Systemair’s Move to take a leadership role in Indian HVACR sector PART – 2

Systemair is the first major manufacturer worldwide to provide a Eurovent Certified Performance option for ‘Hygienic Air Handling Units’ as a new feature in all Geniox AHUs in addition to its VDI6022-1 certification. Could you expand on that?

Today, more than ever, indoor air quality is essential. As a result, it is Systemair’s belief that all air handling units should be hygienic by design. Hygienic should become a standard offering, not only for hospitals and clean rooms, but also for general ventilation applications.

The Geniox range of AHUs are meant for European and North American markets and produced in different factories in Europe and Canada. Systemair is now offering a Eurovent-Certified Performance option for ‘hygienic air-handling units’ (HAHUs) as a brand-new feature in all its Geniox AHUs, in addition to its VDI6022-1 certification. We are the first major manufacturer worldwide to provide this option.

The Eurovent Hygiene AHU Certification is an add-on to the common, well-known Eurovent Certified Performance scheme, which is considered to be the most established AHU certification, globally. The HAHU certification is easy to understand, as it combines the requirements of multiple hygienic standards into one. This includes requirements defined in VDI 6022-1, for general ventilation and lower healthcare demand, the DIN 1946-4 codes and standards, and HTM 03-01, commonly used in the United Kingdom. Customers deserve more clarity on hygienic air handling unit definitions. Today, it is not always clear what it involves, and what it takes to comply. We aim to be as clear as possible in our communication and provide valuable additional information to enhance the overall understanding and transparency.

The Geniox range can also be configured into a VDI6022-1 certified unit in a straight-forward, automated manner using the SystemairCAD selection software and VDI6022-1 audits and ISO 864 conformity tests are performed by an accredited, third-party laboratory in Germany.

The BA Hygiene – AHUs serve as a local Indian counterpart of the Geniox range. The unit is manufactured in India and also offers a Eurovent-Certified Performance option for HAHUs. The unit meets the requirements of clean-ability, corrosion resistance and anti-microbial properties, which is essential for hospital and clean room applications, as well as for pharmaceutical industries. We are proud to note that Systemair is the only manufacturer in India that offers Hygiene-certified AHUs as part of its product portfolio.

Systemair products are compliant with as many relevant standards as possible. Would you highlight about the same?

Systemair is a global player in the HVAC industry and the company continues to reinforce a strong local presence in key markets. We are engaged with certification, standardisation and industry organisations, such as AMCA, Eurovent, European Ventilation Industry Association (EVIA) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL). We also cooperate with national and international research institutions and public authorities and our technology centres continuously monitor technological developments in relevant sectors. We believe in the value that such transparency can have for the customer, as well as wider sustainability targets.

Keeping this in mind, our AHUs are certified with Eurovent and Eurovent Hygiene standards as per EN 1886 for mechanical characteristics and EN 13053 for performance characteristics. The software datasheet should show the entire section data including the casing characteristic, fan performance, coil performance and filter performance. Any component which is a part of the certified AHU, should be a part of the software selection sheet, which makes it more reliable. Eurovent performs software checks periodically along with factory audits to ensure the manufacturer is complying with the necessary standards and performance data as furnished by them.

Our Fans are AMCA-certified for airflow and sound. Systemair offers Circular Inline Fans, Rectangular Inline Fans, Box Type Centrifugal Fans, Kitchen Exhaust Fans, Wall Mounted Propeller Fans, Car Park Jet fans and Axial Fans for normal and high temperature applications. Axial fans are available up to 1600 mm diameter and are also certified for smoke applications for 300 deg C 2 hours by BS EN 12101 -3. We also offer centrifugal fans rated for 400 deg C 2 hours for smoke exhaust applications. Air distribution products are tested as per ASHRAE 90.1 and EN 12238 standards. The air control products like, fire dampers comply with UL 555 & UL 555S standards for Fire and Smoke applications.

Trust is a part of Systemair culture, and we believe in providing customers with trusted performance data through our online selection tools. The data is compliant with reputable international standards, which further enhances the product reliability.

Please brief our readers about green ventilation products ensuring energy efficiency and developing solutions with heat recovery, night cooling technology.

Energy efficiency is at the very heart of Systemair’s product development. We are constantly looking at new solutions to reduce energy consumption and adapt our products to surpass energy regulations enforced in the market. New official requirements related to energy efficiency in the European Union (EU) as well as in the India market are bringing an increasingly close focus on energy consumption in ventilation products such as AHUs and fans. Systemair develops products that are simple to install and connect to bigger systems, helping deliver high efficiency in large and small facilities.

What according to you would be effective key trends for the market growth post pandemic, as we enter 2021? Specifically, when danger of new strain of virus is also looming large globally.

Stakeholders in the built-environment have been forced to re-evaluate installed HVAC systems and adjust to new requirements, following growing public awareness on the importance of healthy IAQ and demand to future-proof facilities from the potential threat of the new strain. As such, there has been a move to retrofit and upgrade existing facilities to make it “COVID ready”. This has led to several offices being redesigned to ensure the system has the capacity to mitigate the spread of the virus, following emerging information. In line with this, it would be helpful, if AHUs are equipped with multi-stage filtration and UVGI systems are installed at different stages including the ducts.

Unfortunately, the virus is going to stay with us for some time, before the vaccine can be properly rolled out globally, in an effective manner. We must learn to live with it in our everyday lives, in our home and workplaces. The best way we can mitigate the risk is by providing a safe environment, which is key to protecting the health and wellbeing of society. It is more important than ever for everyone to be responsible and follow government recommendations and standard operating procedures.

As for the HVACR industry, we must adapt quickly to the changes happening around us. This is the key to ensure strong and positive growth as the sector continues to provide quality equipment to industries such as pharmaceutical, industrial and healthcare sector which are poised for strong growth in 2021.

Thinking about recover momentum and demand growth, what are the challenges that need to be addressed concerning HVAC sector, as well as your suggestions for improving and revival of sector affected by Covid-19 in the coming new normal times?

India has faced immense challenges following COVID19, as the country has had to manage the pandemic, keeping in mind that we have the largest population outside of China. However, ten months on, India stands out for having one of the world’s lowest infection and mortality rates among the large countries. The first task was achieved, even while many large economies continue to falter.

The requirement for ventilation equipment and move to improve standards in terms of IAQ will drive the HVACR industry in a positive direction. Industry bodies along with the international standard organisations will have to play their part to uplift the industry by advocating best practices to the government bodies. In line with this, I would like to commend ISHRAE, which has done a fantastic job in launching the first COVID guidelines. The Indian HVACR community should be proud of such an accomplishment and supplementing the industry with the crucial information related to ventilation.

In such post pandemic new normal period what could be your business strategy in the next three years?

We want to focus on our core sectors by constantly investing in product development, which I believe will be our success strategy. We are fortunate to have a diversified product portfolio which is spread across different sectors. We will be working towards strengthening our customer base and investing on R&D and production to further strengthen our position in India as well as in Export markets.

Our factory in India is currently catering to Middle East and East African markets through our subsidiaries. We have started a new subsidiary in Australia and New Zealand, which will further help to improve our export sales of AHUs.

We are seeing an increased demand for AHUs from South India, following our move to strengthen the local sales team in the area. We will be investing further by expanding the production capacity in our Hyderabad plant which will enable us to cater to the increasing demand. With a strong network of 50 sales people, 9 sales offices spread across India along with a strong R&D base; Systemair aims to be a key player in the Indian HVAC industry.

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