The AHR Expo show, held between January 22 and 24 of this year, left the feeling that this version was larger than last year, although in this it is not easy to agree with anyone. With all the above, about 1800 exhibiting companies could be counted. Within the fair, several trends were observed for the future of technology and the market of this sector.But despite the little change, there were quite interesting elements, and above all quite important comments on news and trends, adoption of legal regulations in Latin America, politics, economy and education.
The current conjuncture of the economy poses almost an obsession with two elements: a more efficient operation, but also a more friendly performance with the planet. A large percentage of the companies that participated in the show made this issue their commercial flag.
For example, Johnson Controls invited journalists from local and international media to learn about its business strategy for this year. In that meeting, the director of AC/R Latin America spoke with Terry Hoffmann, marketing director of the Building Automation Systems division, who pointed out that there are two elements that will give much to talk about during 2008: wireless technology and the integration of control solutions within networks of IT. As he explained, "this integration allows the use of third-generation mobility technology, enabling communication with systems based on Windows Mobile versions 5 and 6 for the transmission of alarms to users." This is complemented by the development of a new GUI (graphical user interface) by this company.
The chiller segment will see several important elements this year, but the ones that perhaps stand out are the residential and commercial markets. In the first, we will have to pay attention to Latin America, since a significant number of projects are being presented that are requiring air conditioning solutions of different tonnage, thus offering a fairly segmented niche. On the commercial and industrial side, the market will be able to enjoy new solutions, such as chillers cooled by cold water. With regard to refrigerants and energy consumption, companies such as Multiaqua are offering, according to Carlos Sánchez, in charge of the firm's international sales, units operated with R-407 C (ecological) and with energy saving possibilities of between 40 and 50%, this thanks to its technology of application by cooling zones, which allows the Fan Coil that is being used to be applied zonally.
The question is how Latin America will react to the two trends initially proposed; one of two things can happen, on the one hand that the arrival of technology in the region is delayed, being faithful to its history, or that on the other hand the revaluation of its currencies against the dollar promotes the acquisition of cutting-edge technology, ecological and environmental, something that has begun to be noticed since last year in various industrial segments.
Alejandro Treviño, director for Latin America of Multi-wing, believes that although latin America has traditionally been slow to adopt the new equipment, they are currently making leaps and bounds and that 2008 will be a key year for this factor.
