The Middle East region is expressing a greater demand for higher efficiency products. This was revealed by Giorgio Elia, Vice President and Managing Director, UTC Climate, Controls & Security Middle East, who added that the leadership in the region is steadily enhancing efficiency standards. Overall, he said, the demand was owing to enhancements in technology and a determination to help reduce the financial burden arising out of an increase in power tariffs in the region.

Elia said the shift has led to an increased demand for higher efficiency air conditioning solutions from regulators as well as end users and contractors. “The trend is prevalent across the region,” he said, “and has had an impact on every product category within HVAC.”

Highlighting key trends in the region, Elia noted the trend is towards evaluating chillers on an IPLV (Integrated Part Load Value) basis, which is leading to a shift towards variable-speed technology in centrifugal chillers. He commented: “Upcoming projects in the GCC region focusing on higher IPLV plants will help in delivering lower building annual energy consumptions to the users.”

Elia said this has also made District Cooling plants increasingly popular in the Middle East, “taking advantage of their higher efficiency and diversity”. He added that currently, most plant operators also want heat recovery in the airside, and it is important to them that the equipment is Eurovent-certified, demonstrating equipment performance (for example L1/D1/T2/TB2 classification for Air Handling Units) through third-party certification.

Elia said that the US Green Building Council’s LEED standards and regulations are also driving better IEQ and energy-efficient across the Middle East, as LEED standards grow in popularity.