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
Eurovent, FAIAR sign MoU
BRUSSELS, BOGOTÁ, 23 June 2021: Eurovent and the Federation of Ibero-American Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Associations (FAIAR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding, underlining their commitment to greater harmonisation and stronger ties between Europe and Latin America, Eurovent said through a Press release.
In the framework of the Memorandum, Eurovent said, the two organisations will collaborate on standards development, codes of good practice and networking events, among others. Eurovent and FAIAR will have their first high-level coordination meeting still this year to identify concrete opportunities for joint action, Eurovent said.
Raul Corredera Haener, President, Eurovent, said: “In order to raise and harmonise industry standards worldwide, Eurovent’s ambition is to strengthen its international partnerships with like-minded associations. FAIAR has proven to be such a partner, and we look forward to working together with our colleagues from Latin America much more closely in the future to bring new opportunities to our industry.”
Odete de Almeida, President, FAIAR, said: “To achieve FAIAR objectives, we understand the importance of integration of related associations of any territorial scope, in order to provide mutual collaboration and exchange experiences in the professional field, which benefit the partners.”
Eurovent said the two organisations have agreed to work together to promote energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, safe and reliable HVACR technologies based on common principles. The HVACR sector, it added, has an important role to play in the welfare of society and in the fight against climate change. The two regional associations, it further added, aim to avoid disjointed regional approaches to these questions, which would turn opportunities for growth and innovation into market barriers.
ENGIE Refrigeration bets on sustainable refrigerant
LINDAU ON LAKE CONSTANCE, GERMANY, 23 February 2021: ENGIE Refrigeration has added a new refrigerant to its portfolio. R-515B is now available for QUANTUM chillers as an alternative to R-1234ze, it said. R-515B is eco-friendly, non-toxic and non-combustible and, thus, especially safe, it said. With the introduction of the new refrigerant, the company said it is setting a clear example for more sustainability.
R-515B is available for QUANTUM models as an alternative to R-1234ze. Source: ENGIE Refrigeration
ENGIE said it is one of the first manufacturers in the world to use the refrigerant R-515B. It was developed as an alternative to R-134a and can be used instead of R-1234ze in the form of a drop-in refrigerant, it added. “Refrigerant R-515B combines the positive properties of a 77% lower greenhouse potential than R-134a with a classification as safety level A1 according to EN 378-1,” Daniel Keller, Head of Product Management, ENGIE Refrigeration, said. “This means that unlike R-1234ze (A2L), it is considered a non-combustible safety refrigerant.”
R-515B is an azeotropic mixture, 91.9% R-1234ze and 8.9% R-227ea, ENGIE said. With a GWP value of 293 (IPCC-AR4*) and 299 (IPCC-AR5**), R-515B meets the requirements of the F-Gas Regulation – until at least 2030, the company said. Another important advantage for companies operating existing machines run on R-134a is that because R-515B is classified as A1, no additional safety measures need to be taken for the machine room containing the chiller or heat pump, the company said.
From February 2021, the air-cooled, water-cooled and split models of the QUANTUM series are available with R-515B as an alternative to the previous standard refrigerant, R-1234ze, ENGIE said. “With the new refrigerant, R-515B, the chiller achieves almost the same refrigeration capacity and energy efficiency as with R-1234ze,” Keller said. “This means that R-515B is suitable for customers from all industries that require optimal refrigeration capacity and also wish to switch to an eco-friendly and sustainable refrigerant.
