Eurovent Middle East has entered into its 5th year of existence amid an ongoing global pandemic. The lack of physical meetings, events, exhibitions, conferences and seminars, has taught us to make more use of digital platforms and to conduct online meetings at home while the kids redecorate the kitchen, dogs reshape the sofa, and with the cat tanning on our keyboard.
COVID-19 has drastically brought to our attention the importance of our industry for public health and safety. The supply of fresh, clean air has for the moment, gained more attention than the fight for better energy efficiency. It is a warning, that we should not sacrifice the necessities of better air filtration for the sake of saving energy. Both hugely important aspects need to go hand in hand.
This understanding forms the basis for conclusions of what to expect of the market in the years to come. Overall, the HVACR industry fared well in 2020. Overcoming challenges in the supply chain due to the lockdowns in varying countries at varying times was the main concern, while turn-overs remained relatively stable. The decline in new building projects seen in 2020 though will surely be felt in the coming years.
However, the need for improved IAQ and safer indoor spaces, along with the continued demand for energy savings in existing buildings should compensate somewhat the fall-out from new projects. But this will also depend on the industry’s ability to raise awareness on the socio-economic necessities of making our buildings safer through enhanced ventilation and air filtration.
That will be among the top priorities of Eurovent Middle East’s activities to come. Education and awareness are the basics on which to build our future. Providing stakeholders with the necessary level of knowledge of products and technologies and enabling informed decisions is the responsibility of the industry. For this, Eurovent Middle East, in cooperation with its members, is working on an enhanced training and education programme which shall foster competence in the region.
We invite everyone to become an active part of how we shape our future. Watching from the sidelines may be comfortable, but it won’t bring change. The question isn’t ‘What WE are waiting for’, but ‘What ARE we waiting for?’ Let’s go do it!
Kind greetings,
Markus Lattner
Managing Director
Eurovent Middle East
