Colombia. CIDARE, ACAIRE's Center for Research and Development in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, is one of the great allies of the Thermal Districts project in Colombia. Together with them, the project develops the component of sustainability of knowledge and the creation of a Thermal District Knowledge Center (CCDT), which seeks that thermal districts are promoted in a sustainable way, through the consolidation of skills, and knowledge in academia and the main actors of the value chain.
In this sense, throughout the nearly two years of implementation of the project, different training and training activities, alliances with universities and academic institutions, and virtual events have been developed to continue consolidating CIDARE and THE CCDT as knowledge references in the country and the region.
Energy efficiency and gender equity
In February, the call for the contracting of the design and development of a virtual workshop on gender equality was opened, aimed at companies that are part of the value chain of thermal districts (refrigeration and air conditioning sector – RAC, and companies providing energy services). The workshop seeks to generate an inclusive space for reflection and participation of women and men around the importance of gender equality and the visible and invisible barriers existing in the business environment to achieve it.
Diploma in thermal districts
Together with a partner university, three trainings on thermal districts will be offered, both for students and teachers. These include:
A diploma course on thermal districts.
A professional elective course.
A training for teachers in thermal districts.
Study to identify capital gaps in the thermal energy sector
With the aim of preparing the catalogue of qualifications for the thermal energy sector, the project will carry out an analysis of the labour market, the educational offer, the labour foresight and the indicators of human capital gaps (quantity, relevance and quality) that will contribute to the work already advanced from the Technical Unit of Ozone (UTO), and following the methodological route established by the Ministry of Education, in order to strengthen the articulation between the educational system and the labor market, respond to the problems related to the recognition of lifelong learning and educational mobility, in the refrigeration and air conditioning subsector in Colombia.
Workshop for public entities
On February 25, the workshop for public entities on "Outsourced services as an efficient and sustainable business model in public entities" was held.
Here, new business models were presented for the contracting of air conditioning services that contribute to reducing the levels of expenses and environmental impacts in public sector entities. Likewise, the current context of thermal districts in Colombia, the classification and technical characteristics of air conditioning equipment and systems (air conditioning equipment used in the country), the environmental impacts associated with the use of air conditioning systems (energy efficiency and refrigerant substances, environmental criteria for the selection of technologies), outsourced cooling services (Thermal Districts and CaaS) and success stories were announced.
Additionally, the activities of the consultancy "Study of business models for the provision of outsourced cooling services in public entities" were presented.
The workshop was led by engineer Cristina Mariaca, National Technical Coordinator of the Thermal Districts Project in Colombia; representatives of the Ozone Technical Unit and ACAIRE-CIDARE; engineer Edgar Botero of MGM Group and Darío Mayorga of Corpoema.
NTC-6228 Training
From February 18 to March 19, training will be carried out in the NTC-6228 standard for refrigeration systems and heat pumps.
This training, composed of four modules, is aimed at providing and developing the necessary knowledge associated with the safety criteria in the design, construction, installation, operation and final disposal of refrigeration systems,
This course is taught by: the engineer Carlos Urrego Rodríguez, the engineer María Dolores Galindo Torres and the engineer Giovanny Barletta.
Source: Thermal Districts Colombia. https://www.distritoenergetico.com/nuevos-proyectos-en-el-cidare-y-el-centro-de-conocimientos-de-distritos-termicos/
