Zamil Air Conditioners Executive delivers keynote address at Gulf Construction Conference series

The event was officially supported by The Big 5 Exhibition in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Mr. Al Zamil's speech - titled 'Roadmap to effectively managing climate control: outlook on the business of comfort and process cooling in the GCC' - highlighted energy, technology and HVAC industry issues in the GCC region and outlined the necessary steps to positively address them.

"The HVAC industry in this region has a profound impact across economic, social and environmental fronts and the numerous opportunities presented by its growth also poses serious challenges relating to energy consumption and the environment and these must be tackled with diligence and commitment," said Mr. Al Zamil.

The explosive market value of the comfort and process cooling sector in the GCC is estimated to exceed US$ 1.2 billion per annum in products / parts and possibly double that in terms of associated products and services. From a socio-economic standpoint, HVAC-related employment exceeds 65,000 jobs and provides total family income of some US$ 1 billion. Local manufacturing contributes some US$ 750 million towards regional GDP.

"Against this growth are 'hidden' energy and environmental costs, which are estimated to exceed US$ 1.5 billion per annum - based on an appropriation of 28 MW of power, and this excludes the cost of plants which will require an estimated capital outlay of US$ 150 billion over the next 20 years. Compounding these costs are the direct impact on the environment from carbon dioxide emissions, the greenhouse effect and global warming," said Mr. Al Zamil.

"ZAC is committed to playing an active role in helping to counteract these negative implications while at the same time satisfying the increasing cooling requirements of the region, which is necessitated by a growing population and economy and a corresponding requirement for increased construction," he added. "We aim to achieve this through the ongoing use of emerging technologies in the production of air conditioning equipment and to contributing towards R&D efforts through our US$ 10 million Air Conditioning Technology Center."

Immediate measures to ensure more efficient energy consumption include following simple conservation steps and implementing an energy design process which optimizes the interaction between a building and its mechanical systems rather than relying on widely used construction and sourcing practices that are currently based on low material costs and low innovation levels. This requires detailed energy simulation tools for use throughout the design and construction phases of a building and as such the development of specialist expertise supported by the creation of industry incentives.

Other aspects which must be considered include the right-sizing of HVAC equipment, the use of higher efficiency mechanical equipment, and thermal storage technologies for commercial / industrial applications, where air conditioning equipment is operated during evening off peak times so that resultant thermal energy is stored as ice or chilled water so that is can be used at a later time when it is most needed, such as during daytime peak hours.

Over the medium term, ZAC advocates that utilities optimize the power generation industry through reform, along with support from government agencies and the construction industry. This should include restructuring tariffs to promote electricity conservation and the creation of incentives for developing wind, solar, geothermal and biomass alternatives, as well as implementing new construction regulations and legislative standards certifications and forming associations and societies to promote best practices.

Long term initiatives to ensure affordable cooling include launching GCC-wide initiatives that support research and product development by harnessing the region's natural resources to innovatively adapt existing technology to create, for example, solar energy through the sun's power, gas-driven cooling using the abundant resources in the region, and geoexchange cooling systems, which tap into the earth's stored energy resources.

"Clearly there is a great deal of work to do but by following these steps, the savings stemming from an energy conscious public policy, standards and regulations and effective incentives programs, R&D funding and consolidating efforts among all strata of business and industry can effectively support economic growth in the region, reduce energy bills, increase comfort levels and most importantly, have a major impact on reducing global warming and the depletion of the ozone," concluded Mr. Al Zamil.