David Stevenson

Dubai, UAE: Market interest in Pressure Independent Control Valves (PICVs) is climbing up, particularly for mid- to large-sized building projects. Sharing the information with Climate Control Middle East, David Stevenson, Managing Director of Belimo Automation, said that the company has been seeing an increase in the number of enquiries about the technology.

“I think there are several factors behind this change,” he said. “One of them is the market and the industry both becoming more conscious about energy consumption. And it’s well documented that PICVs are more energy-efficient than standard two-way and three-way valves.”

The fact that PICVs don’t need balancing is also helping boost demand, Stevenson pointed out. “We’re finding that there’s a shortage of knowledgeable commissioning engineers here,” he said. “Since PICVs are self-balancing, they make the whole system easier [to use]. At Belimo, for instance, we pre-calibrate the valves. This means that when they arrive at the site, they are already calibrated to meet the consultant’s specifications.”

Despite the growth in demand, however, Stevenson maintained that the industry still needs to be educated on PICVs, adding that Belimo has built a demonstration rig to help spread awareness. “We believe that we have a role in educating people about PICVs,” he said, “and one way we’re doing this is by constructing a demonstration rig in our Dubai Airport Freezone Authority facility. We endeavour to bring consultants, contractors and commissioning engineers to our facility, so we can teach them the benefits of pressure independent control valves.”

(The writer is the Assistant Editor of Climate Control Middle East.)