Supplier seminar an addition to the building and construction industry conference

According to a news release from the organisers, some of the construction industry’s influential spokespeople are lined up to present and discuss burning issues, challenges and predictions for the market at The Big 5 Conference 2010, that will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre from November 22 to 25. C-suite executives, including Thomas Barry, the CEO of Arabtec; Abdul Majeed Al Fahim, the Chairman of Pearl Dubai and Samer Afra, Executive Vice President and member of the board at Al-Arrab Contracting, are few of the speakers who will participate.

The Big 5 has created a series of conference sessions and supplier seminars to address key issues for the industry, said the announcement. The topics include The Global Construction Market: Returning to Business; Managing Price Fluctuations and Lowering the Cost of Construction; and Human Resources, Developing Skills and Retaining Staff.

According to the organisers, the Supplier Seminar is a new addition to this year’s conference, aimed directly at the supply market, and will have the following topics on the anvil: New Products and New Sales, Developing Contracts and Managing Relationships and Quality Standards and the Integrated Supply Chain.

Speaking about the conference, Simon Mellor, Senior Vice President of construction at DMG events, the organisers, added, “We have a fantastic line up of speakers this year, with some of the most knowledgeable professionals from the industry facilitating debate and discussions about real business challenges and best practice.

“The new suppliers’ seminar is the first time The Big 5 has had a dedicated programme for the supply sector, and is a direct result of feedback from exhibitors and visitors, who felt that there was a need for this kind of forum.”

For further information, visit http://www.thebig5exhibition.com.

Dubbed the Riviera of Arabia, The Pearl Qatar is a man-made island, rising off the eastern shore of Qatar, about 20 kilometres north of the downtown central business district of Doha and directly north of West Bay.

It was envisioned as a phased mixed-use development, comprising 10 themed districts, each having unique characteristics and ethos, with beachfront villas, town homes, luxury apartments, penthouses, five-star hotels, marinas, upscale retail outlets, malls, restaurants, leisure activities (like yachting facilities) and an entertainment hub. When completed, it will be home for more than 40,000 residents.

The Pearl Qatar development began in 2006, resonating with Qatar’s aspiration to be a nation of superlatives, revolving and evolving on its axis of high growth rate and encouraging GDP.

Since comfort was the keynote of The Pearl Qatar, controlling the indoor environment was of prime importance. This is where Qatar Cool stepped in and initiated the country’s first ever district cooling plant.

In 2006, Qatar Cool signed a partnership deal with United Development Company (UDC), The Pearl-Qatar’s developer, to build the district cooling plant. Capitalising on UDC’s vision to create a centralised utilities company to provide district cooling to both The Pearl Qatar and Doha’s growing industrial, commercial and residential developments, it needed to build the largest integrated district cooling plant (IDCP) in the world. The construction began the same year.

It was through IDCP that Qatar Cool served the first villa in The Pearl Qatar on November 1, 2006, and was ready to offer its service when the first investors took up residence in 2009 – the year Qatar Cool celebrated its fifth anniversary.

Demand for district cooling services continues to increase, says Qatar Cool, as it gears up to inaugurate the IDCP (with a whopping 130,000 TR capacity) on November 9. With the inauguration, the objective it set out to achieve will be reached.

As earlier mentioned, the IDCP, in fact, is already serving several completed towers on the island. In all, the plant will serve a wide range of buildings – towers, villas, hotels, office buildings, malls and schools.

Qatar Cool says that this will not only meet the demand of about 41,000 international residences in The Pearl Qatar but would also be serving the end-users for the first time, as the island is a free-hold zone. This implies that Qatar Cool would be dealing directly with the end-users, who would be receiving the company’s chilled air utility. This will become a reality once the construction is finished and the unit has been handed over to the owners by the developer. As a first step in this direction, Qatar Cool set up its Customer Service Office on the island in February this year to facilitate the process.

As district cooling is increasingly perceived as an economical and environmentally friendly solution for serving large urban communities, the present facility hopes to improve the end-use energy efficiency. This is also in keeping with Qatar’s 2030 National Vision and Environmental Development programme, with its avowed objective of harmonising economic growth, social development and environmental protection.

The Pearl Qatar – the story so far…

The Pearl Qatar, Qatar’s first international luxury residential development that offers international investors freehold title ownership, has positioned itself as an exclusive island retreat with a community looking for a lavish life style. Although The Pearl Qatar is an island, a causeway connects it to the main city of Doha.

Apart from luxury villas, towers upmarket shopping and dining facilities, and public parks, the island also plans to have schools, kindergarten and day care centres.

The 10 planned districts will have an ethos of Italian, French, Spanish and Arabic. The first phase of the development is Porto Arabia. Fanar Croisette is a lighthouse, while Costa Malaz is the up-market lifestyle hub in the second harbour with stand-alone villas. Viva Bahriya, at the centre of The Pearl Qatar, will house a family community. Isola Dana is a chain of islands, with customised villas extending out into the Arabian Gulf.

The island’s name and location are symbolic, as it sits on a former pearl-diving site, and also reflects the country’s strong cultural and economic ties with the sea and pearl fishing.

The success story of qatar is being told and retold.but beware the echo effect — the district cooling industry seems to be caught between the paradox of a buoyant economy and the slowing construction industry. By Pratibha Umashankar

District cooling entered Qatar with a bang. Qatar Cool, a subsidiary of United Development Company (UDC), one of Qatar’s leading private shareholding companies, announced on September 26, 2006, that it had begun operating the country’s first ever district cooling plant, which would provide 30,000 TR to office complexes in West Bay.

A flurry of behind-the-scenes effort and groundwork, which began in 2003, had preceded the pioneering initiative and entrepreneurship. The announcement had met with enthusiasm, spiked predictably with a mixture of scepticism and trepidation. From nudging uninitiated clients to sign up to the service to laying a 28-kilometre-long underground piping, the project was riddled with challenges.

But the network was in place in 2005, thanks to Qatar Cool collaborating with Kahramaa (the Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation), Q-Tel (Qatar Telecommunications) and ASHGHAL (The Public Works Authority).

As Qatar Cool hosts the fifth International District Cooling Conference & Trade Show (a first for Qatar), from November 7 to 9 at The Grand Hyatt, Doha, conducted by IDEA, it will also unveil the largest district cooling plant in the world – The Pearl Qatar. The plant will supply 130,000 TR of chilled water daily to cool more than 15,000 buildings and provide indoor comfort for the 40,000 Pearl Island residents. This marks the district cooling concept coming a full circle in the country.

The concept of district temperature control itself is an ancient one. Two millennia ago, the Romans pumped hot water into open trenches and channelised it to their now legendary baths, homes and public buildings. Roman hypocaust was a system of central under-floor heating.

District cooling is not a new concept in the Middle East, either. The region was introduced to it way back in the mid-1960s, when the first plants were built in Bahrain and Kuwait. Since the concept was, perhaps, ahead of its time, and conservation of energy was not a priority then, it did not gain much traction. But now, with global warming in focus, reducing energy consumption and, by extension, district cooling, has become relevant. With air conditioning accounting for 70% of peak electricity demand in the hot and humid climate of the region, district cooling, which offers electricity savings of about 40% over conventional cooling, has, in fact, gained immediacy.

The advantages of district cooling – that it is energy efficient, cheaper in the long run, lowers operating costs, reduces the burden on the electricity grid, is easier to maintain and is environmentally friendly – is now almost a cliché. But not all clichés bear rigorous scrutiny. And whether or not this one does, needs to be examined, especially in the context of Qatar, since the country is about to inaugurate a district cooling plant of such great magnitude.

18.5% – the magic figure, and still counting…

The success story of Qatar is being told and retold. The magic figures of its rising economy are reverberating through the halls of global financial institutions and the Middle East market. Through an echo effect, the good tidings keep bouncing back. And that is exactly what everyone is anxious to hear, after a string of bad news that has dispirited the region. An aside: it is worth remembering, though, that what gets repeated gets amplified, and often exaggerated.

That said, no one can deny Qatar its moment in the sun. Riding on the crest of an all-time high GDP growth rate, Qatar seems to have stolen Dubai’s thunder with a subtle sleight of hand – the emirate known for ‘the first, the biggest and the tallest’. Qatar Economic Review, a publication of Qatar National Bank Capital, with figures sourced from Qatar Statistics Authority (QSA), forecasts the country’s real GDP to grow by 14.5% this year and tipped to touch 17% in 2011. But the projection – and the perception – in certain circles pegs it as high as 18.5% for 2010, and predicts it to reach 19% next year. In fact, the IMF reports “predict a real GDP growth rate of 18.5%” (Quoted from Qatar: Transport keeps on moving; article originally published by Oxford Business Group on July 26, 2010.) Either way, Qatar is touted to be one of the best performing countries in the world, in terms of economy.

Apart from the $20-billion-worth, 400-hectare manmade offshore island project in the West Bay area of Doha, with its first ring of towers set to be ready, other major projects in Qatar are the Doha International Airport, the 21-square-kilometre Lusail City (with infrastructure projects and Qatar Entertainment City), Qatar-Bahrain Friendship Bridge, Qatar Convention Centre, Qatar Science and Technology Park, Education City Development (infrastructure projects and Sidra Medical & Research Centre) and the Musheireb (Heart of Doha) project.

Barwa is another major initiative, with its flagship project, Barwa City, built on 2.7 million square metres of land in Musameer, just outside the Heart of Doha. It has 128 apartment buildings, 6,000 flats and 1,024 studio units. The self-contained ‘city’ includes schools, a hospital, mosques, parks, shopping complexes and health facilities and, of course, district cooling facilities.

Qatar Construction Sites (October 8, 2010) gives the following figures:

• Qatar Bahrain Causeway: $1.5 billion
• Port developments projects: $5.7 billion
• NDIA: $5.5 billion upon completion
• Expansion of the existing airport: $140 million
• Dubai Towers-Doha: QR2.3 billion
• Al Waab City: $1 billion
• Lusail City: $5 billion
• Energy City: $2.5 billion

This apart, about QR72.7 billion (almost $20 billion) is said to have been earmarked for road and infrastructure projects for the period of 2009 to 2014. All this translates into good news for the district cooling sector, as the massive construction work will have a spill-over effect on it.

Sitting as it is on 25 trillion cubic metres of natural gas (the third largest in the world), Qatar is aiming higher than ever. The country’s gaze is towards the distant future. Diversification is the new mantra, and it sees shifting consciously away from an economy purely and entirely driven by hydrocarbons as the way forward. This signals a strategic change – all round excellence through diversification. Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV) – the policy document launched in 2008 – is the blueprint that will help chart the country’s trajectory.

The salient features of the blueprint are: building a knowledge-based, competitive, globalised economy that guarantees employment for the local population and a high standard of living for all its residents. Qatar plans to invest heavily in the education and infrastructure sectors – communication, roads and transport.

According to an article, titled Qatar, a new labour force (originally published by Oxford Business Group, August 12, 2010; Copyright 2010 ABQ Zawya), the projected education spending for the 2010-2011 fiscal year is $4.8billion – more than double the allocation under the 2007-08 budget (when just over $2.2 billion was dedicated to the education system), and more than 10 times the $440 million budgeted for in the 2004-2005 term.

The article goes on to say that of the total education budget for the present fiscal year, $2.1 billion has been earmarked for buildings and educational facilities. This, again, spells good news for the country’s district cooling sector.

DISTRICT COOLING HAS ARRIVED

District cooling is fast emerging as the most viable cooling solution for a country that has set its sights high. With an ever-growing demand for indoor comfort, it has witnessed rapid growth in Qatar. The market has gathered momentum and appears set for further expansion, despite negative trends that have affected the region.

Kamal Taj, Vice President, ASHRAE, Qatar Oryx Chapter, and head of Mechanical Department, KEO Doha, agrees. “The district cooling sector is an evolving market, and there are many players and many technological innovations,” he says. “We have an excellent presence in Doha. And ASHRAE Qatar Oryx chapter has more than 100 active members.” Apart from The Pearl Qatar, he cites the example of the Education City with its own district cooling plants with a network capacity of 154,000 TR, as an evidence of the sector’s growth.

KR Sankaran, Regional Director (Northern Gulf) at Johnson Controls Air Conditioning & Refrigeration, Qatar, concurs. “The concept of district cooling is growing fast in Qatar, and with emphasis of the government on sustainable development and energy efficiency, we are sure that the benefits that district cooling offers in terms of sustainability will ensure a growth for this application,” he says.

Bassam Al Awar, General Manager, Tour & Andersson Middle East, Africa & India, adds: “District cooling has proved to be economically and environmentally a sound decision. For most of the mega projects in Qatar, district cooling is the right solution. We are very optimistic about the district cooling market in Qatar, as it is one of Tour & Andersson’s key and growth markets,” he adds.

Inside the district cooling plant at The Pearl Qatar

ddAbhinav Goel, Regional Manager (Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait) for Daikin McQuay Middle East, explains why district cooling has, indeed, arrived. “Major developers are increasingly looking for energy conservation and sustainability,” he says. “They really get excited and attentive when you speak to them about efficiency and sustainable performance for the life-time operation of the equipment.” He cites the example of his company: “One of our key selling points is McQuay Dual Compressor Centrifugal Chiller, with part load efficiency. It uses HFC-134a refrigerant and gives efficient and sustainable HVAC performance as HFC 134a has zero ozone-depletion potential and no worldwide phaseout schedule.”

Peter Blanchflower, Regional Marketing Leader (Middle East, India and Africa) at Trane, reveals that Trane, which has been active in the Qatar market for over 30 years, will open a branch office in Qatar at the fag end of 2010, which shows the faith the players in the industry have in the Qatar market. He gives economic reasons: “The economic indicators for Qatar are robust (GDP, inward investment, Foreign Direct Investment and population) and are expected to remain so. In addition, demand for oil and gas is expected to grow steadily, as the global economy emerges from the recent downturn. Prices for these commodities have held up well, and are expected to remain healthy in the short to mid-term.”

Despite the many positives listed by Blanchflower, Rami Mahmoud, Regional Manager, Victaulic, admits that the district cooling market in Qatar has been hit by the global financial downturn. However, he is quick to add: “But the country is very buoyant and is bouncing back. Victaulic continues to see growth within the infrastructure industry and is highly positive about the market here in Qatar.”

Mahmoud qualifies his statement with a rider – the sector needs to be innovative to keep ahead of the game. “Project managers in Qatar, as in many other regions right now, are looking for technical innovations that deliver time and money savings, whilst also reducing environmental impact,” he asserts.

Sankaran agrees with Mahmoud regarding the need for technological innovations, and adds that the developers have responded positively and adopted the suggested innovations and high-efficiency equipment. “Soon, you will see several projects with these innovations and our high-efficiency equipment,” he says.

The general opinion is that you can reduce consumption and cost by fine-tuning the technology. Interestingly, Blanchflower believes that the clients are still a little circumspect about innovations. He terms their response as being, “Relatively cautious.” He may probably be voicing the sentiments of a section of clients, as there is generally an in-built resistance to anything new.

But it is evident that the district cooling sector has come of age in the country. Most of the customers and government agencies see its obvious advantages. The initial hurdles of educating developers of the efficacy of the system and convincing them to enlist to the service have now almost been crossed.

But has the faith reposed in district cooling been justified? “Yes,” says Goel. “The faith in the system is justified, since it has many advantages, like sustainability, cost-effectiveness, higher efficiency and centralised service. What is more, maintenance and operation are in the hands of one qualified source.”

Al Awar, agrees with Goel and succinctly sums it up. “The DC plant in West Bay and others are now in operation for more than four years.”

CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

Despite the perceived ‘maturity’ of the sector, the fact remains that district cooling still carries the ‘work in progress’ tag and is, therefore, not without its share of challenges.

Jean François Chartrain, COO, Marafeq Qatar, in a feature titled French connection, (Climate Control Middle East, January 2010), points out one of the basic problems: “The challenge here in Qatar is that the country is new to the concept of introducing private operators to sustain the development of Qatar and to optimise investment and operations, of not only utilities, but also services to the end-user. The concept of private capital is very new.”

While admitting that district cooling is the most cost-, energy- and resource-effective solution to the cooling requirements for climates with hot-dry conditions, he feels that client confidence is crucial to the sector. “It is critical, though, that the mistakes and situations made are not repeated and that the perceived risks are mitigated prior to implementation,” he explains.

He adds: “Improved understanding of project economics, government legislation and the business environment can help to identify and mitigate the perceived threats to a cooling project’s success. This, combined with improved planning, design, maintenance and energy-efficiency initiatives, like co-generation, will enable cost efficiency, sustainability and energy savings to be achieved.”

This, he feels, will not only help ease the power crisis, but will also reduce the carbon footprint through increased energy efficiency and lower CO2 emissions.

Downturn-related challenges

Another concern is that, despite the robust economy and a burgeoning real estate sector, things have slowed down even in Qatar, as it has not been immune to the global downturn. But Blanchflower sees this as a blessing in disguise when he points out: “Whilst we have all seen Qatar and, indeed, Saudi Arabia, adopt a more cautious approach recently, this is only to be expected, following the recent turmoil in global and local markets/economies. However, this gives us greater confidence that the projects we are seeing move forward are more assured of being successfully executed. In place of ‘anything goes’, we now have a more mature approach.”

It is, indeed, a fact that the Qatar property market has been hurt by the fallout from the financial crisis and the regional real estate downturn. This has resulted in:

• Denting investor sentiment
• Access to mortgages being constricted, as banks are reluctant to lend, especially long-term loans
• Falling rents – rents at up-market office towers in the New District have fallen by about 25% since 2008 (according to CB Richard Ellis, property consultants)
• Uncertain construction costs – falling prices of raw materials
• Low occupancy rates (fallen from 95% to about 85% (according to CB Richard Ellis, property consultants)

With a stock of more than 254,000 residential units and 18,000 buildings under construction, the supply in the district cooling sector has exceeded demand. “The Qatar market seems to have been overbuilt,” Taj admits. “Yes, there is currently an oversupply of real estate properties. The rentals for the residential properties have come down by 15% to 20%.”

Hisham Hajaj, Vice President-International, Stanley Consultants, believes that the Lusail development and Barwa City projects have slowed down and thinks that the commercial sector has been overbuilt.

Supply outstripping demand translates into underutilisation or non-utilisation of big district cooling plants, if completed projects remain unoccupied. This will further negatively impact the industry, as the projects tend to become high-maintenance white elephants.

Kamal Saad, ACG Area Manager, as quoted in Qatar Construction Sites (October 8, 2010), euphemistically calls this uncertain phase a “transitional period until the prices stabilise, as they were over-estimated before”. He points out that everybody is now waiting, but he dubs it as, “not a negative waiting situation, rather a preparation period, as clients and project owners are getting their drawings ready and monitoring the land and building material prices to reach the lowest level, so they can start construction, later.”

Goel, while admitting that at the moment things have somewhat slowed down, looks at the positive side. “Qatar has learnt from the mistakes of neighbouring countries and is scheduling the development in phases to match the influx of population into Qatar,” he says. “Apart from creating state-of-the-art residential colonies, equal importance is being given to diversify the economy with heavy investments in mega industrial and education projects, which will help in attracting more and more people into Qatar and, consequently, the demand.”

District cooling is admittedly a capital-intensive sector, which is predicated to huge investments. A few of the participants at a district cooling seminar held in Doha, last year, had pointedly asked if the banks in Qatar had the necessary liquidity in the first place, and even if they had the financial muscle, did it translate into a loosening of the purse strings. (Sharq contrast by B Surendar, Climate Control Middle East, November 2009). The questions appear no less relevant today, as they were last year. Easing in bank lending appears to be the lubricant that might give the sector a bit more of wriggle room.

Hajaj offers a practical suggestion when he says, “If you present a strong case with accurate financial model, banks will lend you.”

With many players making inroads into the relatively buoyant Qatar market and competing for a wedge of the district cooling pie, the slices will grow thinner, and there may not be enough to go round. Qatar, like Dubai, might, then, become a victim of its own success and buckle under the burden of the region’s high expectations.

Despite the challenges, Sankaran says that his company is very optimistic about the Qatar market. He enumerates the reasons: “Qatar has always grown at its own pace. The projects are getting finalised as per schedule, though sometimes we have seen some minor delays due to changes in design and planning but not because of funds.

“District cooling has a good scope for expansion in Qatar. In the West Bay area, due to significant demand from residential/hotel towers, district cooling companies are taking steps to meet the growing demand.”

Non-downturn-related challenges

Apart from the financial challenges the sector has also come up against non-downturn related hurdles. Taj sums them up as, “Just the normal challenges, like availability of land for district cooling plants, cooling water sources and running of underground chilled water distribution piping.”

Another issue that needs to be looked into is that of metering. Qatar is making attempts at individual metering and a structured regimen for billing. This would imply that district cooling providers would have to install sub-metering systems in individual units.

Qatar Cool is experimenting with sub-metering in the villas in The Pearl Qatar. In the West Bay area, there is a common meter with an option offered to clients. It is, thus, up to the building owner to charge the tenants on an individual basis by dividing the total charge among them. This implies a flat-rate model, which not all residents would take kindly to. In the final analysis, various checks and balances have to be incorporated if the sub-metering system has to be effective in Qatar.

A corollary to this is: district cooling utility companies depend upon supplying chilled water to residential, commercial and mixed-used units for their financial sustenance. This requires them to measure the chilled water consumed and bill tenants for the amount consumed. The tariff system, it has been felt, needs to be rationalised so that the end-user is not short-changed. As it is hypothecated to initial costs that have to be borne by the project developers and suppliers, a fool-proof system that benefits both parties needs to be in place. Admittedly, compared to the West, district cooling is a nascent industry in Qatar and the region. Hopefully, therefore, it is a part of the teething trouble which will eventually get sorted out.

Chartrain puts this into perspective: “There is a culture of subsidising of utilities in Qatar. So people will question why they must receive separate bills for district cooling and, more so, why they are so high compared to water and power costs.”

This is reflected in the disgruntled murmurs, as can be gleaned from the blogosphere – and they are authentic voices, not politically correct statements made for media consumption – which refer to hidden costs of district cooling. They are obviously from consumers who have not paid attention to the small print before signing up.

Inside the district cooling plant at The Pearl Qatar

It is a fact that the problems of sub-metering and billing challenges were ignored in the initial stage, when the district cooling industry entered the region, with the result that most district cooling providers put bulk meters on buildings. The fact remains that the process of rationalising the metering/sub-metering system needs to begin now, before consumer confidence in the system wanes. The powers that be and all the players making a concerted effort to arrive at a common ground could be the solution.

Other areas that need tightening are construction and installation practices. Generally speaking, industry insiders are of the opinion that the sector needs:

• A watchdog and a regulatory authority to bring it in line with other industries
• Coordination between end-users and providers to determine the exact cooling load based on the needs and demands of individual projects
• Collaboration between banks and private players
• Improved technologies, whereby carbon footprint is smaller
• Rationalising of tariffs

By its very nature, the district cooling industry guzzles large volumes of water, typically in the range of thousands of cubic metres a day. The continuous demand for fresh water puts great pressure on the water resources of the country.

Water, which is precious in a world that has become increasingly thirsty, is even more so in the desert nation. Its supply being limited makes it expensive. Qatar’s district cooling sector still uses potable (desalinated) water, unlike Dubai.

There is no decree that desalinated water should not be used for district cooling, yet, admits Taj, but adds that there is talk about other options. “There is a requirement to provide provision for the future use of TSE, as and when it is available in Doha, he says. “The Heart of Doha project will be designed to use TSE,” he reveals. He concedes that other than potable water and TSE, there are no other viable water supply sources at present in Qatar.

Fayad Al Khatib, the General Manager of Qatar Cool, agrees that a plant needs to be designed for TSE usage. “Mechanical filtration as well as RO is always considered and talked about,” he says.

Hajaj goes a step further and says, “Qatar is developing a TSE water piping network to meet the demand of district cooling and irrigation.”

Regarding polished water, Al Khatib says, “Polishing depends upon the quality of water available and blow down requirement. Viable alternatives to potable water in the district cooling sector are sea water along with RO plant.”

Al Awar thinks that STP (Sewage Treatment Plant) water or, in some areas, even well water, using small RO plants, could be viable options. He pithily sums up the issue when he says, “Payback on district cooling plants are very long – about 15 to 25 years, depending on the prevailing KWH rates. So the two key issues are financing and water resources.”

Water consumption in Qatar has increased dramatically in recent years, while freshwater availability is rapidly decreasing. Maybe Qatar needs to rethink and go the way of Abu Dhabi and Dubai and make it mandatory for district cooling plants to use only TSE.

Another challenge, as highlighted by Chartrain, is that people in Qatar have very high expectations on the quality of service. They expect quick delivery. “To overcome this challenge, first of all, we have to prove that we are efficient,” he says. He believes that one way of changing public perception is by providing a highly reliable service. “Private companies usually bring with them efficiency and flexibility to find out the best way to satisfy the customers’ needs,” he adds (CCME, January 2010).

Speaking on making people realise the tangible benefits of district cooling at the government level, he says, “It is a political decision to install a district cooling system and to enforce buildings to connect to a utility, so that they benefit from the resultant efficiency.”

Chartrain believes that the move to go in for district cooling, even if it is more expensive initially, has to be made, as it will prove to be beneficial in the long run. But in an era of short-term gains and clamour for immediate results, do people have the patience and resilience to wait? It is the country and communities that have to take a consensual call on this.

Also, do banks and businesses, which are willing to make only short-term investments and want long-term benefits, asking for too much? Therein lies the paradox.

THE QATAR CONUNDRUM

Qatar stands at the crossroads of destiny. It is ready to soar into the rarefied space occupied by the fastest growing economies in the world, and take its rightful place there. But it finds its wings being clipped by the regional sluggishness that has injected an element of risk into all major projects.

If we juxtapose the high GDP and growth rate against the scenario of projects being delayed, it becomes difficult to join the dots. The larger picture that emerges is confusing and ambivalent.

It is evident that slowing down of projects has dented investor confidence. This could lead to the real estate sector getting trapped in a vicious circle. The district cooling sector seems to be caught between the paradox of a buoyant economy and the slowing construction sector.

Last year, the general mood, which permeated to the district cooling sector was, “Let’s wait and watch” and “let’s go slow and steady”. Qatar has, since then, built steadily, despite the slowdown, and is in danger of facing the predicament Dubai now finds itself in – things reaching a boiling point.

With mega projects at varying stages of development, Qatar will continue to register a healthy growth rate. But the real challenge would be after 2012, when these projects will get completed. This coincides with the completion of major natural gas projects the country has undertaken.

To counter precisely such a situation, the Qatar government has increased its public spending and is investing heavily in education and infrastructure. The endeavour, as stated earlier, is to make the economy more broad-based, resilient and durable. But these sectors typically take decades to yield tangible results. Long-term investments bear long-term fruits, especially in terms of employment in the private sector. This is, of course, not to imply that a country should not invest in its future and the future generation. Qatar has shown great wisdom by channelising its resources not only in real estate but in nation-building.

Qatar’s population, now at 1,696,563 according to the 2010 census figures, is projected to rise by almost a third to 2.4 million by 2030, according to Euromonitor, an international market research company. The projected population and a continued influx of expatriate workforce, might justify investment in the country’s development projects. But Qatar’s population largely comprises expatriate ‘floating population’. If the region experiences a ‘double dip’, which Qatar may not be able to absorb, as it did the first time, loss of jobs would lead to a sizeable number of expatriates leaving, thus further reducing the demand for housing and infrastructure. However, campuses and commercial projects may not be impacted by low occupancy. Interestingly, The Pearl Qatar could face the problem of low occupancy, whereas, West Bay might not.

According to a report compiled by the Saudi American Bank Group (Samba), issued at the end of June this year, Qatar – like all other hydrocarbons-based economies in the GCC – will face long-term diversification challenges once gas production peaks.

But according to data issued on July 1 this year, by the Qatar Statistics Authority, though the hydrocarbons sector contributed the giant share to the 22.71% year-on-year increase in GDP for the first quarter, the transport and communications sector expanded by 14.7%. This assumes significance, as it suggests that non-hydrocarbon sector, if properly nurtured will help spur the country’s growth. (Based on statistics cited in Qatar: Transport keeps on moving, 26 July, 2010, copyright, 2010 ABQ Zawya)

Economic diversification becoming one of the drivers of the expanding economy is, indeed, good news. This is especially so, as Qatar cannot afford to put all its eggs in one basket, as shale gas has become a reality, with US, seriously thinking of tapping this resource in a far more robust manner. Viewed through the prism of a broad-based economy, the country gradually weaning away from LNG-dependence may not necessarily spell doom for the district cooling sector. But once again, it throws a refracted image.

CONCLUSION

This sense of ambivalence is reflected in the general ethos. The soaring GDP notwithstanding, the outlook is that of a survivor rather than a victor. The mood of triumphalism has given way to relief – relief that Qatar, at least for now, has weathered the storm.

This is undoubtedly mirrored by the district cooling sector. What essentially form the bread and butter of district cooling in Qatar are mega government and semi-government projects and big commercial, industrial and education sector developments. Fortunately, these sectors enjoy a strong backing from the government and the developers.

This has prompted major players to believe that despite uncertainties, district cooling will survive and thrive in Qatar. “I think the district cooling sector has a bright future in Doha, with proper government support for land for district cooling plants, proper regulations for utilities and due importance to sustainability issues,” Taj says.

Mahmoud thinks that the financial indicators in Qatar are still positive, with construction appearing to pick up and infrastructure growth predicted to surpass the rest of the Middle East until 2014. “Victaulic sees a lot of positives in the government investment plans, such as the US$9 billion Doha International Airport,” he says, and adds, “And an optimistic industry is taking the right steps to secure growth and private infrastructure investment.”

“Chartrain is optimistic about district cooling in Qatar, because “it is part of the standard of living in the country to have air conditioning. And they would definitely like to use district cooling in densely populated areas.”

Sankaran endorses this view and lists reasons for his faith in the industry:

• The per capita income growth
• Qatar Government’s enthusiasm to bring World Cup in 2022 – indicates there will be major infrastructure developments
• The government is focused on development from the bottom up – its growth plans are economically sustainable

The key word doing the rounds is “growth”. Qatar is perceived as one of the two pillars of hope for the industry, the other being the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The two have held the tottering region’s construction sector and, by extension, the district cooling market together. But it must be remembered that Qatar is only a tiny peninsula. No matter how strong its economy, it might be able to sustain its own development but not bear the onus of the entire region. Also, when we say, Qatar, in reality, it means Doha.

Another danger that has generally been sensed but not openly articulated is that official optimism and trumped-up projections can often do more harm than good to a country’s economy, as was evidenced in Dubai. The echo effect could easily get distorted into Chinese whispers. But for now, it makes sense for the district cooling sector to soar, piggybacking on the upsurge to avoid the drag effect.

According to industry estimates, thermal energy storage can eliminate chiller capacity by up to 25-30%. So what’s holding it back in the region, then? Jose Franco has the story.

An ice thermal storage system | Imec Electromechanical Engineering

Saying no to certain products is, in some cases, brought about by not having enough information on the benefits they offer. Or maybe some wrong information is being put across, or there is just a refusal on the part of customers to know more about the products that could jack up capital expenditure.

Why would a company embrace thermal energy storage (TES), for instance, if this meant additional costs for TES tanks? The initial notion that a tank would eat up more space than it should and spoil the design aesthetics in surrounding areas could also be reasons why some project owners and developers had stayed away from TES.

“Maybe they don’t realise the importance of having a TES tank,” says Fadi Hachem, Mechanical Engineering Manager at DC Pro Engineering. A Dubai project having a TES tank actually eliminates about 20% of the chiller capacity in district cooling, thereby saving on MEP spending.

DIFFERENTIAL TARIFF

And yet some would argue that the absence of a differential-tariff system in the Gulf is a major factor why the regional industry has been lacklustre in embracing TES. “They say build TES, but what is the benefit if there is no differential tariff?” asks Adib Moubaddir, General Manager of EMICOOL. He is referring to the power and water authorities that have increasingly been asking owners and developers to embrace TES in their projects that call for district cooling systems.

He says the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) and other utility regulators, especially in Saudi Arabia, should talk to one another regarding tariff differential. “People don’t understand that district cooling is a utility and service provider,” he adds.

A demand-side management where the price per unit of energy varies with time of use, differential tariff is being recommended by industry experts and consultancies, so the region can reflect higher prices for power consumption during peak loads. Moubaddir remarks, “If a government stands and says it will support district cooling companies, there will be price segmentation.”

District cooling, which involves the provision of cooling to multiple facilities from one or more central cooling plants, and TES complement each other in HVACR markets. Referring to technologies that store energy in a thermal reservoir for later reuse, TES helps balance energy demand between daytime and nighttime.

These technologies are applied in the production of ice, chilled water or eutectic (a mixture of chemical compounds that solidifies at a lower temperature) solution at night, when demand for energy is lower. Whilst a partial storage system reduces capital investment by running the chillers 24 hours a day, a full storage system minimises energy costs by shutting off the chillers during peak-load hours.

PAYBACK TIME

The advantages in embracing TES are self-evident in the MEP sector, as these shave off peak demand through system design and reduce to the right level the size of plant rooms. But the return on investment becomes an issue, especially with the financial crisis, says Aslan Al Barazi, Executive Director of IMEC Electromechanical Engineering. He emphasises that product manufacturers and contractors will experience resistance from customers to embrace TES, if payback time is not immediate.

“If you don’t, then value engineering proposals at a later stage in the project normally kills the subject,” he stresses. “Of course, if and when the dual tariff system is applied, it would then turn the TES commercial proposal from a long-term to a short-term payback time, and will thus make it commercially feasible and very attractive.”

It is no wonder, he says, that TES and, particularly, ice thermal storage technology, are widely used in normal applications in the US and Europe, especially in cities where space is at a premium. Ice storage takes only one-tenth of the space needed for water thermal storage, although it consumes more energy.

The Dubai-based sales area manager of Baltimore Aircoil Gulf, Frank van Leemput, favours the dual tariff for air conditioning facilities during the three summer months, where a peak tariff imposed from 1pm to 5pm shall make energy consumption more costly. Industries will, then, opt to produce and store cooling power during cheap hours and use it when the cost of energy consumption is higher.

In an energy-management programme, chilled water/thermal ice storage systems are installed in office or manufacturing complexes to make ice during off-peak-demand periods at night. The systems will, then, melt the ice during the day, when demand for cooling power is higher, to serve the HVAC and process loads in the buildings.

The Texas Instruments’ facility in Massachusetts, for instance, was able to report annual savings of up to $460,000 when it installed two chilled water/thermal ice storage systems in two of its buildings between 1994 and 1996. The systems were able to shift 1.1MW of peak demand to off-peak periods, helping to level the facility load factor.

GROWING MARKET

Savings on annual consumption of electricity could be enough reason, though there are other factors, for property developers and owners to embrace TES. “It’s becoming almost a standard,” Hachem says of the TES technology that’s gaining popularity.

He and Al Barazi share the opinion that there is a growing market for TES in the region. The former cites the UAE (particularly Abu Dhabi), Saudi Arabia and Qatar as emerging markets whilst the latter stresses the technology’s huge potential, especially on non- district cooling applications, “where the attention should be drawn next”. Al Barazi says most projects these days are non-district cooling in nature due to the economic downturn.

These days, TES tanks are also being designed in a way that they would blend well with other buildings in a manufacturing complex and not compromise the aesthetics angle of the whole vicinity, Hachem says. Also, the tanks are compact enough not to eat up so much space, as they are designed to last for at least 25 years.

The Sharjah-based DC Pro Engineering has contributions in 18 TES projects that have an overall capacity of 760,995 tonne-hours. These projects – Dubai Investments Park DCP 1 and 3 (98,000 tonne-hours), Al Sowwah Island (54,000 tonne-hours) and Sharjah Investment Centre (132,000 tonne-hours), to name a few – are either operational, on hold, in the design stage, at tender stage, under construction or being commissioned.

“Now, people realise the advantages of TES in the design of their district cooling systems, and the technology is becoming a standard for all new plants,” Hachem says.

By the end of the year, he adds, DEWA may issue a regulation on the proper use and implementation of district cooling plants with TES. This would be the first such regulation amongst countries in the Gulf Co-operation Council, though it could come as no surprise. Dubai was the first in the region to issue an executive order that calls for the utilisation of TES, aiming to help reduce power demand.

Whilst Abu Dhabi doesn’t oblige district cooling applications to have TES at 20% of the total plant room capacity like Dubai does, Al Barazi says, district cooling clients in the capital still use TES, because extra land permits there are less costly compared to those in the neighbouring emirate. But he says that for standard buildings, or non-district cooling applications, the scenario could be different. “There, TES is not widely used and may be subject to client preference, green buildings perspective, peak demand cooling load profile and other reasons,” he adds.

NOT IN THE PIPELINE

These days, however, developers in either emirate may not opt for TES, owing to the economic slowdown, if we are to go by the words of Nabil Helou, Managing Director of Amana Pipeline Construction. “I don’t think the developers have the money to do this,” he says, noting the severe slump in the real-estate business. He says, for instance, that the rent around Al Barsha 1, where his office is located, is now at $24.50 (Dh90) per square metre compared to $76.23 (Dh280) per square metre one and a half years ago.

If it is, indeed, money that’s holding the industry back from fully embracing the TES technology, perhaps regulators could help by implementing the differential tariff system. “The developers want to reduce their capital upfront,” Helou says. The government, therefore, has to provide enough incentives to make TES more enticing. He suggests that utility regulators study the tariff system in mature countries, such those in Europe, and see how this can be applied in the UAE and other Gulf countries.

He is optimistic about the other parts of Amana’s operations, however, despite being convinced that the UAE economy will only pick up by 2013. TES only accounts for two per cent of Amana’s business, and the company has installed only five to six TES tanks out of 10 tenders over the past four years. The biggest TES tank projects that Amana has installed cost between $1.36 million and $3.27 million (between Dh5 million and 12 million) each. The bulk of Amana’s revenue comes from the turnkey construction of district cooling, military aviation, and oil and gas systems, including piping, civil and mechanical works, across the GCC.

Amana is, likewise, seriously considering expanding to other countries in the Middle East and North Africa, such as Yemen, as it is now doing a project in Libya. The mid-term plan is to cover North Africa, Helou says, whilst the long-term expansion includes having operations in Afghanistan. Six months ago, Amana opened an office in Oman; it opened another one in Saudi Arabia, in January. The company is in the process of opening another office in the GCC’s biggest economy very soon.

MOVING FORWARD

Hachem remains optimistic about TES even under the present economic situation, citing a professional study that the Gulf region could eliminate the chiller capacity in district cooling by up to 25-30%. This would, in turn, result in more reduction in energy consumption. “Because you’re eliminating part of the chiller capacity means that you will be saving on MEP costs,” he adds. He stresses that the present 20% elimination of chiller capacity being imposed in Dubai could result in savings of 10-15% in capital expenditures.

There are many factors in operating the chillers to their full potential, Hachem says, and one of the most important things is to keep them loaded always. “Mainly, you have to run the right numbers of chillers,” he adds. “Also, these chillers always have to be loaded.”

Whilst TES is a simple technology, Al Barazi says there are different specifications in its application, whether water or ice thermal storage is used. In the case of ice, then the specifications are generally related to the manufacturer being patronised, making it not a standardised technology like the one being applied to, say, cooling towers. “That being said, there have been some unique and pertinent advances in ice-thermal storage technology, such as the optimisation of ice storage heat exchanger surface as well as discharge and charge rates, safety in operation and the development of corrosion-free systems,” he adds.

Ice storage, by the way, which minimises the consumption of energy during peak hours, has not only been a breakthrough air conditioning product; it’s also being utilised in concrete cooling (see sidebar) for the same reason it shaves off energy demand during peak-load hours.

Al Barazi and Hachem say a district cooling design incorporating the TES system based on the profile of the building’s cooling loads will be more efficient. With regard to space considerations, particularly space reduction, utilising the ice thermal storage system is a better option, adds Al Barazi. He remarks, “Moreover, by reducing the network temperature from, say, 4°C to 2°C with an ice storage system, you can, then, transport considerably higher cooling load through the system for the same water flow rate and piping sizes.”

Hachem says the TES system involving chilled water is the easiest to operate, most economical and has the best energy savings. But he stresses that the system must have specialised designers in order to avoid thermal losses, and the energy stored in the tank must be monitored.

Getting ready for the mix Jose Franco discusses how critical concrete cooling is to the construction industry. Ashraf Zuhdi Abdulla Concrete cooling is a must in the construction industry. It’s not only required for gigantic projects, such as dams but is also indispensable in lesser developments, like a building. Temperature-controlled concrete (a mixture of cement, water and aggregates), in other words, is being utilised worldwide, and especially in regions with hotter climes like the Middle East. Otherwise, the concrete will crack once it hardens. In Dubai, concrete manufacturers make use of chilled water and flake ice to bring down the temperature derived from the heat of hydration, which takes place as the cement cures and hardens. Made of the mixture of brine and water, flake ice provides the quickest cooling process and the largest contact area amongst the other types of ice, owing to its flat and thin shape. The refrigerating effect of flake ice cannot also be underestimated. One tonne of flake ice has 1,799 square metres of contact area compared to only 1,383 square metres for one tonne of cube ice. This gives flake ice an outstanding refrigerating effect, which is mostly used in food cooling and concrete cooling. Ashraf Zuhdi Abdulla, Technical Manager for Readymix at Al Ghurair Construction, says the temperature of concrete should not exceed 32°C before casting and not more than 15-25°C from its core to service depreciation (surface) as it hardens. The concrete will dry after 10 hours, but it will only assume its strength after 28 days. A huge amount of heat will be produced between the first 24 hours and the third day. And so it is imperative to start concrete cooling from the initial pouring stage, he stresses, so that the maximum temperature in the curing process does not exceed from what is being advised by engineers or consultants. He adds that chilled water and ice are still crucial in the mixing process of concrete even when there are now other ways of helping to control the temperature of cement. The ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS or GGBFS) and pulverised fly ash (PFA), for instance, can help do this. A 20-80% of GGBS and 15-50% of fly ash in 450 kilogrammes of cement, for instance, “will automatically reduce the heat of hydration of cement”, says Abdulla. “And the quantity of cement is too small to produce so much heat during its hydration with water.” Flake ice has an outstanding effect on concrete cooling compared to other types of ice GGBS is obtained by quenching molten iron slag from a blast furnace in water or steam whilst fly ash is one of the residues generated in combustion. The latter is usually captured from the chimneys of coal-fired power plants. These two materials can be an alternative to or supplement the portland cement (often referred to as OPC, or ordinary portland cement) and SRC, or sulfate-resistant cement. OPC is the most common type of cement whilst SRC is a variety of portland cement with a lower content of tricalcium aluminate, a mineral obtained by heating calcium oxide and aluminium oxide together at high temperatures. Al Ghurair Construction, which produces flake ice and chilled water as part of being a concrete manufacturer, prepares 1,000 cubic metres of concrete per day. This requires 40,000 kilogrammes of flake ice and 120,000 kilogrammes of chilled water, 200,000 kilogrammes of water and 400,000-500,000 kilogrammes of cement. The company has two ice factories, each with a thermal energy storage (TES) tank, in its Al Quoz facility. Having the Dubai Metro (green line) and the Australian-based Kele Property Group as amongst its major clients, Al Ghurair Construction is expanding operations. Its newly built manufacturing facility in Abu Dhabi will be operational within the year, following the construction of its facility in Doha three years ago. It is also preparing to launch a facility in Saudi Arabia.

During IDEA’s annual District Energy Conference and Trade Show, in Indianapolis, USA, Juan Ontiveros, the ex-Chair of IDEA and the Executive Director of Utilities and Energy Management at the University of Texas at Austin, reported achieving 0.329kW/TR (for January 2010) at the district cooling scheme on campus. B Surendar of Climate Control Middle East caught up with him in Indianapolis to find out how. excerpts from the interview…

In your words, the university achieved 0.329kW/TR in January 2010. How did you manage to do so?

Where you start is important, and you start by having metering. Until you know the actual performance of each unit, each sub system and total, you cannot change. So you need to calibrate the instruments and meters. Twelve years ago, it was manual. It was, “Push this button and turn the valve.” I invested in automation and metering. Then, the question was, “Now that I have this, what do I do with the data?”

We need to look at overall performance and individual components and how to optimise the bottom-line. We started with just six data points on each chiller and turbine. We looked at opportunities at each data point, and we saw some obvious bottlenecks. We confronted several questions: “Do you have the right pipe size?” “Is there too much friction?” “Are your valves operating correctly?” “Is it too high or too low a flow?” “Is it because of an equipment problem?” “Is it a case of the pump not working or the valve being wrong?” “Is the pipe size wrong?”

Then, we did a lot of ‘what-if’ scenarios. We asked ourselves, “What happens to the total cost if you change a chiller?” In effect, we did cost-benefit analyses and lifecycle analyses. When you have everything instrumented, you have data. Then, you have to look at which data to use. We went for graphic tools to understand the data better, and it helped. If you don’t measure and model, you can’t improve.

How did you finance this vast study?

We took care of the easy things. It’s been a gradual process. The model also gives the operator a better understanding of how the total system works and not just the chillers or the pumps. When you have a model, you can see all the scenarios and make all the combinations. Our chiller stations run automatically. All the operator does is to start or stop the chillers.

The chiller station performance depends on many variables: weather, humidity, temperature and load. Also, if you have a VFD, the question was, “What speed should I have my chiller on?” The model controls all the variables and knows what the optimum performance curves are. It’s too many variables for humans to manage; that’s why you need a model. The model forces you to be honest. If I am losing on efficiency, maybe the weather is a factor.

The other side is people. I mean, people with knowledge, training and with a different mind-set. Earlier, it was: “I am an operator, and my job is to keep the car on the road. And as long as I do that, I am happy.” Today, the operator is also looking at reliability and efficiency.

You can get very high reliability by using redundant equipment. That’s the easy way. Now, the question is, “If I need only one pump, why run three?”

The maintenance people also have to change. From being a mechanic, you are working with digital controls. So we need this mindset. We use people that calibrate and make sure instrumentation is working as it should. So we have a whole new approach and highly skilled people.

If you go this method, you need less people. From 230 people, we are 179 people now. They are paid higher, because they bring higher skills.

When that mechanic or technician needed help, I created a middle manager. The guy is responsible for control and maintenance. The middle-managers are your future plant managers. It’s called succession management planning. If one of them is absent, the other can offer support.

Every mechanic has to complete 258 hours of training, and it is test-based. We want to raise the skill and knowledge level of people, and it makes you a strong organisation. We have smarter people. We empower people. My people also have a lot of authority. They call me now and say, ‘Hey, Juan, this is what we did.’ They don’t say, ‘Hey, Juan, what do we do?’

If they do make a mistake, it’s my mistake. If they make a success, it is their success. I will tell my boss that they are the reason for success. If there are repeated mistakes, we do incident analysis. We try to learn from the mistakes. We are good because of the culture we have. I want my people to take risks… calculated risks, to become more efficient. You have to encourage that. Once they don’t take risks, they are no longer efficient. They are just keeping the car on the road.

In short, it is all down to the right type of equipment and understanding the people. These are keys, which have helped us achieve the situation where we use the same amount of energy, though we are today cooling eight million square feet.

There is no silver bullet for our success. It’s work and transformational process, and I am proud of it. I come up with crazy ideas, but they have to do it. When you design a plant, you have to handle a peak, but most of the time, you operate at low demand. So the trick is how to operate at a peak and yet operate at low most of the times.

Ocean Optics

Ocean Optics, supplier of solutions for optical sensing, has announced that it has added SteadiQ to its range of applications for its field-portable spectrometers. Ocean Optics claims that SteadiQ provides a temperature-controlled atmosphere, helping stabilise temperature effects and eliminate temperature drift in inclement conditions or extreme temperatures from -20C to 50°C.

The portable device, claims the manufacturer, assures more accurate, reliable results in field applications, including solar irradiance, volcanic observation, greenhouse monitoring, and industrial environments, such as cold food storage.

Product features:

• Available in UV (200 to 1,100 nm) and Vis-NIR (400 to 2,500 nm) versions, the SteadiQ interfaces directly with Ocean Optics’ USB2000+, USB4000, HR2000+, HR4000, Maya2000, Maya2000 Pro, QE65000, and NIRQuest spectrometers.
• In extreme hot or extreme cold conditions, the unit operates independently of outside temperatures.
• It connects easily to the spectrometer with preconfigured plug-ins and communicates via the spectrometer’s USB port.

Victaulic

Claiming that it offers fast and dependable installation, durable performance and is cost effective for maintenance and retrofit applications, Victaulic has announced the launch of AquaFlex stainless steel sprinkler fitting range in Europe, Middle East, Africa and India.

Victaulic further claims that AquaFlex requires fewer man hours to install whilst lowering shipping costs with its more compact form. It is a convenient and safe solution, which is easier to position than rigid piping, says the manufacturer.

Victaulic lists the following product features and advantages:

• The sprinkler fittings are suitable for commercial suspended and hard ceilings and for round or square duct work to provide fire protection where combustible gasses may be present.
• The fittings are available in two different types – a braided system (FM Approved) and unbraided system (cULus 2443 Listed), with system availability depending on region and on application.
• The range comes preassembled and consists of a flexible stainless steel hose, available in 790 to 1,830 mm (31 to 72 inches) in length, a reducer for connecting the sprinkler and a branch nipple for attachment to the piping system. A versatile and time-saving, installation-ready bracket is also included when ordered as a kit.

“We are very excited about the launch of the AquaFlex range,” said James Keown, Victaulic fire protection engineer Middle East, about the new product. “Not only do the new products provide an intuitive, dependable solution for our customers, but they also install up to 10 times faster than rigid piping systems – saving time and money.”

According to Victaulic, the AquaFlex line also includes the patent-pending 1-BEE2 installation-ready bracket that installs up to five times faster than any competitive bracket technology. It further added that the new bracket provides easy three-dimensional positioning of the sprinkler and secures mounting to the ceiling grid without tools, allowing instant, centre-of-tile sprinkler positioning.

Victaulic adds that a variety of optional accessories are now available, including the Victaulic FireLock Style 922 FireLock Outlet Tee – for mechanical hole-cut branch-line installation. Further, the AquaFlex hose, 1-BEE2 bracket and other accessories are also available for purchase separately, says the manufacturer.

“The AquaFlex patent-pending 1-BEE2 bracket is designed to firmly grip the ceiling grid, locking the sprinkler into proper operational position,” said Keown. “The unique, adjustable open-gate centre bracket saves time and money during installation by allowing for easy pressure testing of the system and final placement of the sprinkler head, after the ceiling grid is installed,” he added.

E+E Elektronik

Claiming that it has been specially developed for OEM applications and high-volume production, E+E Elektronik has launched CO2 sensor module EE892, which it says consumes less power. It supports this claim by saying that features, such as an adjustable measuring interval, enable optimum adaptation to specific applications while maintaining an average current consumption of less than 60μA.

This, says the manufacturer, makes the EE892 CO2 sensor module the ideal battery-operated, energy-saving device.

E+E Elektronik lists the following product features and advantages:

• The digital interface and compact design facilitate clear-cut integration in mobile and energy-sensitive applications such as, data loggers or demand-controlled ventilation.
• The CO2 load cell is based on infrared technology (NDIR) and, thanks to the patented E+E autocalibration process, it is maintenance-free.
• Ageing effects are compensated automatically to guarantee outstanding long-term stability.
• The measuring accuracy and the large measuring range of up to 10,000 ppm make the EE892 an ideal tool for universal and flexible applications.
• E+E also provides corresponding application notes to enable easy integration of the CO2 sensor module in specific customer applications.

Being held for the first time in Las Vegas

The 2011 AHR EXPO (International Air Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition) is slated to be held from January 31 to February 2, at Las Vegas Convention Center

Las Vegas, Nevada, the expo organiser has announced. The HVAC/R’s event, which is produced and managed by the International Exposition Company, attracts exhibitors and attendees from all facets of the industry around the world, and will include contractors, engineers, dealers, distributors, wholesalers, OEMs, architects, builders, industrial plant operators, facility owners and managers, agents and reps, the organiser claimed.

The announcement have listed the following features and attractions of the expo:

• More than 1,800 exhibitors from every segment of the HVAC/R industry
• More than 360,000 net square feet of exhibition space
• More than 40,000 visitor and exhibitor personnel                     

For further information: Visit the AHR Expo website at http://www.ahrexpo.com or contact 2032219232 or email to info@ahrexpo.com.