Graham Wright, president of heating and cooling manufacturers’ group HEVAC.

Graham Wright, the new president of heating and cooling manufacturers’ group HEVAC has called on the industry to tackle skills shortages and to keep supporting training, if it is to meet the challenge of increasing legislation.

In his inaugural speech, Wright, legislation specialist at Daikin UK, laid down the challenge: “Over the past decade, the HVAC industry has been bombarded with significant amounts of legislation, from safety standards, building regulations, and performance criteria, through to rules on the disposal of old equipment. While manufacturers and others have worked extremely hard, not only to ensure compliance, but also to support and help influence government policy, the situation is unlikely to get easier, with new challenges and more rules and regulations coming in the next few years. It is therefore crucial that industry continues to provide resources to tackle the skills shortage and comply with new regulations.

“Anyone working in the renewables field will realize there is a significant skills shortage, not only in the capability to install new technologies, but also in understanding and promoting how building design can benefit through their use. Manufacturers, in particular, have to continue to provide support and training of technicians and designers and work with training bodies to enable the skills gap to be closed. This will also help industry meet customer demand created by government incentive schemes such as the domestic and non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentives.”

A key challenge for the sector is the new F-gas regulation coming into force, which will bring its own complexities, he noted, particularly in the requirement to move to lower-GWP gases: “Collectively, industry must make these regulations work effectively. HEVAC, along with the BRA and other industry bodies, will help communicate these changes to members, their customers, and a wider audience but everyone will have to continue to work to ensure the new rules are adhered to.”

He also emphasized that the new Part L regulations will be crucial for heating and cooling: “Discussions are underway to start the new revision of Part L 2016, which will affect the entire HVAC sector, and the government has restated its commitment to meeting the CO2 emission targets set down by Europe, by using the current regulations and allowable solutions. However, with the general election next year, the future is uncertain in many respects. If history is anything to go by, whoever is elected in May will have their own agenda and will drive the regulations in the way they see fit. While there are many challenges ahead, I am confident that industry has the skills and desire to meet these head on. For example, I continue to gain a tremendous feeling of satisfaction when I see members of HEVAC working together to make a substantial contribution towards forming government policy, by leading in the understanding of how renewable technologies can help change the future for the better.”

Content for the European Spotlight is provided courtesy of Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Magazine, London. For more information, visit www.racplus.com.

Publication date: 9/8/2014

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