FOCUS | HVAC Sector | Moving Towards Sustainable Solutions

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the technology or ths system used to provide heating and cooling services so as to ensure indoor and vehicular environmental comfort. For each of the building construction project, the HVAC systems have become the required industry standard. The goal of HVAC systems is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. The move towards green building development calls for deployment of energy efficient HVAC systems in the residential segment. The industrial ventilation market is likely to open up further with the Government of India is keen to promote and ensure its flagship programme, ‘Make in India’, is successful. Sandeep Sharma takes a look at the HVAC sector in India.

The spurt in the growth of the segments like hospitality, real estate and healthcare promises windfall of profits for not just the leading HVAC players but for anyone to everyone connected with the HVAC industry. The demand is manifold and multiplying with more and more segments wanting to deploy cooling solutions in India. The modern educational institutions coming up in large numbers across the length and breadth of the country have placed HVAC as one of the mandatory requirement to go forward. Business Owners whether big or small has HVAC as compulsory requirement in their scheme of things.

With the Government of India plans to set up 100 Smart Cities, the demand for HVAC systems is likely to multiply manifold in the near future. India is witnessing the infrastructure overall on an unprecedented scale. Things are changing everywhere and every minute, new infrastructure are being built in India and the existing infrastructure are retrofitted with the latest and modern systems and equipment. The government regulations and policies is laying emphasis on using the energy efficient systems and equipment’s have contributed towards the increase in demand for energy saving HVAC systems. The government incentives through tax credit programs is also one of the factor responsible for boosting growth of HVAC sector. The growing trend of building smart homes calls for energy efficient HVAC systems.

Considering the increase in the demand and overall activity across the country in terms of manufacturing and deploying HVAC systems at number of sites. The industry is on the way to create an ecosystem which would not only serve the requirements of the nation but serve the foreign clients. As per the industry sources, the country is likely to emerge as a manufacturing hub for HVAC sector.

HVAC systems are the biggest consumers of the electricity generated. With the rapid rise in the awareness to save electricity by using energy efficient systems, the customers of HVAC are always on the lookout for systems which are sustainable and make the optimal use of the available electricity without raising the monthly energy bills at affordable labels. Selecting the right HVAC solution can go a long way in putting the cost down and still maintaining the optimal level of indoor comfort. Choosing the right HVAC systems can help companies to reduce its energy footprint.

In order to achieve the dual goal of energy savings and having precision system control, the latest trend points to the usage of the adjustable frequency drives in HVAC systems. The need to improve the automation levels can help further in getting the optimal mix of components used in the HVAC systems. The equipment and controls are evolving. The usage of variable frequency drives (VFDs) are gaining in popularity. Smarter technologies are preferred and likely to become the future norms. The use of smartphone apps that allow building managers to control lighting, ventilation, and other processes with one control point are gaining ground. At the home front, the awareness drive from the HVAC players are on to educate people on how to use an app to control the environment and save on cost. HVAC systems control by mobility solution is the latest trend. The capability of super computational power at a fraction of a cost has led to doing big data analysis thus paving way for more efficient HVAC systems to be installed.

Industrial HVAC (Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) market in India is dominated by players like Daikin, Voltas, Blue Star, Hitachi, Samsung, Danfoss and many more. As per the industry sources, the overall size of the HVAC market in India is close to US$ 200 million. It is estimated that the HVAC market in India will be mainly led by cooling equipment segment between 2016 and 2022. The highest contribution is likely to come from the residential segment. According to the new market research report, the HVAC systems market is expected to reach USD 173.16 billion by 2022 at a CAGR of 5.9% between 2016 and 2022.  China, Japan, and India are the main economies that are driving the growth of the HVAC systems market in Asia-Pacific. The rapid rise in the population growth, disposable income and climate change are contributing to the deployment of HVAC systems in the Asia Pacific region.