Roberto D'Anetra is the president of Climatiza and the Professional of the month representing the Andean Region.
by Duván Chaverra Agudelo
Roberto D'Anetra is a very active Barranquilla in the industry, especially in Colombia, and now in other Hispanic countries with the firm intention of leaving a legacy of knowledge in terms of air conditioning and Indoor Air Quality.
This professional, with extensive experience, is a mechanical engineer from the Universidad del Norte, has a specialization in engineering project management and a diploma in air conditioning projects, both carried out at the same university.
Not content with this, Roberto wanted to prepare even more on specific topics of the HVAC industry, and decides to study a specialization in air conditioning (UPB) and a Master in energy efficiency and sustainability (URLL) in Barcelona, Spain.
With all that knowledge and after an enriching work experience that helped him to value his passion for air conditioning, he decided to undertake his own adventure and create his own business. This is how Climatiza was born, a company that since 2002 has been dedicated to consulting, maintenance, design, and air conditioning of different spaces. Next we will know a little more about Roberto D'Anetra:
ACR: How was your involvement in this industry?
Roberto D'Anetra: My connection with this industry was basically born with the realization of my degree thesis in the redesign of the precision air conditioning system of the Data Processing Center of the District Telecommunications Company of Barranquilla, which allowed me to enter and promote it. To call it something, that was the first flirtation with the industry. Later I founded the company that was born like any venture with many expectations and desires to forge my destiny, and better still doing what I liked. In the eagerness to prepare me more to face the well-known challenges that would be presented to me, I made the decision to carry out the diploma of air conditioning projects, and there I meet, as a professor of the diploma, Giovanni Barletta, currently president of ACAIRE, a person who undoubtedly became my reference and a fundamental support in my professional growth. Today I am fortunate to maintain with him a very good friendship and common union interests.
As time went by I got to know the market in depth and the challenges of it, this allowed me to discover that this series of permanent challenges that I had with my company forced me to improve every day more and one of the ways to face these challenges was to train permanently in the issues related to the industry, in this way I not only increased my knowledge in these topics, but also increased the passion for it. Nowadays I consider myself a highly fortunate person since life gives me the opportunity, day by day, to work and undertake projects related to my professional passion, and it is that for no one it is a secret that the one who is in this guild falls in love forever.
ACR: What are your personal challenges, and your next goals to meet?
Roberto: The personal challenge has to do with my family, I always keep in mind to leave a legacy to my children, both spiritually, educationally and in the formation of values instilled at home. At the company level, the challenges of Climatiza are to continue the development as a compact company on all fronts, being a generator of employment and opportunities both nationally and internationally.
Other very important challenges currently for me are at the guild level, and it is there that thanks to ACAIRE I have had the opportunity to be currently President of the Indoor Air Quality Chapter of the association and undertake a series of projects such as the Ibero-American Pre-Standard of Indoor Air Quality for which I had the fortune of being selected together with the presidents of CAI de Espa ña and Brazil for the elaboration of such an important document, which was later revised by the CAI presidents of Portugal, Chile, Mexico and Paraguay. I am currently directing the Colombian pre-standard of air conditioning of hospital environments which is already in its final stage and has been a strong commitment of ACAIRE, demonstrating the natural commitment that the association has with its associates and with the community in general.
ACR: What challenges do you face as a professional from the point of view of the relationship with employees and collaborators and their training?
Roberto: The biggest challenge I have with employees and collaborators is to continue to preserve that sense of belonging that they have with the company and that is that for us it is extremely important that the staff feel part of a team. Proof of this is that most of these collaborators and employees have almost the entire life of the company working with us. Under these basic precepts, but very rooted, we work in Climatiza achieving each year to improve what was done the previous one.
The training of air conditioning personnel is permanent at all levels, not only in the technical area which is the nature of the company, but in the rest of the areas such as administrative, financial, etc. This high degree of training in the company is basically a vocation which I have been responsible for instilling since the creation of it and in my opinion it has been one of the most important components in the success achieved.
ACR: What do you think are the reasons for your recognition in this market?
Roberto: I believe that the recognition in the market is basically due to the fact that I am fortunate to participate in the three representative axes of the same, as they are at the level of entrepreneur with Climatiza, at the level of guild actively participating in the Board of General Management of ACAIRE and activities of the same, and also for participating at the academy level giving talks, presentations or modules in specializations and master's degrees related to issues of air conditioning and energy efficiency. The communion of these topics has allowed me not only to have a recognition of the market, but also the achievement of excellent interpersonal relationships.
ACR: What has been the evolution of the industry in your country in the years you have been working in it?
Roberto: From my first years in the industry to these days I have noticed a considerable and quite stable increase that is accompanied by a multitude of projects in the development of the region. Colombia, like most countries in Latin America, is going through booming times in our industry and others with a marked lethargy which is felt directly in the environment of our industry, however; I would also like to emphasize that in times of boom, investment and development are significant, managing to boost our companies considerably. It is also good to comment that during difficult times, companies with the ability to innovate and implement developments for the benefit of projects find advantageous ways to make that stage of transition not so hard and also pay ground for the arrival of better times.
ACR: How do you see the future of this industry?
Roberto: The awareness of issues related to sustainability accompanied by design tools such as thermal simulations consistently drive us to go up in the level of development of our guild every day.
The implementation of all these computer design tools and the arrival in our countries of cutting-edge technology worldwide in air conditioning systems allow us to close a little the gap we have with developed countries, but it is important to mention that we must improve in the region in key issues such as certification This brings with it joint efforts between associations, academia, business and, above all, the commitment of governments to create clear and forceful policies on this issue.
Another key issue is to include in the countries of Latin America regulations around indoor air quality, this issue should be public health policies in our countries due to the great importance it has for the health of the people who inhabit the buildings.
ACR: Tell us about your family nucleus and personal tastes.
Roberto: I am married, I have 2 children: Isabella and Alessandro. As a good Barranquillero, I am a fan of the Junior and passionate about salsa music. Travel is a weak point that I have, since they are always accompanied by two things that I really enjoy a lot such as good food and good wines. From my childhood I only have good memories, enjoying with my brothers and parents, doing a lot of sports, but above all enjoying as a family. What I like most about myself is that I always have clear goals in my life, which allows me to fulfill them; what I like least is that sometimes I become impatient under certain conditions.
