DUBAI, UAE, 25 January 2023: ISHRAE launched its UAE chapter on January 25 in Dubai. It marked the opening with an oath-taking ceremony of the chapter’s newly appointed office- bearers and with a conference, called Urjavaran, comprising a series of discussions revolving around HVACR-related issues.

Nishant Gupta, Vice President (Technical), ISHRAE, led the oath-taking ceremony, which saw senior HVACR industry stakeholders in the UAE assume office, with Moan Abraham as President, Agnel D’Souza as President-Elect, S S Swamy as Treasurer and Ajith Abraham as Secretary.

Gupta, then giving the opening address, spoke of how it was a proud moment for the 42- year-old organisation to establish its 51 st chapter, in the UAE. In the coming months, he said, the ISHRAE chapter expected to launch different initiatives in the country.

Moan Abraham, speaking after him, elaborated on the birth of the chapter, which to date has enrolled 125 members in the UAE in the span of four months. “Our aim is to reach 300 members by the end of the calendar year,” Abraham said, adding that in the coming months, the chapter planned to conduct a workshop on commissioning, a Distinguished Lecture Series, webinars, product presentations, and training programmes on the importance of psychrometric chart, on heat load calculation, environmental air quality and on ISHRAE-certified programmes. In addition, Abraham said, the chapter would be holding training sessions for students.

A key area of focus, Abraham said, would be refrigeration, against a backdrop of a general paucity of technical programmes on the subject in the country.

N.S. Chandrasekar, National President for the 2022-2023 term, ISHRAE, making a presentation, spoke of how ISHRAE has over the years built a membership of 20,000 professionals and 7,000 students. ISHRAE, he said, has 49 chapters in India, with the 50 th , in Warangal, in the southern Indian state of Telangana, at a formative stage. Pointing out that the first overseas chapter came to be established in Bangladesh, in 2022, he said it was a matter of pride to establish the second in the UAE, with one in Qatar to follow. He also said that ISHRAE has been receiving requests for chapters from the HVACR communities in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Nigeria.

Speaking on ISHRAE’s theme of the year, ‘Prithvi, Pariyavaran, Parivarthan’, which stand for Earth, Environment, Transformation, Chandrasekar said it aligned with India’s climate action, including the country’s net-zero target by the year 2070 and with that of the UAE, which has made a commitment to become net zero by 2050, is a host of the impending COP28 Summit and has a hydrogen roadmap. ISHRAE, as a technical organisation, is one of the largest influencers and can do a lot towards net zero, he said. “We can make sure that we from the HVAC field can contribute,” he said. “In India, we work with the Bureau of Indian Standards, the Environment Protection Ministry and with the Star Labelling programme. We, as ISHRAE, give inputs and work with industries, architects, academia and
end-users. We are looking at the prospect of being able to spread the knowledge of HVAC here.”

Chandrasekar said ISHRAE, over the years, has established Technical Standards on VRFs, AHUs, IEQ and on commissioning. The standard on commissioning, he said, is one of its kind, he added. Chandrasekar, just like Abraham before him, spoke of the technical programmes in the UAE chapter’s pipeline. Emphasising on refrigeration as a subject, he said the chapter has outlined topics related to refrigeration, including heat load estimation, selection of components (insulation panels, evaporators (heat exchangers), condensing units, refrigeration racks, air-cooled condensers and water-cooled condensers), piping design, best practices for installation and commissioning, and operation and maintenance.

Speaking after him, K Kalimuthu, Consul (Economic, Trade & Commerce), Consul General of India, Dubai, spoke of the importance of refrigeration in the context of food losses. “We lose 30%-40% from the point of production to the point of consumption of food,” he said. “So, imagine if we could provide a solution. One unit saved is one unit produced.”

Kalimuthu also spoke on the subject of standards – on how they could become barriers to trade. He said the UAE and India have agreed to work together to understand to ensure technical standards do not become barriers. The ISHRAE chapter, he said, could help in cooperation and increased trade. Indian trade relating to HVAC equipment, he pointed out, is not substantial, considering that we are a premium trading partner of the UAE. This could change, he said.

The conference track of the event included a panel discussion on cross-sectoral partnerships for positive climate action. It also included a panel discussion on achieving energy efficiency and occupant health through VRF technology.

The event was sponsored by Daikin (Presenting Partner); Carrier (Host Country Partner); HTL Aircon (Engineering Solutions Partner); Leminar and Rheem (Knowledge Partners); Mexflow (Copper Partner); Bry-Air and DRI (India Innovation Partners); Blue Star (Sustainability Partner); Edgetech (Air-Handling Solutions Partner); and ABL Technical Services, Advance Valves, Daspass, Grundfos, HisenseHVAC, Humidin|Casilica and SRM Tec (Strategic Partners). Climate Control Middle East magazine was Media Partner of the event.