What may visitors to Mostra Convegno Expocomfort expect from the show? 

The 43rd edition of Mostra Convegno Expocomfort, in March 2024 is the first one coming back to its traditional in-person format after the pandemic. Mostra 2020 had to be cancelled just weeks before its opening because of the pandemic. Then, we tried to postpone the show several times, but with no luck. We just about succeeded with the 42nd edition, in June 2022, but it was a smaller edition compared to previous ones in terms of visitors and exhibitors. We were nevertheless satisfied with the international attendance. I mean, we had 40% of international visitors and 55% of international exhibitors. So, that was the 2022 edition. 

With the 43rd edition, we are finally getting back to the traditional calendar, which is the month of March, which is the perfect period for our technologies and the market. And in this moment, we are going back to pre-pandemic size of the show, in terms of exhibitors and in terms of international participation, which is growing again. We have 1,700 exhibitors, 60% of whom are from abroad; and they are from 50 countries. And we also expect to have a large audience. We are expecting 120,000 visitors from 40 countries. This is because Mostra Convegno is a real international show, with people coming from four corners of the world. 

And this is because the Italian HVAC market is very important. In the last three years, the market in Italy has grown at two per cent digit levels, also thanks to the fiscal incentives defined by the Italian government in order to improve energy efficiency in buildings. As you can imagine, Italy has a very long history, and most of the residential buildings have been built between the 1960s and the 1970s; and that is why they need energy refurbishment and that is why the Italian govt decided to invest in those areas to give funds to citizens to renovate their homes to get better consumption of energy and better comfort, in terms of air quality, etc. 

How important is IAQ? How is it perceived in the country, considering that Italy suffered substantially during the pandemic? 

Obviously, the pandemic highlighted that we have some problems, so we are much more focused on IAQ. The Italian government is working on renovating some specific buildings – 

for example, schools – because as you mentioned, we saw the worst case of so many people dying. If you think of children going to school with the risk of getting the virus because of poor IAQ, it is important to set it right. So, there has been great investment by the government in our plan. I am referring to the Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza, which is the National Recovery and Resilience Plan*. So, yes, there is strong investment with regard to air quality and energy refurbishment. 

We are also working on several other environments that are very important, and we are going to deepen the understanding on this during Mostra Convegno. I am referring to energy refurbishment and improving IAQ measures in cinemas, theatres and museums. We have so many buildings that need refurbishment from these points of view. So, it is not only new buildings that have to follow recent government regulation but also historical buildings. 

It is a daunting challenge to refurbish historical buildings, isn’t it? 

Yes, it is also a matter of preserving the artistic aspects. This is one of the topics of discussion during Mostra Convegno. It will involve the Italian Government’s energy agency, and we are going to have certifiers, plan designers, engineers and architects to explain and show the agency the best technologies and best solutions to achieve energy efficiency-related refurbishments and better internal air quality in these historical buildings. 

What is the national ethos towards mitigating climate change. Just how much is the citizenry concerned about lowering greenhouse gas emissions? 

The awareness of Italian people is growing very fast towards the concept. Mostra Convegno tries to communicate [key green messages] to not only exhibitors and visitors but also to the general public, because it is important that end users of technology can choose the right solutions, the right systems that would give the highest performance relating to climate change. And for this reason, we have decided to launch our excellence awards during Mostra Convegno Expocomfort 2024. This initiative will recognise and reward all technologies and systems that are going to help accelerate the energy transition and ecological transitions, as defined by the some of the 17 UN SDGs. 

Pandemic response 

The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza) is part of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) programme, namely the €750 billion package – of which about half is in the form of grants – that the European Union negotiated in response to the pandemic crisis. The main component of the NGEU programme is the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), which has a duration of six years – from 2021 to 2026 – and a total size of €672.5 billion – of which €312.5 billion is in the form of grants, and the remaining €360 billion is in the form of low-interest loans.