What is the role of ISHRAE in Indian HVACR industry?
ISHRAE helps in advancement of the art and science in the field of HVACR. We help to educate members and other interested people. ISHRAE encourages scientific research. We give career guidance and financial assistance to students. In order to achieve these, we interact with the government bodies, academia, industry and individual professionals and create a platform where all the stakeholders can come, contribute and work for the growth of the industry.
What is your take on current trends in the sector?
Today need for energy efficient drives market with requirement of buildings having more of automation systems, getting smart technologies incorporated into the design and operation of buildings.
Data analytics has also become an important area for achieving performance improvements in buildings.
What kind of opportunities do you look forward for the sector with the government’s roll out of 100 smart cities project and the government’s emphasis on smart urban transportation (particularly, metro projects)?
The demand for air conditioning and refrigeration will rise with the implementation of smart cities project. Demand for automation and controls for the HVACR systems in buildings will rise as it will witness a buoyancy in demand for smart monitoring, data collection and analytics that will drive this industry forward. Metro projects obviously increase the demand in this sector with a heavy thrust on ventilation systems; focus on safety is also going to be a lot of importance
What are your suggestions for improving Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)?
In commercial, industrial, institutional segments, a holistic building energy analysis has to be performed through certified engineering professionals who have capability in understanding the integrated impact of climate, materials, current trends in technologies, system analysis, right equipment selection, impact of environment, lifecycle cost analysis etc. If we really want to achieve energy efficiency to be the main driving force for buildings, performance of the HVACR systems in buildings need to be measured at regular intervals and these have to be part of the codes and standards; these have to be published and the tenants and owners are to be appraised in this aspect and they need to be part of the system. Going forward, I may even say that there has to be a penalty factor for not using energy efficient HVACR systems in buildings and the energy tariffs have to be linked to this.
With regard to Indoor Air Quality, awareness is increasing now amongst the end users. ISHRAE has brought out a standard on Indoor Environmental Quality which has been well received by the government. Further, we are working with BIS to make these important standards reach out to all the stakeholders.
As an association, how do you help the industry to achieve the objective of energy efficiency?
We are carrying out regular technical programs across the country in almost more than forty locations and in the neighbouring countries – Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal that focus on the theme – ‘Climate Change & Emerging Solutions’. This program is coined as URJAVRAN and this has been very well received in the industry. Only by increasing awareness and reaching out to more and more end users and practitioners and making them a part of the design and operations team, we can achieve the objective of energy efficient India. In addition to this, we carry out more than 1000 technical programs to spread this message in the industry.
ISHRAE is also reaching out to more than 12000-member student community and conduct regular technical programs, webinars etc., since they are the future torch bearers of the nation. It is our responsibility to reach out to every nook and corner of the country in this regard.
What measures do you expect from the government for growth of the HVACR sector?
Government has to appreciate that air conditioning is no more considered as luxury and it is becoming a kind of necessity for a comfortable indoor environment today. In this regard, the government can give subsidy to promote use of energy efficient products that will ensure manufacturers to come out with good innovative products that will be really energy efficient.
What do you envisage for future of the HVACR industry?
Future for the HVACR industry is very bright with the market increasing at the CAGR of more than 10 per cent. With rapid urbanisation, the growth in the demand of AC&R equipment is on the rise. Various vertical segments like healthcare, hospitality, industry, commercial office space, residential are all on the growth trajectory. The future is energy efficient products and systems and also for systems that have minimal impact on the environment. There are a lot of challenges in the areas of new refrigerants that have to replace the ones currently used and responsible for global warming etc. There are a lot of opportunities for research in this area and use of natural working fluids like Ammonia and Carbon Dioxide. Overall, the HVACR industry is poised for an interesting period of development and transition with the buzzword being energy efficiency, environmental impact and indoor air quality.
Which sector will generate the future industry growth?
As mentioned earlier, the future growth is expected to come from the segments of healthcare, hospitality, commercial space, data centres, residential demand and industries as well. With the demand rising in these areas, there will be a chain reaction and the growth will come from all these areas.
What objectives do you want to achieve in 2019?
Objective is to widen our reach in the industry and make every stakeholder aware of the responsibility that he or she has to work for the cause of the climate change. There has to be a sense of ownership and only then we all can move forward and achieve the goal of energy efficient India in the field of HVACR.
ISHRAE is also reaching out to the service professionals since they play a major role in ensuring the optimum way of operations of the HVACR systems in a building. In this regard, we have come out with specific technical programs to target various stakeholders.
Also, ISHRAE is organising sixth largest exhibition in this field of HVACR and allied services – ACREX India 2019 in Mumbai from February 29-March 2. The event will bring various manufacturers and service providers from India and abroad (almost 500) to exhibit the latest technologies and reach out to the stakeholders of the HVACR. We will be organising RefCold India 2019 that focuses on refrigeration and cold chain in Hyderabad during November 21-23.
What is your outlook for the HVACR sector?
We have to be proud owners of the change for achieving energy efficient India. It is very important that every designer, installation, operating and service professional in this field has to commit for implementation of the best systems and products for the owners and end users. We should be responsible users of energy as HVACR system contributes to more than 50-60 per cent of energy consumption in buildings. Most energy efficient products or systems with least impact on the environment will lead us to a sustainable world.
