Indian HVAC building beyond Chillar

With the technological innovations driving the HVAC-R segment, the indian market is scaling up to new levels with multiple opportunities. Energy efficiency and a sustainable end-to-end HVAC system are set to be the new norm, and players are gearing up to cater to the changing demands armed with the new technologies. We trace the rise of the domestic HVAC-R segment, which is no more a “Chillar” market.

The HVAC industry is expected to grow exponentially to meet the growing demands of urbanisation. Simultaneously, the world is moving towards a sustainable future. Given this situation, a completely sustainable end-to-end HVAC system is expected to become the new reality. Additionally, the increased emphasis on energy efficiency standards of air conditioners to reduce its impact on the environment will increase the need to establish such as system.

Earlier, the HVAC market which was valued at $108.1 billion in 2018, is now projected to generate $136.5 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 3.9 percent, during the forecast period (2019-2024).

Air conditioning
While talking about the Air conditioning market, Gaurav Mathur, Head – Business Development (Building Services), Grundfos India delineates that the AC market has exploded in the recent couple of years, with an expected sale of a billion units, by 2050. With the intensifying temperature, air conditioners are no longer considered a luxury instead they have become a mainstay in residential homes, offices, commercial buildings and even in Tier 2 and 3 cities. As this demand grows, the amount of energy consumed is projected to triple globally. Therefore, it is essential at HVAC solutions are energy efficient.

He further feels that the HVAC industry is expected to grow exponentially to meet the growing demands of urbanisation. Simultaneously, the world is moving towards a sustainable future. Given this situation, a completely sustainable end-to-end HVAC system is expected to become the new reality.

Whereas, Nilesh Shah, Marking Head and VP, Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India Ltd feels that India is highly dynamic market for air conditioners. The preferences of each zone namely North, South, East and West are quite differentiated from each other. When seen as complete market penetration is just 4 percent, so the demand can just go up. With rapid urbanisation and electrification of the country, the need for air conditioners is bound to grow many folds.

Adding on to the future prospects of sustainable HVAC in India, Shah says “In a tropical country such as India, solar energy driven HVAC solutions has ample untapped potential. It can possibly reduce energy consumption by 30 percent to even 65 percent while improving adaptability, scalability and minimising the footprint”.

Duct ventilation
Energy efficiency has always been the focus of HVAC&R departments of Facility Management companies. Saving energy in a system doesn’t always mean having maintenance and engineering to monitor the system round the clock. Udayan Banerjee, Co-founder & Operations Head, Clairco , on this note, highlights that most of the industry players are in line with the installation of energy efficient systems, using the thermostats to shut the air ducts based on the desired temperature. Moreover, use of retrofitted air filters with low pressure drop and high efficiency with their company’s expertise. Hina Gupta, Operations, MG Cooling Solutions, elucidates on the importance of having ventilation systems designed for almost every construction, right from residential to the large industries. She says, “Ever since India has been into the clutches of concerns of air pollution and global warming, ventilation systems are now–a–days an integral part of in India. Be it stubble burning in Northern India or industrialisation across India, we need ventilation systems to improve the indoor air quality. With the expansion of Indian manufacturing sector and the PMI (Purchasing Manager Index) has been on a rising spree till date.”

Refrigeration
With the growth of middle class consumers, the demand for food quality and food safety will increase significantly, and this relates mainly to the commercial refrigeration industry. Eason Cheng, Marketing Manager – Refrigeration-APAC, CAREL here, notes “In this scenario, it’s easy to imagine how critical both energy consumption and the quality of goods preservation on the shelf or during transformation processes can be. Therefore, high efficiency solutions will certainly be an important trend for the refrigeration industry.” Energy saving is always linked to operating costs, and it is easy to calculate the return on investment as first steps, 20 percent – 30 percent energy savings can be achieved by implementing ExVs and variable speed compressors in the refrigeration industry.

Automation and IoT driving the industry
System automation and digitalisation is a very well received idea in the HVAC industry where processes and work practices are becoming more self-driven with less human interventions. According to VimalChavda, BU Head – HVAC&R, Testo India Pvt. Ltd, any office building that lacks proper ventilation and temperature regulation systems can lead to decreased fresh air levels, also excess number of people working in the office can be a factor of air contamination because excess CO2 is released in the ambience. Humidity and moisture levels along with the presence

Final note
There are no stringent norms in India that emphasises on having ventilation systems installed in their industrial premises. Hence, the industry looks forward for government’s intervention to address such issues. However, citing GDP growth, advent of smart cities in India and government push on campaigns like ‘Make in India’ will certainly create a huge requirement for ventilation system in India.