International District Cooling Conference 2016 reunites elite green experts to share highly efficient solutions

Under the theme of ‘A Climate Solution’, the 7th “International District Cooling Conference” will be organized from 13 to15 November at Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai by International District Energy Association (IDEA). The conference will see the attendance of local, regional and international companies and organizations operating in the energy field and it will offer exclusive access to workshops and discussions with insights on the district cooling techniques and green air conditioning. The Conference is hosted second time consecutively by Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (Empower), world’s largest district cooling company.  

The Conference will be attended by HE Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Empower and Conference General Chair; Rob Thornton, President & CEO, IDEA; Tim Griffin, Chair of  IDEA and Conference General Chair; Pablo Izquierdo Lopez and Thomas Bosse of Dubai Carbon Center of Excellence; Anwar Hassan, of Johnson Controls;  Steve Benz of EVAPCO; Bob Smith of RMF Engineering; Srinivasan Rangan of Carrier Corporation; Henry Johnstone of GLHN Architects & Engineers; Bernt Andersson of Koma’ge Energy Group; and Mohammed Khan and Gary Hicks of Delta District Cooling Services.

“We promise fruitful three days of knowledge and experience exchanges. We are bringing valuable input from many sectors like design, architecture, engineering, environment and related businesses into the environmental question, to share with all participants and to benefit the local and regional needs in the GCC countries. District cooling technology is very specific topic and we are proud to reunite experts and specialists in a think tank that aims at saving natural resources of the world as far as district cooling is concerned,” said HE Ahmad bin Shafar, CEO of Empower.

The conference will kick off with in-depth talks at a dedicated workshop to the best practices in district cooling system in term of design, operation and optimization. 

Pablo Izquierdo Lopez from Dubai Carbon Center of Excellence will detail the contribution of district cooling in the carbon reduction, the role of his organization and collaboration with Dubai Supreme Council of Energy (DSCE) and the United Nations Development programme (UNDP) in capturing a growing niche market that gets ready for a low-carbon and green economy.

This will be followed by a presentation of “Key Issues in System Design” made by Juan Ontiveros from the University of Texas at Austin. This in-depth session will introduce the University of Texas at Austin energy model, which is based on keeping fuel at 1976 levels, reducing water consumption, using TSE and TES, recovering water from buildings for plant use and optimizing continually the energy and water control and conservation. 

Steve Benz from EVAPCO will talk about the thermal energy storage types, and best practices for optimizing chilled water dispatch; while Henry Johnstone from GLHN Architects & Engineers will address the question of managing Delta T in buildings.

Two sessions are planned for the afternoon with respectively the focus on “the role of controls, metering and the use of tools and data in optimizing performance” and "Leveraging Technology and Innovation” with the impressive experiences of Empower, Johnson Controls and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries from Asia. 

The panel discussion will take place the second day of the conference with insights on deployment, operations and business best practices of district cooling as an environmental strategy in support of the Paris Agreement (COP 21).

This will be followed by a discussion on financing district cooling via the system life cycle, moderated by Rob Thornton, President & CEO, IDEA.

“We are proud to take part at this event which constitutes a leading global gathering of well-known experts and confirmed connoisseurs of the green solutions and of the theme of the conference in particular. I will be moderating several panel discussions and I am happy to meet all the speakers and to get the opportunity to interact with the delegates in order to come up with doable strategies that would help in dealing most efficiently with the energy conservation,” said Mr Thornton.

Experienced industry specialists will discuss financial strategies for maximizing value, modernizing assets, and leveraging market opportunities. 

“The district cooling industry is growing rapidly in the Middle East, yet many challenges are faced in managing resources, meeting climate objectives and creating customer value. This global conference will dive in the local policies adopted globally and regionally as it will feature presentations on the environmental innovations, the design considerations and the applications around the world,” added Mr Thornton.

Topics oriented roundtables are set up at the end of day two to allow the attendees to communicate directly with the concerned specialists on topics that they relate to the most.

Practical cases from the Middle East will be discussed on the third day of the conference, with real experiences from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan.  Moreover, the participants will get to know about green solutions that target local customers, and the development of premium efficiency centrifugal compressor design that is specific to Middle East DC conditions.

At the ending panel discussion, distinguished industry leaders from across the GCC region will share experiences, discuss trends and outline innovative approaches to system design, optimizing energy and water efficiency among others.

Relevantly, Low Carbon Champion Award will be presented at IDEA conference in an effort to recognise outstanding achievement towards reducing CO2 emissions by using district cooling.  This award helps in the transition to a low-carbon and green economy through the consolidation of knowledge by looking to district cooling as an enabler of efficiency and great contributor to CO2 saving and to minimising the impact of climate change. 

“Our goal is to set the context for the review of key issues in district cooling operations and maintenance in the region and propose solutions to address them. It is of big importance that the concerned players from the UAE and other Arab countries meet and work together in this global meeting because we need to join efforts and act responsibly in order to fulfil the environmental global objectives,” added bin Shafar.