Berkshire, UK, 7 November 2018: The HVAC R industry is currently undergoing many challenges, said Saziye Dickson, Senior Market Research Consultant, Building Services Research & Information Association (BSRIA). Dickson cites environmental pressure, increasing demand for cooling and a changing competitive environment, with many non-traditional companies coming into the sector, such as Amazon and Google, as emerging trends observed by the body’s worldwide market intelligence. The Middle East and Africa region, she added, is undergoing a transformation, pointing to the region’s growing youth population and urbanisation as key drivers for people moving into cities. “In the region, we have started seeing the growth of inverter technology in splits and chillers over the last 3-4 years,” she said, “as well as the increase in sales of VRF systems that are threatening the more conventional AC markets.” BSRIA’s presentation at the HVAC-R Expo will analyse these topics in detail and outline possible impacts on the market, she said.

Providing an overview of the adoption of refrigerants across the region, Dickson said that there is significant variation across countries. “We still see considerable amount of R-22 (HCFC) refrigerant sold each year, especially in splits,” she said. “However, the main refrigerant remains R-410A (HFC) in DX systems and in scroll chillers, whereas in larger tonnage chillers, R-134A (HFC) is the most prevalent.” Saziye added that there are also a few alternative refrigerants coming through, as they have started seeing R-1233zd (HFO) being adopted in centrifugal chillers.

Speaking on the body’s presence in the region, Saziye said that BSRIA is in regular touch with the HVAC R companies in the United Arab Emirates, the Gulf countries and the African region for market intelligence work, and collaborates with other organisations to support regulatory and legislative studies. “One recent project was to look at existing refrigeration requirements and technologies in the residential, commercial and industrial sectors, and recommend new standards,” she said. “In addition to the above studies, BSRIA also tests products for these markets, as well carrying out on-site witness testing.”

Saziye said that though the body’s technical publications are already used in the Gulf region, BSRIA aims to gain deeper understanding of the local industry and deliver more training programmes and services. Saziye invited people to learn more about key trends from the market intelligence on the GCC region, during its seminar at the HVAC R Expo, “Please come along to speak to us, and if you want to attend, contact lisa.troutt@bsria.co.uk,” she said.

The seminar will be held on Tuesday, November 27, at the Big 5, at Dubai World Trade Centre.

Hannah Jo Uy is Assistant Editor at Climate Control Middle East magazine. She may be contacted at hannah@cpi-industry.com