News
Sizzling speaker line-up at 2023 Climate Control Conference
Eurovent Certita Certification (ECC) was thrilled to sponsor the 2023 Climate Control Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Held at the Holiday Inn Al Qasr, from 10th-11th October, the event promised a dynamic lineup of speakers, including ECC’s own Technical Manager, Dr Ali Alexandre Nour Eddine, and Eurovent Middle East’s Managing Director, Markus Lattner. The conference featured an impressive range of professional development opportunities including keynote addresses, industry leadership insights, plenary panel discussions, techno-commercial presentations, and engaging audience interactions.
Now in its 9th edition, the Climate Control Conference is a dedicated multilateral HVAC event, that brings together all disciplines under one roof. With Saudi Arabia undergoing sweeping changes with mega-projects to match, the aim of the conference is to look in-depth at project finance; regulatory frameworks; legal structures; HVAC systems; pre-design, design, construction and installation strategies; digital-inclusiveness; testing & commissioning; and O&M approaches that can ably support the developments and be part of an integrated eco-system that results in smart cities, and an enhanced and sustainable standard of living. Underlying this, the event aims to contribute to socio-economic and sustainable development targets in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the broader GCC region.
Both Eurovent Certita Certification and Eurovent Middle East acted as a Strategic Partner (Standards and Regulations) for day-one of the conference. On 10th October, Ali and Markus took part in a panel discussion on “Lifecycle cost and total cost of ownership (TCO): the HVAC industry as an ally of building owners across multiple sectors.” Markus took the helm as moderator, while Ali was joined on the panel by Ahmad D. Awartani, Regional Sales Manager – Eastern Region, SKM; Larbi Behloul, Director, Facilities Management, UAPM; Khalil El Ghazzi, Managing Director, Systemair Saudi Arabia; Khalid Al Mulhim, Business Development Director, Suhaimi Design – Protecooling Saudi Arabia; and Dominic Mc Polin Viktor Osokin, Freelance Strategic Planning Advisor.
A lively and topical debate ensued, which included HVAC in healthcare, hospitality, education, aviation, commercial real estate, residential and industrial applications. Ali highlighted the innovative steps that Eurovent is taking toward Indoor Air Quality certification inside buildings, first by the Hygienic Air Handling unit programme, that classify the AHU by stars depending on its application. This makes it understandable for end user without any necessity for technical knowledge of the product. In addition, the Eurovent academy is certifying engineers and technicians, to ensure that the design is properly carried out and the product is rightly installed.
Markus followed up with a summary of the discussion, including the importance of identifying and installing quality HVAC and refrigeration equipment, and industry recommendations focusing on the quality criteria associated with products such as AHUs and chillers. Markus also summarised the importance of product and energy labelling.
Our thanks go to those on the panel for their engaging debate, and of course the audience for participating. We would also like to thank the organisers of the Climate Control Conference - CPI Industry, Climate Control Middle East and co-hosts Dalkia, EDF Group.