Masthead - Climate Control Journal

THE GREAT DEBATE

DUBAI, UAE, 27 April 2022: CPI Industry, publishers of Climate Control Middle East magazine, will be hosting ‘The Great Debate: CHW vs VRF systems’. The second edition of the event, to be held on May 30 in Dubai, has captured the imagination of the industry and stoked excitement with its unique, courtroom-styled setting and format.

The first edition, held in 2011, at ADNEC in Abu Dhabi, was a novelty, replete with judge, jury, witness box and fiery advocates arguing with passion and interrogating at will to ascertain the best possible system, all things considered, to deliver affordable, efficient, resource-friendly, safe and reliable comfort cooling in the GCC region.

The Great Debate: CHW vs VRF systems is a revival of the 2011 setting, at a time when proponents of chilled water systems and variable refrigerant flow systems claim to have made substantial progress and achieved greater market penetration. Does the argument, ‘horses for courses’ hold true, or are we missing a point that holds the key to safe, sustainable, affordable and reliable air conditioning?

A key question that probably would settle the swirling dust surrounding chilled water systems and variable refrigerant flow systems is, ‘Where is the data?’ The Great Debate is an attempt at arriving at clarity, at a time when the world is desperately seeking solutions to lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduce total cost of ownership and to strengthen Indoor Air Quality interventions.

Whilst The Great Debate will feature technical presentations, the centrepiece of the event will be the unique courtroom setting, post-lunch, designed to host a no-holds-barred discussion on chilled water and variable refrigerant flow systems, with the aim of arriving at clarity on performance data on energy use, reliability, affordability and health & safety, amongst other topics, when the systems are deployed across multiple building profiles.

The conference will feature all the typical furniture and props of a courtroom, with stakeholders assuming the roles of judge, jury, advocates, witnesses (developers, building owners and building owner associations) and courtroom onlookers. The conference will summon proponents and consumers of both approaches to take to the witness box for cross-examination, with ample scope to present their side of the argument, with the aid of audio-visual presentations and any other means they may choose to build a strong case.

“The conference is not an attempt at gimmickry but a serious and earnest exercise to highlight facts with unprecedented clarity,” said Surendar Balakrishnan, Co-Founder & Editorial Director, CPI Industry. “It is expected that the coming together of master developers, developers, building owner associations, consultants, contractors, manufacturers, distributors and sectoral end-users in healthcare, hospitality, aviation, education and malls in a unique courtroom setting would prompt greater insight, leading to lowering of total cost of ownership and greenhouse gas emissions and to improving Indoor Air Quality.”

Key talking points in the courtroom session include:

  • Energy efficiency in multiple building types/energy consumption on an annualised basis; M&V; onsite data harvesting and analysis
  • Sources of energy: Natural Gas, hydrogen, Renewable Energy
  • Water-use optimisation in multiple building types
  • O&M issues (streamlined maintenance protocols)
  • Refrigerants and occupant safety
  • Cooling towers and human health
  • Environmental impact (atmosphere, soil, water); net-zero-building aspirations
  • Comfort cooling: reliability of cooling (last-mile guarantee), zoned cooling and heating, simultaneous cooling and heating
  • Cost of installation, broad capex considerations
  • Total cost of ownership
  • Aftermarket service – including installation training, mentorship, support, supervision, spare parts – provided as a standard business practice by all manufacturers and suppliers
  • Need for an international standard that provides standardised technical detail for minimum expected performance
  • Regulation: MEPS and their impact on governing the performance of HVAC equipment and their interaction with other building assets in ensuring better building performance
  • Smart cities and digital intervention

– ENDS –

 

For more details, contact:

Namrata Aswani

Strategic Public Affairs Liaison & Events Manager, CPI Industry

E: namrata@cpi-industry.com

M: +971 50 55 22 461

Danfoss breaks ground for ‘supermarket of the future’

NORDBORG, Denmark, 14 April 2022: Engineering firm, Danfoss recently hosted a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of what it described as one of the world’s most energy-efficient supermarkets. 

Making the announcement through a Press release, Danfoss said the supermarket, scheduled to be ready in mid-2023 and spanning an area of 1,500 square metres, is situated next to Danfoss’ headquarters, in Nordborg, and is expected to lead the way for supermarket chains around the world to develop climate-friendly and sustainable stores with technologies that already exist today.  

An artist’s rendering of the supermarket

Built with energy-efficient refrigeration and heating technology, solar roof panels and charging points for electric cars, the Smart Store supermarket will capture and reuse heat produced by cooling cabinets and freezers to provide heating for the supermarket and local community through district energy, Danfoss said.

The supermarket will be connected to the Nordals Fjernvarmeværk district heating plant and will be able to supply it with surplus heat, Danfoss added. 

The cooling system in the new supermarket will also run on carbon dioxide, as a natural refrigerant, which helps to reduce the overall climate impact.  

Kristian Strand, President, Refrigeration & A/C Controls, Danfoss Climate Solutions, said: “The origins of this project go back a long time, but the new energy-efficient Smart Store supermarket that we are starting to build today has only grown in relevance.

The goal of the project is to show how easy and profitable it is to decarbonise our economy and ensure reliable and sustainable energy use. Heating and cooling are the largest energy consumers in supermarkets. The solutions we are building here today represent the core of Danfoss solutions and will showcase how we can approach zero-energy use in food retail, together.” 

According to Danfoss, the site will also serve as an Application Development Centre, where the company will work together with partners to co-develop new technologies and explore interfaces in the energy system surrounding energy storage. 

Jürgen Fischer, President, Danfoss Climate Solutions, said: “The supermarket will be the focal point for a new part of our campus, where all buildings will be energy-efficient and meet special sustainability requirements. Our aim is to boost the green transition with concrete evidence of how far we can go with energy efficiency. We want to demonstrate to customers and partners how energy-saving solutions work in real life. We want to show the greenest energy is the energy we don’t use or reuse.” 

According to Danfoss, BALS, Brugsen for Als and Sundeved, Denmark’s largest independent supermarket association, will rent the building from the company and install a COOP 365 discount supermarket. BALS, which works together with COOP, has a total of 13 stores in the area around Sønderborg in Denmark and, since 2015, has consistently reduced the consumption of energy in its stores. So far, it has cut 44% of its total CO2 emissions, Danfoss said, adding that it was, therefore, a natural next step that BALS became a partner in the project. 

Danfoss said it is establishing a showroom in a part of the supermarket building, where all installations are visible to visitors and customers. It said visitors will be able to experience its solutions for heating and cooling, such as CO2 as a refrigerant, heat recovery and the interaction between installations, once the building is in operation.  

IEA: Global CO2 emissions rise to all-time high

BERKELEY, California, 11 March 2022: As You Sow, an advocacy non-profit that promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility, quoted the International Energy Agency (IEA) as saying that global carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) from energy combustion and industrial processes rose to their highest ever level in 2021. Making the announcement through a Press release, As You Sow added that a six per cent increase in 2021 pushed emissions to 36.3 gigatonnes, erasing the five per cent reduction in 2020, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As greenhouse gas emissions continue to climb higher when the effects of climate change are increasingly being felt it highlights the need to go beyond targets and implement immediate tangible emissions reductions, As You Sow said.

More than 70 countries, accounting for more than 80% of global CO2 emissions and 90% of global GDP, have committed to net-zero, as have more than 5,000 companies, As You Sow said. In order to see progress critical for keeping global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 degrees C, there is a need for companies to pursue ambitious near-term targets, robust transition plans detailing steps to achieve targets and leadership in advocating for sweeping climate policy, As You Sow added.

As You Sow’s recent report, Road to Zero Emissions scores companies on net-zero progress and is in step with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s findings that near-term action is needed by prioritizing year-over-year emissions reductions aligned with 1.5 degrees C.

Danielle Fugere, President, As You Sow, said: “Investor value is being put at greater risk as emissions continue to rise. It is imperative for the safety of human society and the global economy that emissions are reduced immediately in line with the Paris Agreement. When it comes to climate change, we will not be given second chances, so the private sector must create climate transition plans that prioritize accountability and transparency.”

ASHRAE announces call for abstracts for 2023 Winter Conference

ATLANTA, Georgia, 10 March 2022: ASHRAE said it has begun accepting abstracts for the 2023 ASHRAE Winter Conference, to be held from February 4 to 8, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

Making the announcement through a Press release, ASHRAE said the conference will address improving energy efficiency and decarbonization in the built environment.

 

According to ASHRAE, the technical program comprises the following eight tracks and a mini track:

 

The “Fundamentals and Applications” track will provide opportunities for papers of varying levels across a large topic base. Concepts, design elements and shared experiences for theoretical and applied concepts of HVAC&R design are included.

 

The “HVAC&R Systems and Equipment” track will focus on the development of new systems and equipment, improvements to existing systems and equipment and the proper application and operation of systems and equipment.

 

The “Refrigerants and Refrigeration” track will explore refrigeration systems, which generate and use cold for a range of processes, from food preparation and conservation to vaccine preservation, and to long-term protection of fragile ancient inks of historical documents and others.

 

The “Grid Resilience and Thermal Storage” track will highlight the advancements in grid resilience and thermal storage systems and how they are tied to resilience and energy conservation efforts.      

 

The “Pathways to Zero Energy Emissions and Decarbonization” track will highlight methods being developed to reduce carbon impact on the global environment and the efforts ASHRAE and its members are taking to advance these efforts.

 

The “Multifamily and Residential Buildings” track will cover programs and papers on best practices, utility and above-code incentive programs, field studies, and codes and standards requirements. The track also welcomes programs and papers for single-family housing and other residential buildings.

 

The “Operations and Maintenance” will address an array of topics, including lessons learned, improvement of process and team communications and effort to improve the installation, startup, O&M and commissioning of HVAC systems.

 

The “Building Simulation and Virtual Design in Construction” track will focus on the practices of energy modeling and building performance simulation using existing simulation tools, software development, and future simulation research and applications for building simulation & virtual design in construction.

 

The mini track, “Innovative Responses to Supply Chain Challenge” is intended to help members plan for the future disruptions and develop resiliency plans around supply chain by highlighting effective and innovative strategies to mitigate supply chain challenges.         

 

According to ASHRAE, abstracts, 400 words or less, are due April 5, 2022. If accepted, final conference papers (eight pages, maximum) are due July 25, 2022, it said.

 

In addition, technical papers (complete 30-page maximum papers published in “ASHRAE Transactions”) are also due April 5, 2022 and considered for Science and Technology for the Built Environment, ASHRAE’s research journal.

 

For more information on the call for abstracts and the 2023 ASHRAE Winter Conference, ASHRAE suggested visiting ashrae.org/2023Winter.

 

 

ASHRAE opens registration for Building Performance Analysis Conference

ATLANTA, Georgia, 15 July 2021: ASHRAE opened registration for the 2021 ASHRAE Building Performance Analysis Conference, between November 10 and 12 in Denver, Colorado.

Making the announcement through a Press release, ASHRAE said it will be its first ever hybrid conference, where virtual attendees will have access to live sessions, participate in speaker Q&A as well as interact with virtual and in-person conference attendees. The theme of the conference, “Design and Operation for Resilient and Healthy Buildings,” focuses on the practices of energy modeling and building performance simulation using existing simulation tools, software development, and future simulation research and applications, ASHRAE said.

“The past year has brought forward new challenges for the design and operation of new and existing buildings, in particular challenges related to the health and well-being of occupants,” said John Bynum, Conference Chair. “This conference will provide an opportunity for building professionals across disciplines to share and learn about these topics and many others, as we continue to work towards a better built environment.”

According to ASHRAE, conference attendees will learn from more than 60 presentations by leading industry practitioners and academic researchers on topic such as machine learning, exascale computing, data visualization and zero-carbon initiatives, along with advanced techniques, innovative workflows and future trends in building performance modeling.

The conference will also feature the 7th annual ASHRAE LowDown Showdown modeling competition, ASHRAE said, adding that 10 teams, with members from across the globe, have signed on to compete in this year’s competition. Teams comprise building analysts, designers, architects, engineers and other participants. and will be responsible for creating the architectural design and a performance analysis model based on model building data, ASHRAE said. The teams may use any software, or a combination of software, to complete their projects. The 2021 competition will ask teams to expand their comfort zone and take on the challenges of a tropical climate with particular challenges for resiliency and “near net zero” design, ASHRAE said.

ASHRAE urged those interested in attending to visit ashrae.org/BuildPerform2021 and ashrae.org/2021lowdownshowdown.

 

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