ASHRAE conducted its much-awaited Developing Economies Conference in New Delhi on November 10-11 at Le Meridien, along with ASHRAE India Chapter and ISHRAE. This was the second such Conference organised by ASHRAE – after a successful debut in Manila three years back. The event was conducted in partnership with UN Environment (UNe), and supported by industry heavyweights Blue Star, Johnson Controls-Hitachi, Kirloskar Pumps, Daikin, Bry-Air/ DRI, Edgetech, Advance Valves, Zamil Air Conditioners, Lloyd Insulations, Air Flow, Gripple, Hira Technologies, Crystal Air Systems and AC Humidin. Prof. Bjarnë W. Olesen, Ph.D, President of ASHRAE, flew down for the event. Ashish Rakheja, P.E., Member ASHRAE and Managing Partner, Aeon Integrated Building Design Consultants began the event by welcoming the delegates. He spelt out the objective of the Conference as interaction between the developed and developing countries. Alluding to the success of the first such conference in Manila, he mentioned that this is the first ASHRAE conference ever organised in India, and speakers from 16 countries are attending it. In future, this event will be rotated among other developing countries. He thanked the Conference partners for their generous support, due to which the participation fees could be slashed. He expressed gratitude to UN Environment, the Ozone Cell of the Ministry of Environment and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) for their support. ASHRAE President Bjarnë Olesen, in his address, elaborated the activities of ASHRAE. He mentioned that contrary to popular perception, it is not merely a North American Society – his Danish nationality is proof enough of its international character. He explained that the Society’s strategic plan, published in 2014, shows the direction in which its leaders shall lead it. He mentioned that a new European Region IV has been created with 8 chapters and 1800 members. A new chapter has been chartered in South Africa. Strategic partnerships have been forged with REHVA and CIBSE through a trilateral agreement. An MoU has been signed with REHVA.

ASHRAE is supporting a global IEQ alliance. There is a strong alignment between ASHRAE and UNe. ASHRAE has an annual research budget of $ 5 million. It has recently released a new version of Duct Fitting Database, Standard 90.1 – 2016, and several other publications. He invited the delegates to the Winter Conference at Chicago on January 20-24, 2018. ISHRAE President-Elect C. Subramaniam was the next speaker. He elaborated the activities of ISHRAE and mentioned that it works closely with ASHRAE. Its theme for 2017-18 is Inspire, Customise, Energise (ICE). C. P. Mukundan Menon, President, Blue Star – Platinum Partner of the event – gave an introduction to his company, which is going global with a presence in 16 countries. All the partners were acknowledged with mementos. Architect Karan Grover was the Master Speaker on the first day of the Conference. His presentation covered the vast body of his architectural design and the themes running across them. In particular, he explained 10 sustainable ideas that guide his design. The first seminar of the Conference was on Smart Cities, spread over two sessions chaired by C. Subramaniam and Richie Mittal – RMCR, ASHRAE Region at Large respectively. Thomas Mark Lawrence, Ph.D spoke on ‘Energy resiliency and Sustainability for Smart Cities in Developing Economies’. Birol Kilks, Ph.D. made a presentation on ‘Hydrogen Economy in an Exergetically Rational Smart City’. Alaa Olama, Dr. Eng. talked about ‘District Cooling Experts’. Rohan Rawte of IES Shanghai dwelt upon ‘The Future of Energy Reduction’. Finally, Gaurav Wahi of JLL made a presentation on ‘Smart Solutions for Better Tomorrow’.

In a concurrent session, there was a seminar on ‘International Experiences in HVAC Systems’ chaired by Ashok Virmani – ex-Director, ASHRAE. The speakers were Esam Elsarrag, Ph.D. (who spoke on ‘Hybrid Super- Efficient Cooling System for FIFA 2022 Stadium’), Bridge Xue from AHRI (who discussed ‘How Standards and Certification Transform Markets’), and Walt Vernon IV, P.E. and Reshma Singh from Mazzetti Inc. (who talked about ‘New Energy Ideas for National Labs’). This was followed by a seminar on Eco Labelling (ASHRAEUNe Cooperation), comprising three lectures and a panel discussion. The lectures were delivered by Liazzat Raabbiosi from UNe on ‘Eco Labelling: Criteria from an Environmental Perspective’; Andrea Voigt from European Partnership for Energy and the Environment on ‘What are the EU Policies Key for the HVAC Industry’; and Hiroshi Aihara from Daikin, J. Bhambure from Blue Star and R. K. Mehta from RAMA on ‘Complying with Policy Directives: an OEM Perspective’. The UN Environment Panel Discussion that followed was moderated by Atul Bagai from UNe, Bangkok. Day One concluded with a panel discussion on ‘Can Developing Economies Leapfrog from Urban Mismanagement to Smart Cities?’ moderated by Ashish Rakheja. The panelists were V. Suresh, S. M. Akhtar, Gaurav Wahi, Kapil Mehrotra and Andrea Voigt. In a departure from the format, after the presentations of the panelists, Ashish Rakheja leveraged the presence of a large number of international experts among the audience to elicit their views on the topic under discussion. This got a response from participants coming from Egypt, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the USA, the UK, Turkey, China and Singapore.

The Master Speaker on Day Two of the Conference was Gauranga Das, Director, Govardhan Eco-Village in Palghar District of Maharashtra. The village is a 90-acre model community for sustainable rural development that has become a hub for eco-tourism. It incorporates water conservation measures, symbiotic waste recycling, a soil biotechnology (SBT) plant, renewable energy, green infrastructure, organic farming, rural employment and global outreach. Vikram Murthy, past national secretary – ISHRAE, gave information about the newly set up ASHRAE Training Center in Dubai – a global training center for building excellence. The first seminar of the day was on the topic ‘Water-Energy Nexus’, chaired by Uma Shankar, Past President of ISHRAE as well as ASHRAE India Chapter. The speakers were Essam E. Khalil, Ph.D. who spoke on ‘Water Energy Nexus: a Strategy and Roadmap’; Daniel Nall, P.E. who spoke on ‘Water Conservation and HVAC Design’; and Dinesh Gupta – President, Bry-Air – who spoke on ‘Adsorption Chillers – Green Cooling Using Waste Energy’. In a concurrent session chaired by Gurmeet Singh of JCI Hitachi on ‘Internet of Things’, the speakers were Hank Marcy (who spoke on ‘Model Perspective Control and VRF Systems’); Adewala A. Adelaja, CEng (who spoke on IoT in HVAC Built Environment); and Vijay Kumar from ASHRAE Emirates Falcon Chapter, Dubai (who spoke on ‘Converged IoT Environment in Buildings’). The post-lunch seminar was on ‘Tall Buildings’, chaired by G. C. Modgil, ARVC GGAC ASHRAE RAL Sub-Region 2, India. T. L. Chen, P.E. made a presentation on ‘Smoke Management Control and Active Fire  Strategies’. Peter Simmonds, Ph.D. gave a lecture on ‘Climate Effects on Tall Buildings’. Robert Simmons, P.E. spoke on ‘Design of MEP and Fire Systems to Survive Earthquakes’. This was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Pankaj Dharkar on ‘How Can Developing Economies Learn to Rise Up?’ 

In this seminar, ASHRAE President Bjarnë Olesen made a presentation on ‘Required Ventilation for an Acceptable Air Quality’. Tim Dwyer, CEng spoke on ‘IAQ: For the Many and Not Just the Few’. Mahesh Prabhu gave a lecture on ‘Legionella Control in the Hospitality Sector in the Developing Economies’. Mitesh Kumar from Orison QEHS LLP, Singapore talked about ‘IAQ and Health Hazard Evaluation’. Prabir Sen, Consulting Engineer gave a presentation on IAQ to Prevent Nonsocomial Infection Propagation. Planned and flawlessly executed, the two days were packed with knowledge and global networking opportunities for the participants.