BY CHRIS COMBS, IIAR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS DIRECTOR

The IIAR International Committee’s second meeting since becoming a formal IIAR working committee in 2012 was attended by 54 people. After a review of the committee’s mission, purpose, scope and regional structure, Paul Bishop introduced the committee’s vice chairmen appointed since the last International Committee meeting was held in Milwaukee. John Flynn of Emerson Vilter was selected as the committee’s Senior Vice Chair. As mentioned previously in the Condenser, Samir Shah is the International Committee’s Regional Vice Chair for India and South Asia and Stefan Jensen is the Regional Vice Chair for Australia and Oceania. Bishop also introduced the recently appointed International Committee voting members.

Much of the meeting was dedicated to presentations by IIAR’s alliance partners around the globe. On behalf of the Australian Refrigeration Association, Steffen Jensen discussed Australia’s new Carbon Equivalent HFC levy and its impact on the HVAC&R industry in Australia (see last issues Global View Column for more details).

Anne Xu of Parker Hannifi in China indicated that the current plans of China’s government call for an increase in cold storage capacity from 12.76 million cubic meters to 23 million cubic meters by 2015. The government’s focus on food safety, energy savings, environmental friendliness and safe operation of refrigeration systems will create new opportunities for ammonia refrigeration in China.

Eurammon Chair, Monica Witt, highlighted Eurammon activities promoting the use of natural refrigerants including the upcoming symposium in Schaffhausen, Switzerland on June 27 and 28, an annual gathering of members and clients consisting of lectures as well as awards promoting innovations in natural refrigerant applications. Monica noted the growing popularity of CO2 refrigeration applications in Europe.

Andy Pearson, representing the U.K.’s Institute of Refrigeration, suggested that IIAR’s allied associations should identify IIAR publications useful to their members and that they negotiate arrangements with IIAR so they can adapt the language and format to suit their regions.

Speaking on behalf of the Association of Ammonia Refrigeration in India, Samir Shah indicated that most industrial refrigeration installations in India (up to 85 percent) are in rural locations where design standards tend to be very low. Ammonia installations in areas previously considered rural face stricter regulations as a consequence of increasing urbanization. Despite recent developments affecting the industry including new technical standards for industrial refrigeration from April 2010, Shah pointed out that there will be a great deal of regulatory uncertainty at least until after the Indian elections in 2014. In the meantime, strengthening education and awareness is their main focus.

Raul Perea spoke on behalf of ACAIRE (the Colombian Association of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration). He highlighted ACAIRE’s initiative to create an industrial refrigeration course delivered via the internet. The next CIAR (Iberoamerican Congress of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration) will be organized and hosted by ACAIRE in Cartagena, Colombia from July 22 – 24, 2013. Patrick Fossey presented for the Chilean Chamber of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. In 2012 the chamber created an ammonia committee and began working with the Chilean Government to create a good practice manual (discussed in a previous Global View column). A final draft for review is expected soon. One of the IC’s main initiatives is the series of Industrial Refrigeration Seminars in Latin America. A special meeting for Latin America an hour before the main IC meeting was attended by 36 people. At the beginning of the meeting Federico Alarcon, IIAR’s Marketing Coordinator for Latin America based in Mexico City, presented an overview IIAR’s various investments and initiatives relating to Latin America including the ongoing development of Spanish language content. This was followed by an open discussion about factors for the continued success of the seminars including a spirit of collaboration among the various members involved, financial balance and the academic level. Several IIAR member companies’ joint efforts to handle the local organization of the 2012 Seminar in Santiago, Chile was cited as an example of the spirit of collaboration needed to run a successful regional seminar. Attendees stressed the importance of focusing on the educational mission of the seminars (many countries in the region lack specialized programs in refrigeration studies) and promoting and bringing IIAR to Latin America (where many can’t afford to participate in IIAR’s U.S. based events) rather than focusing on particular commercial interests. Another suggestion was to have more presentations based on content previously published by IIAR.

A group of IIAR members in Costa Rica indicated they were ready to begin preparing for a seminar there. Another IIAR member proposed hosting a future IIAR seminar in Panama. IIAR International Programs Director, Chris Combs, noted that a three-year cycle would be more realistic than a two-year cycle for covering all the potential seminar host countries in Latin America and presented a regional approach in which there would be no more than one meeting in each sub region (first, Central America and the Caribbean, second, Andean Countries and third, the Southern Cone) in any given membership year. The discussion also focused on whether IIAR would include Mexico and Venezuela as seminar locations.

Following the discussion on Latin America, John Flynn made a presentation on the activities of other IIAR committees including possible tie-ins to International Committee activities.

Combs reminded the committee about the International Affiliate membership program which makes IIAR membership available to individuals in the BRIC countries and countries listed in article fi ve of the Montreal Protocol for only US$100. He noted that the number of international affiliates grew from 15 to 59 since March 2012 and that IIAR had a total of 261 members outside the U.S. at the time of the meeting.

Combs announced that he had begun working from a home office in South Africa in order to be with his wife who is working on a project based in Pretoria scheduled to end in June 2015.

The IC meeting ended with a discussion of new business and Paul Bishop’s inquiry regarding opportunities for the International Committee to make a difference. Guy Cloutier suggested that a French language task force might address the needs of a group of members in Quebec who proposed forming a French speaking chapter. Responding to Paul Bishop’s inquiry, John Mott asked if there are any IIAR initiatives planned for hydrocarbons.

IIAR Welcomes Associations from Around the World, Signs Four Agreements in Colorado Springs

BY CHRIS COMBS, IIAR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS DIRECTOR

IIAR hosted delegations from numerous associations at the Industrial Refrigeration Conference in Colorado Springs including Jin Jaiwei, Yin Congxu and others from the Chinese Association of Refrigeration; Nikhil Raj, Samir Shah and others from the Association of Ammonia Refrigeration in India; Dr. Karin Jahn and Monica Witt of Eurammon; and Andy Pearson of the Institute of Refrigeration in the United Kingdom. Three additional associations were welcomed for the first time at IIAR’s 2013 annual meeting: ACAIRE (or the Colombian Association of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration), Australian Association of Refrigeration (AAR) which was discussed in the last issue of the Condenser, and the Chilean Chamber of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning.

In a ceremony held in the afternoon of Tuesday, March 19, IIAR entered into 4 separate agreements with some of the organizations just mentioned. The current senior officers of IIAR, Bob Port, and Eurammon, Monica Witt, signed a modifi ed IIAR-Eurammon Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) strengthening the commitment of both organizations to participate in each other’s meetings. Silvio Toro, the president of ACAIRE’s refrigeration chapter, joined Port in signing the first IIAR-ACAIRE MOU. Stefan Jensen signed the initial IIAR-AAR MOU and the delegates of the Chilean Chamber of Refrigeration, Patrick Fossey and Raul Bunster, delivered the first MOU between IIAR and the Chilean Chamber which had previously been signed by the Chamber’s President Heinrich Stauffer both of which were signed by Port at the Ceremony. Each of these associations are now allied associations of IIAR. Nikhil Raj, the President of the Association of Ammonia Refrigeration in India (AAR), also participated in a ceremonial signing of the MOU previously executed by IIAR and AAR. Also present at the signing ceremony were Dave Rule, Samir Shah of AAR, Klaas Visser of ARA, Raul Perea of ACAIRE and Dr. Karin Jahn of Eurammon.

The relationship described in the MOUs signed that day includes the exchange of news publications, sending representatives to the main conference or meeting of the other association, transferring technical knowledge and holding meetings to plan joint initiatives which benefit both parties. Each allied association is able to nominate a voting member to the International Committee. Furthermore, the MOUs signed with the associations from Colombia and Chile establish a potential role for the allied associations as the main local organizers for the IIAR Industrial Refrigeration Seminars in their respective countries or regions. The intention of these alliance relationships is to more effectively promote the safe and efficient use of ammonia and other natural refrigerants in refrigeration applications worldwide.