|
contents | europe | ||||
| "There is a lot of interest in Chillventa throughout the world" The international refridgeration, ventilation and heat pump industry meets every two years in Nuremberg and has had its home here for a long time. The schedule is new in 2012: Chillventa Congressing starts as early as Monday, 8 October; the trade fair starts on Tuesday, 9 October and continues until 11 October 2012. Gabriele Hannwacker, Director of Exhibitions and Project Manager of Chillventa answers questions on the 2012 trade fair. Which subjects will the focus be on this year and what innovations will the visitors to Chillventa be able to see? "At the trade fair and in the conference, topical subjects will be discussed and the latest innovations will be presented. The subjects of refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pumps are probably not presented with this degree of specialist density anywhere in the world. If we consider the current developments in 2012, we can say that industry is continuing to focus on optimisation in the details: priority is given to performance figures, efficiency, environmentally-friendly materials and systems, and innovation in the product ranges. The utilisation of waste heat and the use of heat pumps in commerce and industry are the objective for the application of systems and product solutions. Air-conditioning units, especially VRF systems, are increasingly developing to become universal solutions in the building sector which will make heating systems operated by fossil fuels superfluous in the future. The subject of refrigerants is also a dominant focus of the industry again, or rather still, in 2012. This is reflected at the forums in the exhibition halls. The Tuesday will be completely dedicated to this subject in the Refrigeration-Air-conditioning Forum." Please can you give approximate information about the number and composition of the companies exhibiting at the trade fair in 2012? "It is virtually impossible to predict a precise number of exhibitors this early. We are still accepting stand reservations and will continue to do so, as in previous years, until shortly before the start of the trade fair. There is a lot of interest in Chillventa throughout the world. We are, of course, very pleased about this, and it shows that we are on the right track with our concept for the event. We expect to be able to announce a new record number of exhibitors on the first day of the trade fair. More than 900 companies from throughout the world will present their products and services in the exhibition halls. The visitors can look forward to the largest Chillventa to date. It will cover the whole range of refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump technology." How many trade visitors are you expecting in 2012? What will the composition of the visitors be? "Chillventa and Chillventa Congressing have made excellent progress from the start. After only being held twice, Chillventa is the most important international meeting for the industry. We are, therefore, confident that the third Chillventa will dynamically continue its growth course in this respect too. We can only give a reliable number of visitors on the third day of the trade fair. We expect to be able to welcome a similar number of trade visitors to Nuremberg from throughout the world to in 2010. Two years ago, there were almost 30, 000. Chillventa is a trade fair with a worldwide appeal. This is reflected in the visitor structure: more than half of the trade visitors came from abroad, 87 percent were involved in purchasing decisions. We are, once again, expecting a number of experts with decision-making power, of whom the majority are experts from companies specialising in refrigeration and air-conditioning. System manufacturers, technical planners, specialist retailers, system operators and representatives from research, development and construction will also be there." What is your assessment of the refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump market in 2012, especially in view of the current economic situation? "We speak to our exhibitors a lot. Moreover, we get excellent advice from our top-class Exhibition Committee. This is a body that comprises some of the exhibiting companies, the involved associations, universities, numerous disseminators and experts. Thus, as an international trade fair organiser, we have quite a good insight into the industry, as well as into the European and global economic situation in the refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pumps segment. If we were to consider Europe from the perspective of America, Japan or China at the moment, we could get the impression that the negative news relating to the euro predominates, and that this equates to an economic development throughout Europe. However, Europe must be viewed in a more differentiated way. To begin with, however, I would like to give a global outlook. Figures for air-conditioning units for recent years and a forecast for 2012 have just been published. In comparison with 2010 with 88.7 million units, and 2011 with 96.7 million, an increase to more than 100 million is predicted for 2012 on a global level. China is sure to experience the greatest increases here, but an increase from 6.4 million units in 2010 to 7.2 million in 2011 was recorded in Europe too. An increase to the same scale is expected for 2012.In Europe, several countries are not only suffering from the Euro crisis, but also from the difficult economic situation that is undoubtedly also affecting the AC&R market. Nevertheless, the exhibitors are agreed that the markets should be distinguished from one another. The pursuit of energy efficiency, CO2 emission reduction and the call to reduce energy requirements by 1.3 percent every year in energy-intensive businesses in Germany, for example, point to growth for the industry. At the moment, the focus is on renovation and optimisation. In connection with this, we should not underestimate the need for replacements, for example, for water chillers. The positive development of the number of exhibitors at Chillventa highlights this trend impressively. We view the market development as very positive in the medium term." write your comments about the article :: © 2012 Exhibition News :: home page |