadh Municipality • Middle East e-Municipality Excellence Award: Dubai Municipality • Middle East Infrastructure Asset Management

Excellence Award: Njoom Alslam Real Estate Investment and Development, Saudi Arabia • Middle East Institutional Performance Excellence Award: Municipality of Taif City, Saudi Arabia • Middle East Environment and Natural Resource Protection Excellence Award: Abu Dhabi Municipality • Middle East Green Environment Development Excellence Award: Al Ain Municipality • Middle East Waste Management and Recycling Excellence Award: Tadweer, The Center of Waste Management, Abu Dhabi • Middle East Food Safety Excellence Award: Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority • Middle East Municipalities Knowledge Management Development Excellence Award: Dubai Central Laboratory

Bry-Air holds workshop Focuses on dehumidifiers and IAQ

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ry-Air, part of the Pahwa Group and avowed inventor of rotary silica gel dehumidifier, held a workshop on September 11at Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai.

The company, whose dehumidification technology has applications across sectors like pharma, food, data centres, O&G and iron and steel, among others, with its Asian operations supporting R&D activities, also reportedly provides TDS solutions – air solutions on rent, in the form of compact dehumidifiers for oil tank undergoing painting work.

Given Bry-Air’s areas of involvement, the workshop went in-depth into dehumidification, with presentations touching upon IAQ, energy recovery solutions, evaporative cooling and chilled beams.

Moisture is the hidden enemy and leads to mould,

mildew, rusting and decomposition, the workshop highlighted, and stressed that these were areas where dehumidification helped.

In his presentation Dinesh Gupta, President, Bry Air (Asia), drawing a wide arc, spoke about the following: • Silica gel, a desiccant and an agent for dehumidification • The company’s plug-andplay dehumidifiers • Pre-project planning and the need for optimising solutions – the importance of putting specifications as per requirements • The importance of estimating the moisture load when it comes to ascertaining the specs required.

Gupta highlighted that moisture load sources were: permeation, wet surfaces, fresh air, fixed openings,

ACREX15_185x90_climate_control_MIDDLE_EAST.indd 1

occupancy, doors, etc.

“Depending on their presence or absence, you will have to size the dehumidification load,” he advised.

Paints on walls peel off because moisture is rupturing the paint, and tiles will jump due to moisture, he pointed out, and cautioned, “Vapour has huge pressure, do not trap it.”

Leakages through ducting (external), windows and doors were problems to look out for, Gupta said, and highlighted the following two vapour barrier treatment guidelines as important aspect of dehumidification: 1. Must be continuous, without breaks or tear 2. All lap joining must be tightly closed (this is particularly critical when mechanical or caulked joints are used) Gupta went on to speak about various dehumidification systems,

with the main options being: • Standalone • Packaged (engineered) – heat/cool (humidifying, dehumidifying), heat recovery and filtration/ dust control • Customisation – pre-cool and after cool Saying that there were many more customisation options, Gupta revealed that desiccant rotors were being manufactured in-house at Bry-Air. “We use them with a flange, which gives maximum area for dehumidification; the flanges are stainless steel (SS), and are, therefore long-lasting,” he claimed.

A few of the applications for dehumidifiers, he enumerated were: Swimming pools, museums, archives, libraries, hospitals, falcon breeding grounds, aviation and defence. These areas particularly require temperature and humidity control, he advised.

In museums, humidity results in decay of paper, parchments, photographic films, and magnetic tapes can have mould formation, Gupta warned.

October 2014 www.climatecontrolme.com 25 19.08.14 14:20

happenings the region

Drake & Scull wins DC contract in Qatar Plant will supply chilled water to completed buildings in Lusail City

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ccording to a BNC Networks’ September 9 news report, Drake & Scull International (DSI) has announced that its engineering (MEP & Water and Power) business Drake & Scull Engineering (DSE) has won a contract worth USD 29.9-million for a District Cooling Plant at Lusail City in Qatar.

According to the report, under the terms of the agreement, DSE Qatar will design and build a District Cooling plant with a capacity of 14,250 tonnes of refrigeration to

supply chilled water to the completed buildings in Lusail City by July 2015.

In addition, DSE Qatar will undertake civil work for the project as required

by Qatar General Electricity and Water Cooperation (Kahramaa) standards, the report highlighted. The project is being developed

by Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, it added.

DSI Qatar reportedly revealed that it aimed to bid for more projects in the country's transportation sector.

Underscoring this, the BNC report quoted Karem Akawi, Area General Manager, Drake & Scull Qatar, as saying: “We are aiming to expand into the

country’s new and upcoming sectors, such as Rail and we look forward to playing a pioneering role in Qatar’s public transport sector.”

UTC holds Distinguished Sustainability Lecture Series in SA Event advances green building dialogue

U

TC Building & Industrial Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp, has announced holding its Distinguished Sustainability Lecture Series in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on September 9.

The event brought together more than 200 sustainability thought leaders, energyefficiency experts and green building professionals from countries with emerging economies, and featured presentations by experts in sustainable planning and construction, and also included green building training, the announcement added.

“With buildings in the 26

Middle East accounting for more than 50% of the region’s energy consumption, we place sustainability and energy efficiency at the core of our building solutions,” said Rolando Furlong, Vice President, UTC Building & Industrial Systems, Middle East & Turkey.

John Mandyck, Chief Sustainability Officer, UTC Building & Industrial Systems, added: “Saudi Arabia has already shown strong interest in strengthening its green building presence. We hope our discussions here this week will help further drive advancements and shape the decisions made for years to come.”

Launched in the Middle East in 2011, the

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

John Mandyck

Distinguished Sustainability Lecture Series, has reached more than 2,500 professionals through 21 events in Brazil,

China, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and the UAE.

happenings the region

comings &goings Pacific Control Systems appoints new CBO Vijay Kumar will oversee all facets of the company’s business development strategies

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acific Control Systems (PCS), dealing in ICTenabled solutions, IoT (Internet of Things) innovations and converged engineering solutions for buildings and infrastructure projects, has announced that Vijay Kumar has joined its executive team as Chief Business Officer.

In his new position, he will oversee all facets of the company’s business development strategies, the

announcement added.

Giving details, PCS said that prior to joining PCS, Kumar held the position of Vice President at Imergy Power, as well as strategic regional positions at Johnson Controls, Honeywell and United Technologies, and brings with him over 25 years of experience in the domain of energy management and optimisation.

Of his several achievements, Kumar is

reportedly recognised for his efforts in propagating the use of Open Communication Protocols that facilitate seamless integration of building systems, and was a founding member of ASHRAE Emirates Falcon Chapter as well as the BACnet Interest Group, Middle East.

Welcoming the new CBO to the organisation, Dilip Rahulan, Executive Chairman, PCS, said: “He

joins the company at a time Pacific Controls has been positioned at the forefront of global IoT innovators by a recent Harbor Research study. It’s time to cater to more valued customers and prospective associates on a larger scale, and Mr Kumar’s leadership would significantly contribute to this strategy.”

Kumar, on his part expressed his pleasure at being a part of PCS.

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Climate Control Middle East October 2014

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happenings the region

IQPC conducts MEP Contractors Summit Focus on building regulations, innovations in energy saving, sustainability and safety in the region

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onference organisers IQPC (International Quality & Product Center) on September 15 and 16 conducted the MEP Contractors Middle East Summit at the Grand Millennium Hotel, Dubai.

Held in an ethos of observable activity in the construction sector across the Gulf region having a positive percolating effect on MEP projects, the two-day summit, featured innovations taking place in the Middle East, a BIM Master Class on Day One and a HVAC and Energy Efficiency Master Class on Day 2.

The first panel was titled, ‘MEP Contractors Panel: Insight into the current Middle Eastern MEP Industry and the trends which will impact the Gulf’s construction sector’, involving panelists, Devender Kant, Director, ETA Ascon Star Group; Murali Serpakkam, Managing Director, Al Futtaim Engineering; and Dr Ozan Koseoglu, Head of Program & Design Management, Capital Partners. George Berbari, the CEO, DC PRO Engineering, was the moderator.

In his opening remarks Berbari said: “There are 200 million split ACs every year worldwide, making air conditioning affordable.

VRFs and District Cooling are two approaches that are stealing the market from miniducted splits. When it comes to chilled water schemes, I still don’t see metering and verification. I don’t see submetering, and if you can’t report to management on the performance of the scheme, you cannot improve.”

He pointed out that the cost of MEP is AED 900/square metres in the region and the average consumption in the 30

region is 225 kW per square metre per year, while in Europe, it is 15 kW per square metre per year. “So, why are we still building inefficient buildings?” he asked, and stated that best practices were still far from being achieved in the region.

Berbari underscored that Global warming was catching up, and termed it the biggest human failure. Stressing the need to believe that remedial efforts will take effect, he said: “Just see what we have been able to achieve in the case of the ozone layer. The hole in the ozone layer is shrinking, because we have moved away from CFCs.” Panelist Kant said that with Dubai winning the bid to host the EXPO 2020, many new

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

projects were being announced and that the construction needed to be prepared. The expectation of clients, he pointed out, was for reliable cooling, but that didn’t mean one could overdesign. The focus, he said, needed to be on energy efficiency and meeting government regulations.

Added Serpakkam, “I believe we need to look at the past without regret and look at tomorrow without fear.” But he insisted it was time to introspect on what the construction industry had done in the past decade.

“Technology affects us after it has had its impact in other sectors,” he cautioned, and said that the sector needed to temper its excitement about opportunities arising

out of 2020 and look at the possibility of project delays.

“It will be a competitive industry, but I hope we don’t take up jobs that we later regret,” he warned, and urged for greater thinking and aligning job acquisition with larger objectives of the organisation. “Hopefully, there will be greater partnerships and collaborations,” he said, to help bring together a “fragmented” industry.

Dr Ozan, on his part, highlighted the pivotal role played by the MEP sector, as getting MEP design right was critical to projects. “It has to be environmentally friendly and that can be done only with good design-construction principles, he said. “We need innovative contractors on site and close working association with MEP engineers. The responsibility is on everybody.

I am talking about integrated project delivery. It’s time to look at the whole lifecycle costing to optimise design and open costing.”

Serpakkam, taking the discussion forward spoke of the dilemma faced by MEP contractors: “You work in two kinds of project environments.

In the first ecosystem, the owner will not accept any changes. What we have is what we will build. If the designer makes any change, time goes out of the window, and that’s not acceptable to the owner. In the second kind, they look at lifecycle costs and opex, and if there is a small recovery in opex, it is okay.”

The Summit in general focused on building regulations in the Gulf region and the construction industry’s move towards energy saving, sustainability and safety in MEP design and engineering.

Leminar signs agreement with Soler & Palau Will distribute S&P’s product range across UAE and Qatar

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eminar Air Conditioning Company, a member of the Al Sharawi Group, has announced signing an exclusive distribution agreement with Soler & Palau (S&P), a European ventilation manufacturer. According to the terms of the agreement, Leminar will hold sole distribution rights to sell S&P ventilation units and fans to customers across the UAE and Qatar, the announcement elaborated.

Present at the agreement signing were Joan Miro Romos, Jordi Canet Casabayo and Amer Ahmed Fauri of S&P and Navin Valrani,

Pramodh Idicheria and Vijaya Bhaskar of Leminar, the announcement added.

The agreement, said Leminar, will provide existing partners and customers across the region with increased sales, pre sales and support services with regional offices in Dubai and Qatar.

“We are extremely excited at the prospect of distributing S&P’s product range across UAE and Qatar, and we will not be satisfied with anything but the market leadership position in the Ventilation Industry,” said Valrani, Leminar’s CEO.

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31

ASHRAE

For more updates on ASHRAE, visit the News section of our website, www.climatecontrolme.com

UPDATE

ASHRAE Addenda to IAQ Standard open for public comment ASHRAE proposes alternative compliance path for existing buildings

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ecognising that the ventilation rate procedure in its Indoor Air Quality standard may be difficult to apply in existing buildings, ASHRAE is proposing an alternative compliance path.

Revealing this in a communiqué, ASHRAE elaborated that the proposed Addendum B is one of six addenda to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2013, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality is open for public comment from September 5 to October 5.

According to ASHRAE, responding to increasing interest in sustainability in existing buildings, Standard 62.1 is cited frequently as a criterion for evaluating ventilation systems in existing buildings.

Some building categories, such as K-12 schools and office buildings, are frequently

renovated and often have multiple zone systems that provide HVAC to similar space types.

In light of this, ASHRAE explained that Section 6 (including the ventilation rate procedure) of the standard was developed as a design standard. As such, Section 6 and Normative Appendix A have the complexity to allow for many complex system designs and airflow pathways.

The scope of the standard, said ASHRAE, states in part that “the provisions of this standard are not intended to be applied retroactively when the standard is used as a mandatory regulation or code.”

“For existing buildings, it may be difficult to apply the ventilation rate procedure (VRP), particularly for buildings with multiple-zone recirculating

ventilation systems,” Roger Hedrick, Chair of the Standard 62.1 committee, highlighted. “This is because determination of some of the values needed to calculate ventilation rates may be difficult or impossible, because required information is not available.”

The proposed Addendum B provides an alternative path of compliance that is needed by the marketplace for those situations where information required to determine system performance is unavailable or for smaller facilities with straightforward multiple zone applications, he explained.

ASHRAE added that further details and other addenda open for public comment are available at: www.ashrae.org/ publicreviews.

ASHRAE Falcon Chapter and Rochester Institute sign MOU Will collaborate to promote codes and standards at local and national levels

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Signing of the MoU by Dr Yousef Al Assaf, President of RIT Dubai, and Dr Ahmed Alaa Eldin Mohamed, Regional Vice Chair GGAC Region at Large, in the presence of Dr Khaled Khawaja, Vice President, RIT; Eng Bassel Anbari, Nominating Committee Chair, Region at Large; and Dr Ghalib Kahwaji, Chair of Mechanical Engineering Department, RIT Dubai, as well as BOG and Co-chair of Student Activity, at ASHRAE Falcon Chapter.

32

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

SHRAE Falcon Chapter UAE and Rochester Institute of Technology (AFC and RIT), Dubai, have signed a memorandum of understanding to advance mutual interest of their respective members and to commit to work together.

Sharing this information in a communiqué, AFC elaborated that the MoU ensuring the collaboration between the two entities would promote codes and standards at local and national levels, education of legislators on issues important to the members and explore opportunities to develop new courses and training programmes to take advantage of their overlapping and complementary expertise.

The MoU would, therefore, reportedly encourage members of the two institutions to participate in technical committees and task forces and provide opportunities to comment on proposed standards, guidelines and policies developed on technical subjects.

Precast concrete market set to accelerate in GCC Predicted to help Expo 2020 and World Cup 2022 construction targets

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MV Live exhibitions has forecast through an official communiqué that precast concrete will be a major part of Dubai’s 2020 build programme

for structures that can be disassembled afterwards and relocated.

Demand for precast concrete in the construction sector is increasing as

Tower Tech to open Dubai depot

Cooling tower rental equipment manufacturer aims to stock up on inventory of its patented technology for DC, oil & gas and power generation sectors

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S-headquartered cooling tower rental company, Tower Tech will open a rental depot in the UAE in January. The initiative is part of Tower Tech’s strategy to serve the regional market.

Revealing this in an interview with Climate Control Middle East, the company said that the depot will have an initial inventory of 5,000 tonnes.

As the move succeeds, the depot will get additional inventory by May 2015 and continue growing its inventory, informed Dan Coday, Tower Tech’s Sales Manager (Offshore FRP Towers).

“We will be here with a strong rental inventory,” Coday said.

“Our competitors are using the conventional cooling tower approach to rentals, so their inventory can typically cater to only smaller applications, and there are not that

developers realise how its use can speed up completion time in major projects, the communiqué added.

The observations were based on a report by construction intelligence consultancy, Ventures Onsite, released in collaboration with the Middle East Concrete (MEC) and PMV Live exhibitions.

The report highlighted that while it would be used in high-end projects slated for construction from next year for Dubai’s Expo 2020, Qatar’s increased investment in infrastructure projects in the run-up to the World Cup 2022 had boosted demand for precast products, and Saudi Arabia would be using the products to help meet government targets of 500,000 new homes.

The use of precast concrete will reportedly be discussed

at the Middle East Concrete exhibition, in two technical seminars.

Middle East Concrete and PMV Live will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre running from 17-20 November.

In this context, Bashar Abou Mayaleh, Managing Director at Middle East Concrete exhibitor Hard Precast Building Systems, said, “Developers are attracted to precast concrete as it can greatly reduce the duration of a project as well as the cost....”

Nathan Waugh, Event Director for Middle East Concrete and PMV Live, added, “The precast concrete market offers enormous opportunities to local producers and to developers here in the region.”

many smaller applications here.”

Specifically speaking of the technology, Coday said the design of Tower Tech’s cooling towers was unique and tailor-made for the region with its traditional tightness of real estate footprint. “Our air intake is from below, as opposed to on the side, so we can install a lot more capacity in a much smaller space,” Coday explained. Typically, it is essential to leave a gap of three metres in between units, but since the fans in Tower Tech’s patented technology are positioned below, the installations can be compact in nature, Coday added.

Tower Tech reportedly aims to rent out over 100,000 tonnes of equipment in the next four to five years in the region, and besides the District Cooling sector, the mix of clients would include players in the oil & gas and power generation sectors.

October 2014 www.climatecontrolme.com

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happenings the region

New medical facilities in GCC region register growth To reach USD 9.53 billion by year end

I

n a news release, the organisers of The Big 5 have shared the information that contracts for new medical facilities across the GCC region are expected to reach USD 9.53 billion by the end of 2014 – a 25% increase on 2013.

Citing Dubai Health Authority (DHA), the news release said that Dubai plans to attract 500,000 patients for treatment by 2020 as part of its drive to become a centre for medical excellence in the region. To cater to the expected stream of patients,

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18 private and four public hospitals will be built over the next few years, the DHA reportedly said.

The Big 5 news release listed additional statistical data: • Saudi Arabia is expected to triple healthcare expenditure across the region, according to Frost & Sullivan.

• In Kuwait, the Ministry of Health has awarded local company, Sayed Hamid Behbehani & Sons, the construction contract for the Farwaniya Hospital expansion. Kuwait is also

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

investing in the USD 1.26 billion New Jahra hospital project, currently under tender for construction.

Underscoring this, Andy White, Group Event Director of The Big 5, said: “Rising populations and changing demographics are creating a need for more specialised facilities, and in turn driving demand for more buildings.

This is providing yet another opportunity for the region’s construction sector, and firms are getting the chance to work on some of the most exciting healthcare projects.”

In light of this, The Big 5 said that construction professionals involved in the development of healthcare facilities will converge in Dubai at The Big 5 building and construction exhibition, where participants will have access to information and products vital to the delivery of these medical projects, including insights from key experts in the industry presenting at conferences and workshops.

The Big 5 runs from November 17-20 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

UAE retail sector surges with 33% growth Construction will increase to meet demand, forecasts market report

T

he UAE’s retail sector is expected to grow over 33% by 2015, according to a September 2014 report

by Ventures Middle East, released in conjunction with The Big 5 building and construction exhibition.

This is attracting investment into other countries in the GCC, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman, and to a lesser extent Qatar and Bahrain, the report said.

Citing the report, a news release from The Big 5 said that new developments on

the horizon include Dubai’s recently announced Mall of the World entertainment and hotel district, which will have the world’s largest mall, spread across eight million square metres, at an estimated cost of USD 6.8 billion.

Leading shopping projects across the region reportedly include the Vendome Mall at Lusail in Qatar, under construction at an estimated value of USD 1.37 billion, the planned Al Diriyah Festival City in Saudi Arabia, which has a value of USD 1.6 billion,

and the planned Muscat Festival City Mall in Oman.

In this context, George Kostas, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim – Properties, said: “We expect an even greater investment in the retail and tourism sector in the lead-up to the Expo 2020.... To meet these future demands, Majid Al Futtaim has committed to over AED 3bn (USD 817m) of new investment across our Dubai portfolio.”

Andy White, Group Event Director of The Big

5, added: “We are seeing increased activity across the entire GCC as countries continue to position themselves as destinations for major tourism events.

Increasingly, visitors to The Big 5 are sourcing products for retail projects and we continue to develop our event to help professionals take advantage of this exciting opportunity.”

The Big 5 will be held from November 17-20 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

October 2014 www.climatecontrolme.com

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happenings the region

UAE Ministry of Energy to have five new directorates H.E. Al Mazrouei says the additional protfolios will focus on energy conservation and efficiency, among other objectives

T

he UAE Ministry of Energy held a press conference on September 22 at the Ministry of Energy in Abu Dhabi, where H.E. Eng Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei, the UAE Minister of Energy, shared with the media information regarding the new structure and specialities in the Ministry.

At the press conference, the Minister announced that the mandate of the Ministry of Energy had changed to enable it to deal with new challenges facing the world, which included diversity and diversification of energy and the need for a strategic plan for sustainability. The mandate had also changed to regulate new forms of

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energy, like Renewable Energy, he added.

He shared the information that his Ministry had proposed an organisational structuring to enlarge the workforce. There is to be an over 60% increase in the current organisation and it will have five new directorates, the Minister revealed.

An important objective was conservation of energy and improving energy efficiency, he underscored, and gave details of the roles assigned to the five new directorates: The first directorate has been assigned with the role of conservation and energy efficiency. The second directorate will focus on the Ministry’s participation in

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

international organisations, while the third directorate will concentrate on clean energy and climate change.

The fourth directorate will oversee organisational development, and the fifth directorate has been tasked to deal with crisis management and be ready for any crisis in the energy sector in the UAE. “In all, there will be 60 new posts, and we will be hiring till 2016 and will be hiring as per the budget,” the Minister informed. He further elaborated: “The Ministry has a very high percentage of UAE nationals – over 80%. And we are very proud of the achievement. In the new organisational set up, we will try to keep the same percentage of UAE nationals.

We will be hiring people with high technical proficiency.

We are appreciative of the management of Masdar to give us 10 seats for those who would like to specialise in Renewable Energy. And we will be able to hire those people after they graduate.”

After making the announcements, the Minister took on questions from the media.

Answering a question from a journalist on how the ministry was going to manage the federal law versus local laws, he replied: “Whenever we are establishing a new law, we consult all authority bodies and only then do we draft it and send it to Legal.

And once endorsed, it is supported by everyone. And the regulation will be worldclass and we hope to compete with the best in the world.”

To a query whether the new directorate on conservation was top priority, the Minister responded: “Conservation is very important. The average percentage per capita is three times the world average when it comes to power consumption, and we don’t like the number. The consumption is driven by subsidy, and the directorate will be there to ensure that the wastage of energy consumption is controlled.

The conservation law will tackle higher consumption level. We are also concerned with the level of pollution. Even though low when compared to other countries, we are trying to reduce. We appreciate the introduction of mass transportation initiatives.

Etihad Rail is on its way to becoming reality, and Dubai already has a tram service. Of course, we will have a natural increase in consumption, and we are trying to increase refinery capacity. The natural increase will be owing to growing population.”

Rob Thornton, IDEA

interview

More than anything, some of the findings are well represented

by Saudi Aramco.

'If we can produce one unit of efficiency,'they said, 'that's 4.2 units of oil' You are coming back with the IDEA conference to the Middle East after a gap of a few years. How has the District Cooling scenario changed since then? Do you see a more accommodative attitude towards District Cooling than during the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers?

The second coming

The International District Energy Association (IDEA) will be conducting the District Cooling 2014 conference in December in Dubai, with Empower playing the host. The conference will mark the return of IDEA to the region after four years. B Surendar in conversation with IDEA President Rob Thornton on what to expect at the meeting‌

Underpinning District Cooling is the fact that the region is recognising the environmental benefits of District Cooling, which is 30-40% more efficient than traditional air conditioning, which results in reduction in electricity consumption and resource conservation.

Last year, I undertook a listening tour of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Dubai along with the US Department of Energy.

While earlier the economy was impacted by the financial crisis, there is solid prospect for growth. More than anything, some of the findings are well represented

by Saudi Aramco. “If we can produce one unit of

October 2014 www.climatecontrolme.com

37

interview Rob Thornton, IDEA efficiency,” they said, “that’s 4.2 units of oil.”

Oil is obviously a fungible commodity in the region.

The government is producing oil, but also consuming it for electricity, and 70% of the electricity is for running air conditioning, so the investment in efficiency produces an effect on the economy. It’s a uniform gain for energy efficiency.

I think there is growing recognition of energy conservation. There is a firm commitment for reducing carbon emissions and making an investment for environment protection.

There is recognition for how District Cooling can deliver energy efficiency and the economic and environmental advantages.

A key issue is water conservation. During the tour of Saudi Arabia, Joe Brillhart of Johnson Controls was sharing a hybrid cooling tower technology that can operate as an air-cooled condenser and switch over to being a traditional system.

This was at the Princess Noura University.

To go back to your observation about us coming back to the region after a gap of a few years, though we have not been physically present, there has been ongoing dialogue – it’s not been a vacuum. And having Empower as a host and enthusiastic support is also helpful. We are thrilled to be back with the conference and equally excited to be working with Empower.

how the industry fits in with regulatory schemes is what it is about. Part of the conference will be about regional schemes and about global trends, such as integrating thermal energy storage (TES) and optimising the systems.

With Empower supporting the conference, do you see more doors opening to take the message to DEWA and, thus, to push for a more hospitable environment for District Cooling operators?

After all, Empower is owned

by DEWA and TECOM. We are eager to share business best practices of District Cooling operators in the United States, and what type of electricity tariffs they are privy to. We would be pleased to have dialogue with utility leadership and other regulatory agencies in the UAE to share examples of the various electricity rate structures in the United States that, in fact, recognise the advantages that District Cooling and thermal storage provide to the electricity grid by shifting peak demand from expensive afternoon capacity to overnight or baseload generation.

We are hopeful we can share with appropriate bodies how District Cooling is being deployed around the world and how electric utilities and regional system operators have structured rate tariffs to stimulate investment in technologies that reduce peak demand and shift loads.

District Energy is being recognised globally as a key strategy for increasing energy efficiency to deliver climate mitigation in developing regions. IDEA has been working with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) under the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) Energy Efficiency Initiative to develop a “District Energy in Cities” platform that will also feature the importance of deploying District Cooling in emerging economies. In addition, we are in dialogue with the World Bank and International Finance Corporation to better understand their interest in District Cooling in MENA.

Please tell us more about the World Bank involvement.

This “District Energy

What do you hope to achieve through the conference?

We are enthusiastic about the technology transfer and business best practices during the December conference.

The bread and butter of IDEA is to bring owners, operators, suppliers, consultants, government agencies and regulators together. The growth of the industry and 38

Empower's District Cooling facility in Business Bay

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

Accelerator” was announced at the recent United Nations Climate Summit in New York City chaired by His Excellency Ban Ki-Moon.

IDEA Chair Ken Smith and Empower CEO Ahmad Bin Shafar joined me at the UN in September to engage with other partnering organisations focused on District Energy for enhancing energy efficiency and cutting carbon emissions. Empower has agreed to support this initiative with the UNEP, and as a partner will share their experience in best practices for developing, deploying and optimising District Cooling systems in the harsh climates of the Middle East.

On a personal note, it was an extreme privilege to personally visit the United Nations along with Ken Smith and Ahmad Bin Shafar to hear over 30 heads of state, including President Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron, directly address the UN General Assembly on the importance of climate change. While my children were impressed that I saw Leonardo DiCaprio give his speech, it was very inspirational and affirming to

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The world’s premier District Cooling Conference will return to Dubai, UAE on December 14-16, 2014.

Organized by the International District Energy Association (IDEA) and hosted by Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (EMPOWER), this will be a “must-attend” event for District Cooling Providers, Real Estate Developers, Hotel and Property Owners, Master Planners, System Designers, Efficiency Experts, Contractors, Consultants and Government stakeholders.

The focus on “Cleaner Energy, Greener Cities” will provide peer-to-peer learning, sharing of industry best practices, updates on technology innovations, and deep exploration of proven approaches to capture efficiency in community-scale energy and water use, especially for the harsher climates of the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.

Leading equipment suppliers, systems integrators and consultants from around the globe will exhibit and participate. System tours of world-class district cooling facilities are included.

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interview Rob Thornton, IDEA realise the importance of our work to create more energy efficient infrastructure for the world’s cities. And the day before, I witnessed the People’s Climate March across Manhattan that brought over 400,000 people to the streets calling for action on addressing climate change. It was a busy few days in the Big Apple.

IDEA is also beginning to work with the World Bank/International Finance Corporation (IFC) to explore their interest in potentially financing District Cooling deployment across the MENA region. World Bank/ IFC have been involved in financing renewal of district heating systems in Eastern Europe, and they can see the importance of increasing access to District Cooling for growing cities and urban clusters in emerging economies. IDEA is doing a briefing at World Bank IFC headquarters in Washington DC and we hope IFC will participate at our upcoming District Cooling Conference in Dubai in December.

We hope to involve the UN Environment Program and World Bank/ IFC to participate in our International District Cooling Conference in Dubai in December. By bringing those two parties to the conference, they will each have the opportunity to visit world-class District Cooling facilities and interact directly with many of the industry’s leading professionals and technology providers. Secondly, we would be building capacity for increased investment in the region and potentially in locations outside of the UAE that have been eager to deploy District Cooling.

It feels like there are strong synergies for people to work together on these issues and IDEA is eager to facilitate those discussions.

If the UNEP District Energy Accelerator can help foster 40

better understanding and awareness of best practices in design, development and deployment, and then the World Bank/IFC can follow on with access to early stage feasibility funding or investment capital, then we have potentially created a positive environment for more District Energy deployment.

What will be the nature of discussions at the December IDEA conference?

The conference will be more than just about pipes and wires. It will be those, but at the same time we want to look at larger global trends that can bring even more activity to the region.

It will also include policy discussions, so we are all working towards energy efficiency.

Clearly, the region is growing, and District Cooling is a growing industry, and it’s our intent to support it and to work with Tabreed, Emicool, Qatar Cool, Marafeq and, of course, Empower

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

We want to uncover opportunities for improvement, be it related to gas, electricity or TSE, so District Cooling is properly positioned as infrastructure investment that can deliver economy of scale. And we want to discuss how pricing can be structured to optimise both ends.

Would you be addressing the issue of customer satisfaction? For instance, there is discontent among some customers of District Cooling, which stems from the use of air-cooled rental chillers, which apparently are not able to deliver the same efficiencies as water-cooled equipment.

The inefficiencies are apparently passed on to the customers, who have to pay a higher price for receiving chilled water.

I think we have a segment intended for end-users, but we might fully explore that in the next conference. We have planned a symposium on customer service, tuning of the building and optimisation on the customer side. Ken Smith, the Current Chair of IDEA, is going to be talking about activities involving customers in St Paul, Minnesota (in the US), from where he operates.

At St Paul, they have worked to ensure customer optimisation.

It is important to us in District Cooling when we supply chilled water that the customers are using the right amount and are using all the BTUs they can. The process is of education, data, awareness. Frankly, it is a process the District Cooling provider needs to own.

There is a focus among IDEA members on how to get closer to customers, and there will be a discussion, and it will be a start. We hope to generate ongoing dialogue.

As for your point about customer discontent, I am

not informed enough to comment on those instances, but there is intent to build up the capacity and absorb. You don’t want to be that much prior that there is a burn-rate on your capital. So I imagine part of it is just growing pains. Have developers lagged behind in delivering projects? The fact is that no one intends to burden their customers.

IDEA members are committed to building the most efficient system. You don’t want to be four years ahead. Four months is okay, so there is a start.

The District Cooling industry in the United States has built a portfolio of schemes that serve universities. Is that something you would look to promote here during the conference?

Besides in universities, we have District Cooling schemes in downtowns. We have 40 new District Cooling downtown schemes in North America, in cities like Phoenix and Chicago. The District Cooling scheme in Phoenix has doubled in size in the first six years. The PPP model is something we will certainly be touching on. I think there will be a lot of opportunities for dialogue. People, whether they are entering the market or operating more mature businesses, confront similar issues. Be it downtown or universities, the issues for District Cooling are almost universal, such as how you amortise efficient investments, how customers are not taking more than they should.

I think the magic of IDEA is to just let people meet and talk, and the conversations go beyond the boundaries of the conference. That’s what we hope to do – to facilitate interaction in the days and weeks to follow. We want to work at rebuilding the network of people that are likeminded.

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41

interview Rob Thornton, IDEA How has the discovery of shale gas helped in cogeneration initiatives in the United States?

We are seeing keen interest in the US for District Energy CHP more out of recognition of its inherent qualities. In 2012, Super storm Sandy knocked out power for eight million people, but the system that stood up to Sandy was District Energy CHP, be it Princeton or Hartford Steam.

Those mayors that are keen on attracting investment are looking for local generating plants for reliability, and having lowcost gas helps cogen to be deployed, but funnily, highcost gas can be attractive as well, because the savings are greater – that’s an odd conundrum.

Overall, we have seen a

42

ramp-up in micro-grids and distributed generation, but natural gas pipelines are not as ubiquitous. They are going for biomass, where they do not see the situation justifying the investment in natural gas pipelines for shale gas.

At the federal level, the Department of Energy is looking at the closure of many coal plants as an opportunity to deploy CHP. Most of the recent electricity generation schemes have been about renewable energy – primarily, wind and solar. The price of PVs has dropped significantly.

The electrical paradigm is shifting from large remote control stations to localised, cleaner projects.

At the federal level, there is a policy to stimulate

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

shale gas production, and this is especially true in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, Pennsylvania. At the same time, shale gas is not ubiquitous. New York, for instance, has a moratorium on fracking.

Starting from the December conference, are we going to see a period of continuous engagement with the market here?

Would you be conducting the conference on an annual basis?

We are not sure yet.

Certainly, we hope to make it more regular, but are not decided whether to conduct it annually or once every two years.

We have to get a feel on how the market is responding. Clearly, the region is growing, and

District Cooling is a growing industry, and it’s our intent to support it and to work with Tabreed, Emicool, Qatar Cool, Marafeq and, of course, Empower.

They have come to our annual conferences in the US, and they are saying, “There is sufficient value and interest to hold the conference in the region.” It will likely be annual, but I cannot say.

If you look at Dubai, it has over one million TR of District Cooling schemes being operated, and people around the world are curious to learn from the model here. They want to know about timing, capital investment and the characteristics of customers.

Are the buildings occupied, or are they intermittent profiles?

Air conditioning best practices for protecting data

DataCentre Digest

Data-centric best practices Battling heat, humidity and dust PPP for data centres Controlling gaseous contamination towards preventing electronic corrosion

PERSPECTIVE

Data-centric best practices Data centres have become the backbone of most modern companies. In today’s highly globalised and interconnected world, a momentary failure or outage in data centre operations can bring about disastrous consequences, both financially and operationally. What can one do to ensure that data centres run smoothly and efficiently? it said could serve as the foundation for data centre design. The practices, below, said the company, could provide planners and operators with indications on how to optimise the efficiency, availability and capacity of new existing facilities.

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Climate Control Middle East October 2014

D

ata centres constitute one of the most dynamic and critical operations of any modern business today. Their complexity is observed to have increased in recent years, owing to the growth in capacity and density, as well as to the increasingly negative consequences of sub-par data centre performance. Illustrating the devastating effect of data centre outages, the 2011 National Study in Data Centre Downtime showed that the average cost for any type of data centre blackout is USD 505,502, with a full shutdown costing USD 680,000.

Motivated by the high cost of downtime, the data centre industry has put a premium on IT capacity, operational efficiency, energy and management resources, flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and adaptability in designing and evaluating modern data centres.

Energy efficiency of data centres Concern about data centre energy consumption first surfaced in 2005, according to a document, titled “Seven Best Practices for Increasing Efficiency, Availability and

Capacity: The Enterprise Data Center Design Guide”, published by Emerson Network Power. During that time, the energy demand from and spend on data centres saw a steep rise, owing to the proliferation of servers and the increase in global electricity prices. The document reported that the industry had responded to the increased cost and environmental impact stemming from the high energy consumption of data centres by adopting a new focus on efficiency.

A number of vendors, said the document, offered solutions, but no one took a holistic approach, while some were able to achieve gains in efficiency at the expense of data centre and IT equipment availability.

How traditional data centres operate

A

ccording to the Emerson document, approximately onehalf of the energy consumed by data centres is dedicated to support IT equipment, while the other half is used by support systems.

While various organisations focused on specific systems within the data centre, Emerson analysed the “cascade effect” that occurs as efficiency improvements at the server component level are amplified through reduced demand on support systems. Using this analysis, Emerson was able to develop seven best practices that

n Maximise the return temperature at the cooling units to improve capacity and efficiency • Emerson advices increasing the temperature of the air being returned to the cooling system by using hot aisle-/cold aisle-rack arrangement and by containing the cold aisle to prevent mixing of air. n Match cooling capacity and airflow with IT loads • The use of intelligent controls contributes in enabling individual cooling units working together and supports more precise control of airflow, based on server inlet and return air temperatures. n Utilise cooling designs that reduce energy consumption • The use of variable speed and EC plug fans, micro-channel condenser coils and economisers reduces cooling systems energy use n Select a power system to optimise your availability and efficiency needs • The right UPS design in

In responding to this exigency, the data centre industry is constantly evolving, creating and offering systems that adapt to higher density equipment and offer a higher level of efficiency and control.

The word according to Google Internet and technology giant, Google, has given nuggets of advice to improve data centre design, and reducing costs and impact on the environment. n Manage Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) • Google says, in using PUE, it is important to capture energy data over

Data centres of the future As businesses and operations around the world become more interrelated and technologically connected,

data centres will be expected to deliver more computing capacity, to be more efficient and to eliminate costly downtimes. In responding to this exigency, the data centre industry is constantly evolving, creating and offering systems that adapt to higher density equipment and offer a higher level of efficiency and control.

In terms of cooling, newer technologies are now on offer, supporting higher efficiencies and capacities. Based on industry investigation, raising the

temperature of the return air improves capacity and efficiency, while intelligent controls and components allow airflow and cooling capacity to be at par with IT loads.

In terms of power, today’s power distribution technologies are seen to be able to provide increased flexibility to accommodate new equipment, while introducing transparency and visibility into its power consumption, allowing for measurement of their efficiencies.

Vertical, horizontal and orthogonal scalability for the UPS systems should be considered.

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Climate Control Middle East October 2014

the entire year, because seasonal weather variations affect PUE. n Manage airflow • It is advisable to minimise hot and cold air mixing by using a well-designed containment. Google says that thermal modelling using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can help characterise and optimise airflow for datacenters without the need to reorganise the computing room. n Adjust the thermostat • Google says keeping data centres at 70 degree F (21degree C) is a total myth. Almost all equipment manufacturers allow one to run the cold aisle at 80 degree F (26.7 degree) or higher, it claims. n Use free cooling • The biggest opportunity to save lies in controlling the use of chillers. Google advises taking advantage of free cooling, including low temperature ambient air, evaporating water or a large thermal reservoir. Water and air-side economisers have been proven to work and are readily available, says Google. n Optimise power distribution • To minimise power distribution losses, eliminate as many power conversion steps as possible. Google says that one of the largest losses in data centre power distribution is from uninterruptible power supply (UPS). It is thus important to select a highefficiency UPS model.

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a redundant configuration that meets availability requirements is the key to achieving required levels of power system availability and scalability. n Design for flexibility using scalable architectures that minimises footprint • Emerson suggests creating a growth plan for power and cooling systems during the design stage.

Vertical, horizontal and orthogonal scalability for the UPS systems should be considered. The company also advocates employing two-stage power distribution and a modular approach to cooling. n Enable data centre infrastructure management and monitoring to improve capacity, efficiency and availability • Adopting a centralised data centre infrastructure management platform is vital in remotely managing and monitoring all physical systems and in gaining data from the systems. n Utilise local design and service expertise to extend equipment life, reduce costs and address your data centre’s unique challenges • It is always advisable to consult with experienced data centre support specialists before designing or expanding one’s facility.

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PERSPECTIVE

battling heat, humidity and dust

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Climate Control Middle East October 2014

Andrew Walker contrasts the different approaches to data centre cooling between the MENA area and the UK and offers innovative solutions to obviate the challenges posed by harsh conditions to cooling systems in the region. through 99% of the year in free-cooling or partial freecooling.

Whilst raising supply and return temperatures enables data centres to capture extra freecooling opportunities, international opinion still varies as to what constitutes an acceptable supply temperature before IT performance is affected. In 2008, the recognised international body regulating data centre environments, ASHRAE, revised its recommended dry bulb temperature envelope (for Class 1 & 2) of 20 to 25°C (68 to 77°F) to 18-27°C (64.4 to 80.6°F). It did this in order to help reduce data centre energy consumption, with no evidence to indicate any negative impact on the reliability of IT equipment.

I

t could be argued that cooling applications that are exposed to high ambient temperatures and other climatic hazards, such as elevated humidity levels, dust and sand present data centre operators in those locations with added challenges, calling for innovative approaches to cooling and higher levels of resilience and redundancy.

Free-cooling In the northern hemisphere, free-cooling opportunities are relatively abundant. A London data centre with a typical room temperature of 24°C is capable of operating in concurrent free-cooling mode for 95%

International opinion still varies as to what constitutes an acceptable supply temperature before IT performance is affected. of the year, generating potential energy savings of up to 50% compared with a conventional chiller-based system.

In climates where summer ambient temperatures can soar higher than 50°C, the long-held view has been that free-cooling opportunities

are far more restricted, if not unachievable. However, by raising supply and return air temperatures by as little as 1°C, a significant free-cooling window can be created even in such elevated temperatures. In the example of Johannesburg raising supply and return

temperatures by 1°C to 25°C and 38°C respectively, could generate annual energy savings of up to 110% using an air-cooled system alone, and 138% from a free-cooling system.

This would result in an annualised energy efficiency ratio (EER) of 5.63 achieved

In addition to financial savings resulting from lower power consumption, the ability to deliver increased cooling duty for a smaller footprint brings further benefits by way of creating extra space within the data centre for servers and racks.

By raising supply and return air temperatures by as little as 1°C, a significant free-cooling window can be created even in such elevated temperatures.

In addition to energy savings achieved from reducing the need for DX cooling, concurrent free-cooling maximises the part-load efficiencies of components, such as EC fans, inverter-driven pumps and centrifugal compressors. The variable speed control on such components allows load to be very precisely matched to cooling duty, reducing energy consumption and unnecessary wear. EC fans, for example, are up to 50% more efficient than AC fans at part-load.

Cooling can be staged by using temperature sensors and sequencer controls, ensuring a smooth transition from DX cooling to air free-cooling. On sites with an air-cooled and free-cooling chiller, the sequencer ensures that the free-cooling chiller is the first to start up when the ambient is low.

In addition to heat and humidity, the conditions under which outdoor systems, such as chillers and condensing units need to operate in tropical and subtropical locations also bring challenges. System design needs to factor in the risk of ingress of dust, sand and, in some cases, smoke from grass fires as well as potential erosion of external fabric and components by harsh environmental conditions, in order to minimise chances of failure and associated system downtime, while maintenance is being carried out. Because of this, cooling installations in hot climates are often designed to the highest redundancy levels, namely Tier 4 data centre status. Typically, 2N+1 redundancy would provide 100% back-up capability, with at least double the amount of equipment, run independently with no single points of failure. To ensure resilience under such extremes, systems are often ‘over-engineered’ by including larger capacity coils and higher speed fans, for example, and by suitably resilient protection of the external structure, components and controls from the elements. Robust air filtration control may also be critical in locations where grass fires, sand and dust are prevalent.

Dual fluid In the Gulf, there is an increasing trend towards the use of chilled water (CW) PAC systems, where each circuit is connected to a chiller that produces cold water for all aspects of

a building. These systems are generally more energy efficient than DX systems.

However, the consensus among local consultants and decision-makers is that cooling systems in critical environments should always be supported by two independent cooling media, DX and CW, known as ‘dual fluid’ solutions.

The dual fluid route provides redundancy, in that the primary CW circuit is connected to an external chiller, with the secondary DX circuit operating in standby mode. This ensures that the PAC units can continue to function in the case of downtime of the CW circuit.

With bases in Dubai and Johannesburg, British manufacturer Airedale International, is committed to knowledge and skills transfer of its 40 years of cooling expertise with data centre professionals in the Middle East and Africa.

The writer is Airedale’s Regional Manager for the Middle East. He can be contacted through L.Gardner@ airedale.com

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

Concurrent free-cooling

Resilience and redundancy

47

There is, of course, extra complexity associated with raising data centre temperatures, in that cooling equipment needs to compensate for changes in relative humidity associated with higher dew points in order to prevent latent cooling or condensation on refrigeration coils, especially in mechanical (DX) systems. This can however be managed by an appropriate Building Management System (BMS).

Similarly, variances in temperature throughout the data centre and at varying heights on the rack can be controlled through hot aisle containment or rackbased cooling, which helps minimise the mixing of hot and cold air.

PERSPECTIVE

PPP for data centres an opportunity for colocation providers

48

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

A colocation data centre based on a Public Private Partnership model could lead to a win-win situation, believes Mohammad Abusaa, and walks us through how it could work.

D

ata centres are an important part of a government infrastructure portfolio. Today, demand for additional data centre capacity is increasing while current governmentowned data centres are ageing and require upgrading, replacement and/or expansion. Building such facilities will involve governments taking on construction and operation risks and financial burdens.

These are qualifying characteristics for a Public Private Partnership (PPP/P3) infrastructure project. Hence, a P3 procurement model for government data centres is worth considering.

Governments worldwide

require extensive involvement in project planning, financing, engineering and construction and operation and maintenance.

the supervision of the public sector client.

Such procurement approach typically puts

government debt and risk exposure, specifically under traditional procurement methods.

In governments that heavily depend on taxes as a source of revenue (80% of Canada’s revenue come from taxes), an increase in government debt and risk exposure will eventually result in an increase in taxes. To reduce such effects, governments have sought ways to increase efficiency in constructing and operating large infrastructure projects.

This is easier said than done, though, especially considering the fact that government decisions are often driven by politics and not efficiency. Therefore, the P3 procurement method is a natural option, mainly

Similar to many countries worldwide, the need to upgrade, replace or build new infrastructure are the main driving forces for P3 growth in North America. provide the public with basic services, such as education, healthcare, utilities and transportation. In most cases, the infrastructure built for such services is done through large-scale infrastructure projects. Such projects

Traditionally, the planning, financing, and operation and maintenance aspects have been performed by the public sector, while the engineering and construction aspects have been performed by the private sector under

a significant portion of the project construction and operation risk and financial burden on the public sector. Furthermore, as populations grow, the demand for infrastructure rises, which in turn increase

to address the following areas to: 1. Capitalise on the construction and operation efficiency of the private sector 2. Create long-term commitment to efficiency

A P3 is a legaly binding contract between a government or a public sector entity and a consortium of businesses or a single business from the private sector.

In simple terms, a P3 is a legally binding contract between a government or a public sector entity and a consortium of businesses or a single business from the private sector. The private sector consortium or business typically takes on a major share of the project risk, such as financing, construction, O&M and performance. In many cases, a Special Project Vehicle (SPV) is formed to execute the project.

P3 contracts have many forms.

The most common ones are: • Design-Build-Finance (DBF) • Design-Build-Operate-Maintain (DBOM) • Design-Build-Finance-Maintain (DBFM) • Design-Build-Finance-OperateMaintain (DBFOM) • The “Concession” Model

P3s in North America Similar to many countries worldwide, the need to upgrade, replace or build new infrastructure are the main driving forces for P3 growth in North America.

In the United States, the first major P3 project started 25 years ago in 1989, which was the beginning of what is called today E-470 Tollway east of Denver, Colorado, the first phase of which opened in 1991. Today, according to Moody’s Global P3 Landscape report, the US has the potential of becoming the largest market for P3s in the world, given the sheer size of its infrastructure and growing urban population.

In Canada, the first major P3 project was the Confederation Bridge, which started 21 years ago in 1993 and opened in

Data centres A data centre is a facility that houses computer systems for the purpose of storing and/or processing data.

Government agencies are considered large users of data centres, especially when combined or consolidated.

These agencies process and store a significant amount of data and require a high level of system reliability and redundancy. There are obvious examples of public sector agencies that continuously process and store data, such as boarder services, healthcare, defense, intelligence, citizenship and immigration, environment, research, and finance. With current advancements in technology and the increase in demand for information storage and processing, aging data centre facilities are due for upgrading, replacement and/or expansion.

Therefore, in comparison with the traditional infrastructure scenario described earlier, we have the same situation with data centres in the Middle East. We have a need for

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Climate Control Middle East October 2014

How P3 works

1997. Since then, the Canadian Government has continued to adopt the P3 model on a number of its infrastructure projects. In 2011, about 10% of Canada’s infrastructure spending was on P3 projects. Today, there are over 205 P3 projects in Canada that are either being procured, under construction or in operation.

The key difference between the US and Canadian P3 markets is that traditionally, the US P3 market was predominantly based on demandrisk projects, while the Canadian P3 market is predominantly based on availability-payment projects. For this reason, the Canadian P3 market might be considered the most mature P3 market in North America. Having said that, it must be stated that the US P3 market is expanding into more availability-payment projects, such as the I-4 in Florida, the I-69 in Indiana and the Geothals Bridge in New York. This is a result of more supportive legislation and public policy initiatives.

49

from project owners/operators 3. Reduce project risk and financial burden on the public sector 4. Ensure proper and sustainable service delivery to the public as a whole

PERSPECTIVE an infrastructure of data centres to be provided by the public sector. Such facilities will require investment (financial burden) and need to be designed, built, operated and maintained efficiently (construction and operation risk). For these reasons, governments should consider the P3 procurement model for their data centres.

50

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

An opportunity for investors in colocation facilities A colocation data centre is a facility that is readily available with space, power, cooling, connectivity and security for data centre clients to lease space for their IT equipment rather than build their own facilities.

The colocation data centre owner invests in the facility with the hope of realising a return on investment from leasing the space. It is similar in form to the demand-risk P3 model, where the private sector takes the risk of building, operating and maintaining a facility with the expectation of realising returns from revenues generated from potential consumer demand. Many colocation providers will only take on such investment if an anchor tenant is secured prior to making the investment.

This is to at least guarantee a portion of the return on investment as the colocation provider secures more tenants for the data centre.

If governments adopt a P3 procurement method

for their data centres under the availability-payment model, which is the case in the majority of P3 projects nowadays, at least in North America, colocation providers will then have a great opportunity to build facilities, get paid once construction is completed, continue to operate and maintain the facility efficiently, which is

what colocation providers are good at, and generate revenue during the lifetime of the project against certain performance criteria. That way, government agencies will realise the benefits of P3 contracts mentioned earlier and colocation providers will have added a far less risky investment to their portfolio of colocation data centres.

The writer is Business Development Manager, H.H. Angus & Associates Limited, Consulting Engineers, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He can be contacted at mgabusaa@gmail.com.

In comparison with the traditional infrastructure scenario described earlier, we have the same situation with data centres in the Middle East. We have a need for an infrastructure.

Many colocation providers will only take on such investment if an anchor tenant is secured prior to making the investment.

PERSPECTIVE

Beating data centre contamination Enumerating the challenges of keeping data centres scrupulously clean, Dinesh Gupta focuses on gaseous contamination and offers solutions to combat it.

52

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

I

T operations are a crucial aspect of most organisational operations. One of the main concerns is business continuity.

Companies rely on their information systems to run their operations. It is, therefore, imperative to provide a reliable infrastructure for IT operations in order to minimise any form of disruption. In this regard, an efficiently running data centre is vital to organisations that are IT-sensitive.

Many data centres may unwittingly have a harmful environment arising from infiltration of outdoor particulate or gaseous contaminants. They are more prone if the offices are situated near landfill sites, sewerage/drains, high density traffic, process industries, etc. Infiltration of these gaseous contaminants can lead to electronic corrosion, which can result in increased downtime, low productivity, electronic equipment disturbance and failure.

In light of this, for efficient working of data centres, data centre managers have to overcome various operational challenges, such as: • Controlling of gaseous contamination, which is one of the major causes of

While the size of particulate contaminants is up to 0.1 microns, which can be removed by using particulate filters, gas phase contaminants are usually much smaller. electronic corrosion and hardware failures in data centres (As per ASHRAE white paper by TC 9.9 committee) • Maintaining the severity level of G1 as per ISA 71.04 – 2013 standard to avoid electronic corrosion

• Designing and equipping data centres with the latest energy-efficient solutions in order to reduce power costs

What are contaminants?

Contaminants can be broadly classified into two categories:

1. Particulate contaminants 2. Gas phase contaminants While the size of particulate contaminants is up to 0.1 microns, which can be removed by using particulate filters, gas phase contaminants are usually much smaller.

PERSPECTIVE Gaseous contamination Sulphur-bearing gases, such as sulphur dioxide (SO2) and Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) are the most common gases causing corrosion of electronic equipment. While SO2 and H2S alone are not very corrosive to silver or copper, the combination of these gases with gases, such as NO2 and/ or ozone is very corrosive.

The corrosion rate of copper is a strong function of relative humidity, while the corrosion rate of silver has lesser dependence on humidity.

Effects of gaseous contamination

54

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

(A) Copper creep corrosion on printed circuit boards: Corrosion of copper platting to copper sulphide on printed

The gaseous levels in data centres can be minimised through dry scrubbers. circuit boards (PCBs) and its creeping leads to: • Electrically shorting adjacent circuit-board features (B) Corrosion of silver termination in miniature surface-mounted components: • Corrosion of silver termination to silver sulphide leads to loss of

silver metallisation – the eventual open circuiting of components, such as resistors

How to measure corrosion - reactive monitoring Corrosion levels are defined as G1, G2, G3 & G4, with G4 being severe and G1 being

mild. A low-cost, simple approach to monitoring the air quality in a data centre is to expose copper and silver foil coupons in the data centre for 30 days, followed by coulometric reduction analysis in a laboratory to determine the thickness of the corrosion products on the metal coupons.

How to create acceptable gaseous levels in data centres The gaseous levels in data centres can be minimised through dry scrubbers (gas phase filtration). In this method, the contaminated air is passed through an adsorbent in granular form, impregnated with active chemicals to adsorb the unwanted gases and then neutralising/oxidising them through chemical reaction.

The chemical in the filter gets consumed over time, as it reacts with gases, which are cleaned through this reaction.

Till date, chemical filtration was being done by granular or pelletised media, which caused substantial pressure drop, hence requiring greater fan power, leading to more power consumption for the same work.

While effective in controlling the desired levels of corrosive gases in data centres, limitations of these granular/ pelletised media-based systems are:

The above limitations of using granular-based dry scrubbers in commercial installations has led to technologies allowing adsorption media in honeycomb matrix to be impregnated with active chemical in micro-pores of the substrate. This new technology can remove

These filters provide: • The largest amount of impregnated chemical (typically 15% for KMnO4) for the chemical reaction • Maximum efficiency for a given physical size and geometry of the media matrix • Airflows through the honeycomb matrix are typically at 400 to 600 fpm (2 to 3 mtrs/sec) unlike the granular media bed

at 80-120 fpm (0.4 to 0.6 mtrs/sec) • Lower footprint In summary, data centre equipment should be protected from corrosion by keeping the relative humidity below 60% and by limiting the particulate and gaseous contamination concentration to levels at which the copper rate is less than 300 Å per month and silver corrosion rate is less than 200 Å per month.

Figure 1 left is a snapshot of the evolution of gas phase filtration technologies that will help offer a better understanding of the various

technologies available for gas phase filtration. Motivated by the high cost of downtime, the data centre industry has put a premium on IT capacity, operational efficiency, energy and management resources, flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and adaptability in designing and evaluating modern data centres.

The writer is President, Bry Air (Asia). He can be contacted at: dgupta@pahwa. com.

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

Recent developments in gas phase filtration

contaminants gases, odorous elements or volatile organic compounds more efficiently and effectively from the air supply stream.

55

a) Large footprints taking expensive commercial space b) Bulky and difficult to install in multi-storey locations c) High power consumption due to greater pressure drop d) Difficult to replace consumed media due to general level of cleanliness required in data centres

LICENCE TO

CHILL

District Cooling

versus

stand-alone water-cooled systems – basic facts Challenging the axiomatic assumption that District Cooling is always more energy efficient than conventional water-cooled technology, Dan Mizesko endeavours to prove otherwise.

I

have so far discussed chiller maintenance issues, but I would like to devote this article to District Cooling versus stand-alone water-cooled systems by providing just the facts.

First and foremost, there are claims being made that District Cooling is more energy efficient than conventional waterchilled technology. This is misleading, as it compares water-cooled technology with air-cooled technology, which is neither a fair nor an appropriate comparison.

Many facilities and buildings throughout the region have stand-alone water-cooled chillers – exactly the very same kind of chillers as do District Cooling plants. Therefore, District Cooling is not any more energy efficient than stand-alone chilled watercooled plants. In fact, there are compelling arguments that can be made to support the view that District Cooling is less efficient than a stand-alone water-cooled centrifugal plant. Here are the arguments:

56

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

LICENCE TO

CHILL • District cooling plants in the region install watercooled centrifugal chillers that operate at 0.67 to 0.72 Kw per tonne. Many standalone plants and buildings install the exact same rated water-cooled centrifugal chillers.

• District Cooling involves pumping water through massive amounts of piping networks, sometimes with miles and miles of piping.

And with this comes chilled water line loss (the chilled water being pumped gains heat) leading to substantial inefficiency and increased Kw consumption at the District Cooling plant. In contrast, stand-alone watercooled centrifugal systems do not suffer line loss issues and inefficiencies, making stand-alone water-cooled systems more efficient.

• In addition, the majority of District Cooling utilities employ heat exchangers to absorb heat from the building. These heat exchangers also have inherent thermal losses, which cause additional inefficiencies.

• Most stand-alone watercooled systems are directly connected to the air handlers and fan coils of the buildings, adding to their efficiency.

• District Cooling plants typically suffer from Low Delta-T syndrome (low chilled water return temperature). This leads to massive inefficiencies and increased Kw per tonne to produce chilled water at the District Cooling plant. On the other hand, stand-alone water-cooled systems do not suffer from this syndrome, making them more efficient.

The points highlighted above show that stand-alone water-cooled systems are more efficient than District Cooling systems, and that without question, a standalone water-cooled chilled plant will produce chilled water at a lower cost than a 58

District Cooling plant can.

Here is another fact to consider: Due to the size of District Cooling plants, the providers must purchase large chillers to pack corresponding tonnage into a plant footprint. Consequently, District Cooling plants cannot purchase smaller super-efficient magnetic bearing oil-less centrifugal chillers that operate at a much lower Kw per tonne than the current centrifugal chillers being utilised by the District Cooling industry.

In contrast, a stand-alone water-cooled building or plant can purchase the most efficient chillers available.

This, coupled with the inherent inefficiencies associated with District Cooling, make it a clear fact that stand-alone systems are and can be much more efficient than District Cooling plants, either with the same kind of equipment installed in the stand-alone plants as the District Cooling plants or with more efficient chillers installed at the stand-alone plants versus the technology being utilised by the District Cooling industry.

One last fact: Some

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

District Cooling companies also have sites where they utilise air-cooled chillers.

Yes, the very same kind of air-cooled technology that some in the industry use in order to try to make the comparisons and claims that District Cooling is more efficient than “conventional cooling”. This is, indeed, food for thought.

In closing, District Cooling does have its benefits. In fact, my company operates, services and maintains several District Cooling plants. However, when compared with standalone water-cooled systems that have proper maintenance and optimisation strategies implemented, given the facts at hand, it seems that stand-alone systems are more energy efficient.

This is not to take away the benefits of District Cooling systems, but rather to engage people involved to look at the differences between the two types of systems and decide what works best for them.

Finally, I believe that developers should have the option of placing stand-

Finally, I believe that developers should have the option of placing stand-alone watercooled systems on their developments as against hooking up to a District Cooling system if that is what fits their individual needs and goals.

Having this choice could bring about more energy efficiency in the region. alone water-cooled systems on their developments as against hooking up to a District Cooling system if that is what fits their individual needs and goals.

Having this choice could bring about more energy efficiency in the region.

The writer is Managing Partner, U.S. Chiller Services Int, HVAC & Energy Services. He can be contacted at dan@ uschillerservices. com.

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SPOTLIGHT

Getting fit for the phase-down The revised F-Gas Regulation will be applied from January 1, 2015 onwards. But what does it entail in practical terms? To answer this, eurammon has put together the most important facts and figures and background data on the regulation.

T

he European Union’s climate and energy strategy with its so-called “20-20-20 targets” has resulted in a legislative package which aims, among others, to bring about a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020. This is an ambitious undertaking that encompasses various specific measures. One of these refers to the use of partly fluorinated hydrocarbons or so-called F-gases. To minimise their impact on global warming, in April 2014 the EU Council adopted Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 on fluorinated greenhouse gases as the long-awaited revision of the F-Gas Regulation.

New regulations such as the ban on refrigerants that have a particularly strong impact on the climate should help the EU to achieve its climate targets and promote the use of technologies in the refrigeration and air conditioning branch, which significantly reduce the environmental impact.

Europe is thus setting new global standards for reducing CO2 emissions. The revised F-Gas Regulation will be applied from January 1, 2015 onwards. But what does it mean in specific terms for manufacturers, system planners and

60

New regulations such as the ban on refrigerants that have a particularly strong impact on the climate should help the EU to achieve its climate targets and promote the use of technologies in the refrigeration and air conditioning branch. operators? eurammon has put together the most important facts and background data.

Core elements of the revised F-Gas Regulation in detail The targets of the revised F-Gas Regulation will be implemented with the following package of measures: • Phase-down: The F-gases available on the market

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

will be gradually reduced.

• Restrictions on use: F-gases that are particularly harmful to the climate will be gradually prohibited completely.

• Quota system: F-gas quotas will be allocated to the manufacturers and importers in order to control the actual consumption of F-gases.

• Leak tests: To avoid leakages, stricter regulations will apply in future to leak tests on refrigeration and air conditioning systems.

• Extended operator

obligations: Operators are responsible for ensuring that installation, maintenance, servicing, repairs or decommissioning is performed only by certified personnel.

Phase-down - gradual reduction in the available quantity of F-gas The EU will be gradually reducing the permitted total quantity of F-gases as from January 2015. The reference point (100%) consists of

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SPOTLIGHT the mean available quantity of F-gases available on the market in the period 2009 to 2012. Working on this basis, the total quantity available in the EU will be reduced to 21% in six stages through to 2030. In order to take account of the differing climate impact of the various refrigerants, the quantity of F-gas is stated in tonnes of CO2 equivalents rather than an absolute value in kilogrammes.

The CO2 equivalent is

Quota system allocated quotas for more control In order to control refrigerant consumption, refrigerant manufacturers and importers will be allocated F-gas quotas on submitting a

Leak tests – more frequent and more precise checks The new F-Gas regulation stipulates stricter and more frequent leak tests to minimise leakage in the systems. Hitherto the test cycle was defined by the metric quantity of refrigerant in kilogrammes. In future, the test frequency depends on the quantity in tonnes of CO2

2015

2016-17

2018-20

2021-23

2024-26

2027-29

from 2030

100 %

93 % (-7%)

63 % (-30%), first drastic reduction

45 % (-18%)

31 % (-14%)

24 % (-7%)

21 % (-3%)

easily calculated with the following formula: quantity of refrigerant in kilogramme multiplied by the corresponding global warming potential (GWP)

Restrictions on use prohibition of certain F-gases with high GWP From 2020 onwards, stationary systems may no longer use refrigerants with a GWP > 2,500. This also applies to the maintenance of plants with a new refrigerant having more than 40 t CO2 equivalent – which corresponds approximately to about 10 kg filling of R404A and R507A. The only exemptions are systems in military use and systems that cool products to -50 degree C. Existing systems may still be operated through to 2030 and refilled, but only with processed or recycled F-gases. In a second stage, from 2022 refrigerants in multiple centralised refrigeration systems (at least two compressors, several cooling points and a refrigerating capacity of more than 40 kW) are permitted to have only a

62

GWP < 150. Excluded from this is the primary refrigerant cycle in cascade systems in which F-gases may be used with a GWP

corresponding application.

Quantities will be distributed according to the following key: altogether 89% of the total quantity will be shared out among existing market participants with the remaining 11% reserved for possible increased demand and new entrants. Also, prefilled systems being imported into the EU will fall under the quota system from 2017. The quotas can be freely traded on the market in the same way as emission rights. The companies are obliged to submit reports on their actual F-gas consumption. The only exemptions from the quota system are production outputs of manufacturers or importers with less than 100 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, military systems or applications for which no demonstrably suitable technical alternatives are available up to now. In addition to these core elements, the F-gas Regulation implies further details which need to be considered.

Climate Control Middle East October 2014

equivalent. Regular tests are prescribed already from a refrigerant filling of more than five tonnes of CO2 equivalent. The plan is to halve the test frequency if the systems have a leak detection system that informs the operator automatically in the event of any leakage:

are performed only by certified personnel or certified companies. However, up to now no pan-European standard system exists with clear guidelines for certification. Moreover, operators are responsible for heeding future prohibitions on use – such as the guidelines for filling their systems, and for complying with prohibitions on buying and selling.

The new F-Gas regulation stipulates stricter and more frequent leak tests to minimise leakage in the systems.

Filling in t CO2 equivalent

Control cycle

Control cycle with leak detection system

5 t to < 50 t

every 12 months

every 24 months

50 t to < 500 t

every six months

every 12 months

≥ 500 t

every three months

every six months

Extended operator obligations: more responsibility and mandatory certification

With effect from January 1, 2015, system operators face considerably more obligations. They bear full responsibility for ensuring that installation, maintenance, servicing, repairs or decommissioning

eurammon is a joint European initiative of companies, institutions and individuals who advocate an increased use of natural refrigerants.

Its URL is: www. eurammon.com

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