The Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE) was founded in 1981 at New Delhi by a group of eminent HVAC&R professionals. ISHRAE today has more than 10,000 HVAC&R professionals and 3,000 students as members with 40 chapters and sub-chapters across India. ISHRAE's primary objective is the advancement of the art and sciences of heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, refrigeration engineering and other related building services. ISHRAE engages in a broad spectrum of activities to attain its objectives.

K Ramachandran, National President, Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE) spoke to Industrial Products Finder about the status of the HVAC&R industry in India.

Excerpts from the interview:

Could you elaborate about the activities of ISHRAE?

To begin with, ISHRAE conducts conferences, seminars, workshops and catalogue shows throughout the country with both national and international participation on the latest in terms of technologies, systems and services. The society also organises ACREX, the largest international exposition in South Asia on the air-conditioning, refrigeration, ventilation and building service industry. Held annually, ACREX is considered to be a major platform to display the latest technologies and innovations and to also find buyers for existing products and services.

ISHRAE's publications strive to help its members keep up-to-date with the happenings, learn new techniques, improve old designs, and adopt the use of new devices to improve indoor air quality in our buildings. The ISHRAE standards, the guidebooks, the fundamentals booklets, the HVAC, refrigeration and ventilation handbooks and the ISHRAE Journal are a few such initiatives. ISHARE also promotes research in the field of products or techniques/technology aimed at specific end use. It envisages active user involvement and association in the development effort.

ISHRAE Institute of Excellence (IIE), the education arm of the Society, is working towards human resource development in the HVAC&R industry in the country through its classroom and distance learning programmes. The K-12 initiative of ISHRAE is focused on school students to make them aware of energy conservation and environmental concerns through sit and draw competitions, poster designs, quizzes and planting of trees. We are also working in close cooperation with other similar bodies, both national and international, and government agencies for the promotion and development of green and net zero energy buildings in the country. ISHRAE has recently embarked on a programme called the Integrated Approach towards Product Delivery (IAPD) to ensure that all the stakeholders in the building industry can meet their respective roles and deliver systems that meet the requirement and expectation of the end users.

Could you provide an overview of the Indian HVAC&R industry?

It was Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the architect of modern Singapore, who once famously remarked that it was air-conditioning that gave a level playing field to Singaporeans when they had to compete with people from cold climates such as Europeans and North Americans. Air-conditioning helps to increase well-being and human productivity in hot and humid climates. Our country was rather late in realizing this but now it is now a recognized fact that the air-conditioning and refrigeration industry is central to nation-building. The growth of real estate sector, both residential and commercial, has given a boost to the growth of HVAC&R in India.

There are several sectors such as IT, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, hospitality, electronics, etc. which just cannot exist without air-conditioning. Even in the residential segment, air-conditioning is being recognized as essential to modern living as much as water and electricity. On the other hand, for bringing farm produce to the table, refrigeration is of utmost importance. Refrigeration and its manifestation, the cold chain, helps to avoid the huge wastage which used to happen in the food supply chain. The industry has realized the importance of energy efficiency and sustainability and Indian HVAC&R engineers and their prime professional society, ISHRAE, is at the forefront in the march towards energy conservation, protection of the environment, and sustainability.

What are the new technologies that Indian manufacturers have adapted to make the products more sustainable?

Refrigeration equipment, air-handling systems and ventilation systems are all becoming more and more energy-efficient. Engineers are seriously looking at adaptive thermal comfort solutions to reduce the energy consumed. Heat recovery systems and heat pump systems are becoming increasingly popular. Passive cooling systems and structure cooling are also gaining popularity. On the refrigeration front, ammonia is staging a comeback as a safe refrigerant and systems with low ammonia charge are being used for air-conditioning of spaces in preference to hydro fluorocarbons. What is the expected industry growth and reasons?

For the reasons stated above, the industry grows by a healthy 12-16 per cent year-on-year. With the increasing emphasis on manufacturing and development of 'smart cities', the HVAC&R industry is expected to show an accelerated growth.

What are the challenges faced by the industry and the government's stand on any unresolved issues?

Skill development is a cause of major concern. The Indian HVAC&R industry is an acknowledged source of trained manpower to the Gulf and this, many times, leaves the local industry high and dry. There is also a huge requirement of persons trained in duct fabrications and installation, piping, plant erection, trouble-shooting as well as good welders, service mechanics, etc. Trained as well as fresh engineers are also required in large numbers and with the higher starting salary offered by the IT sector, HVAC&R is finding it difficult to attract good talent in sufficient numbers. ISHRAE has more than 6,000 student members at more than 150 student chapters across India and conscious efforts are being made to attract them to the industry.

Meanwhile, the government has initiated star ratings for air-conditioning and refrigeration products and BEE is in the process of introducing energy ratings for buildings. The Energy Conservations Building Code (ECBC) is being revised and re-issued. It is necessary to make this code mandatory for all new constructions in the country. A lot more needs to be done by way of incentives, tax benefits, higher FSI allotments, etc. to reinforce energy efficiency and environment-friendly policies. Buildings rated environment-friendly under established ratings' systems should get positive support from the government.

What have been your recent initiatives to promote the industry?

ISHRAE is working on the following fronts for the benefit of industry:

• Establishment of standards for chillers/VRF systems etc. so that manufacturers are assured of a globally recognized and fair evaluation of their products.
• Position papers on matters of vital importance such as indoor environment quality, refrigerant use, safety at work sites, etc.
• Training and certification programmes for fresh entrants as well as refresher courses.
• Funding of student research projects as well as industry-supported projects .
• Weather data projects.
• Technical publications and handbooks.
• Student initiatives.
• Hosting of one of Southeast Asia's foremost exhibitions in the field - ACREX.

How does ISHRAE and the industry players look at the emerging alternative energy resources contributing to sustainable products and technologies?

Sustainable products are those that do not overstrain scarce natural resources. The fight is on two fronts: First is to reduce the energy consumed for providing human comfort and for necessary refrigeration. An efficient building envelope design, most efficient orientation of the building, adaptive thermal comfort, increasing energy efficiency of motors, compressors, etc., are all steps in this direction. Second is to depend on alternative sources of energy, which do not deplete the conventional sources. Employing waste heat from steam or gas turbines, diesel engine generators and industrial/commercial waste heat for production of refrigeration in vapour absorption machines is fairly advanced in our country.

A new area that is opening up is geo-thermal cooling which means making use of the phenomena that if we go below the earth's surface the temperatures will be sufficiently cool so that air or water drawn through the sub-strata can be used for cooling of spaces. Solar power for water heating which again can be used in absorption refrigeration machines is another sunrise area of alternative energy source for cooling. ISHRAE promotes all these technologies.

How can the industry contribute towards the Smart Cities project?

Smart cities typically optimise resources used and are able to render living and working conditions of their residents efficiently and comfortably. District cooling solutions which allow refrigeration produced in bulk in a most economical fashion and away from the point of use, thus reducing noise and vibration issues for residents, is a good example. Further, a smart city gives the opportunity to generate electric power close to the point of use and allow by-product waste heat to be used for production of cooling in a central facility. Variable speed, secondary and tertiary pumping systems, thermal energy storage systems, heat recovery opportunities, use of solar power and alternative energy sources are all possibilities in smart cities.

What is your overview of the cold storage chain in India?

In India, where large amounts of the food produced in farms get wasted before they reach the consumer, the cold chain concept is vital. Right from the point the produce is harvested, cold chain provides proper conditions for its sorting, processing and storage in pack houses from where refrigerated containers ship them to large central storage units and then onwards to smaller cold storages in markets and finally to refrigerated display cabinets in stores and supermarkets.

Similarly, the importance of refrigeration at all points of collection, processing, storage and distribution is vital for dairy products, meat, fish and other animal produce.

What is the rural scenario like for the HVAC&R industry?

In the last 10 to 15 years the air-conditioning and refrigeration industry has become a part and parcel of rural India. Comfort air-conditioning is these days as popular in rural India as much as it is in urban centres. Healthcare is another area where AC&R has touched rural India in a big way. As regards the cold chain, it really originates and sustains in the countryside where pack houses, processing centres and cold storages are all situated.

How have the MNCs contributed to the Indian HVAC&R industry?

The AC&R industry was always a mature industry in India and from the early 1940s the Indian HVAC&R companies have held their own in front of global players. Until about 1990, artificial controls on imports and technology transfers did stifle the development. However when technologies became available and MNC companies started entering the market, realizing the huge potential of the Indian market, the local industry was ready to receive them and absorb the best they had to offer without buckling in front of their might. We now see established local players such as Voltas, Blue Star, Thermax, etc. standing shoulder to shoulder with multinational companies such as Carrier, Daikin, Samsung and LG. These companies coming into India has really helped the local industry to prove their worth in competition with the world's best. It is a win-win situation for the local industry as well as the MNCs.