The Indian airconditioning industry is on a high growth trajectory with an overall volume growth rate of 20–25

percent per annum. In 2010, air condition-er sales were `7,200 crores at 3.88 million units, up from 2.8 million units in 2009. This growth rate is expected to be main-tained in 2011 too.

In fact, LG Electronics is targeting India as its largest air-conditioner market by next year, ahead of the current leader US. In 2010, India contributed 18 percent to the company’s global air conditioner revenues in 2010, while the US contribution was over 30 percent.

The consumer is certainly not being short-changed; he is at par with his global coun-terpart. The new range of ACs are spread across window, split, multi-split, inverter ACs, floor standing, cassette, and tower ACs, albeit the split segment dominates with 70 percent market share.

Star rated, energy efficient models with superior features continue to rate high on consumer demand. Gaining from ongo-ing technological advances they have been transformed into products that can provide

health benefits as well.

Korean models, Chinese imports and ag-gressive stance of Japanese players have maintained competitive pricing. This is set to be rationalized with an increase of 8–10 percent. Stiffening of commodity pricing like copper, aluminum, and steel coupled with high crude oil prices have increased logistics expenses.

Growing affluent middle class population, robust economic growth coupled with the booming retail sector will ensure that the expectation of a 25-30 percent growth in 2011 is a reality for this segment.

Global scenarioWhile man’s desire to control the indoor environment led to the invention of air con-ditioning systems, growth in population, sturdy economic progress, industrializa-tion, rising standards of living, afforda-bility of technology, and increase in com-mercial applications have led to its rapid proliferation across the globe. Hitherto a luxury proposition limited to wealthy and prosperous layer of the society, comfort conditioning is fast becoming a necessity in

Air Conditioners

62 | TV VEOPAR JOURNAL | APRIL 11 | adi-media.com | An ADI Media Publication

AC SF.indd 62 4/20/11 5:26:11 PM

most of the nations. This metamor-phosis has opened a completely new world of opportunities for the air conditioning market. Global warm-ing continues to remain a major fac-tor propelling market demand, es-pecially in the residential segment. Depletion of ozone layer, El Nino effect, and global warming make up for the primary reasons that create the need for air conditioning sys-tems.

Purchase and use of air condition-ing systems in both residential and commercial applications often goes hand in hand with the health of economy in a given country or re-gion. For instance, an increase in per capita income pushes up con-sumer demand for comfort living and eventually drives demand for high-value products such as air conditioning systems, while con-versely in periods of slowdown, de-mand recedes rapidly as consumers quickly axe their spending on high-priced products. Illustrative of this trend is the pal of gloom set over worldwide air conditioning systems markets against the backdrop of the recent economic recession. The economic recession and subsequent trends such as job uncertainty, cut-backs in employee salaries, and un-employment has left many comfort and luxury product markets across the globe in a state of turmoil, and the air conditioning market, given the product’s status as a discretion-ary item, especially in developing countries, is no exception to this trend. However, hope in the form of government driven focus on en-ergy efficiency injects optimism among air conditioner manufactur-ers, as it promises to drive demand for energy efficient air conditioning systems such as inverter based air conditioners in the upcoming years.

Another major factor, which is ex-pected to steer the market in the next few years is the rapidly grow-ing replacement need, particularly in mature markets such as the US and Europe. Given the growing focus on energy conservation, the demand

for replacing old air conditioning systems with new energy efficient models will be on the rise, thereby adding to market gains. Replace-ment demand is also generated by the consumers’ need to replace their existing air conditioning systems with quieter and more feature rich air conditioner models.

The global market is expected to re-cover poise and reach 78.8 million units in volume sales by 2015. As stated by the new market research report on the global air condition-ing systems market, Asia-Pacific continues to be the largest regional market. Growth in Asia-Pacific is fuelled by factors such as rise in ur-ban population, cushioned impact of the global recession on regional economies, favorable job market, and resulting high income levels, increased household gains and ris-ing per capita incomes in countries such as China and India.

However, other regions will have modest growth. US demand for HVAC equipment is expected to rise over 7 percent a year through 2014. Gains will result from recovery in residential building construction expenditures, which plummeted in 2009 due to the economic recession. In Western Europe, mini-split room air-conditioners will post solid gains due to the lack of ductwork in most European homes. Advances in other developed areas, such as Canada and Japan, will be minimal, reflect-ing high penetration rates and mod-est construction gains.

There was an 11 percent decline in the Middle East region in particu-lar. Iran and Saudi were the only growth areas in the region, as the recession made its impact felt, but at a less significant scale, outside Dubai. Due to the nature of construc-tion and the use of district cooling in many parts of the region, there is a strong emphasis on larger-capacity chillers above 500 kW.

Detailed global sales data for 2010 is not available. In 2009, the global market for room air conditioners

mainly used for individual rooms (ductless split, window units, and moveable type air conditioners) and packaged air conditioners mainly used for light commercial applica-tions and whole houses (unitary air conditioners and ductless split PACs) was about 73.8 million units, a 3.7 percent decrease compared with 2008. China strengthened its leading position with a market size of 28.2 million units. Some 11.8 mil-lion air conditioners were sold in the US, a decline of more than 20 per-cent compared with 2008. About 4.9 million units were sold in Europe, marking a 37.4 percent decrease over 2008. In Japan, 7.4 million units were sold, down 13.9 percent over 2008. Sales in Asian countries not including China and Japan came to some 9.9 million units, almost the same as 2008.

By product, the room air condi-tioning systems market has been the largest market segment for air conditioning systems. Low-cost fea-ture and ease of installation and maintenance adds to the attraction of room air conditioners, driving its increased sales. Reciprocating compressors continue to disappear from the majority of markets, with the trend moving towards scroll and screw compressors.

Although the fixed-frequency air-conditioning dominates the segment, inverter air conditioners are bound to become the future mainstream. Inverter air conditioner energy sav-ing advantages is obvious. The for-eign penetration rate of these is as high as in Japan upto 97 percent, France 90 percent, Spain 45 percent, and Italy 40 percent.

Key players in this marketplace in-clude Airwell Group, Carrier Corpo-ration, Daikin Industries, De’Longhi SpA, Electrolux AB, GD Midea Hold-ing Co., Ltd, GE Appliances & Light-ing, Goodman Manufacturing Com-pany, L.P., Haier Group, Hisense Group, Hitachi, Lennox Industries Inc., LG Electronics Inc., Mitsubishi Electric, Nordyne Inc., Panasonic Corporation, Rheem Manufactur-

An ADI Media Publication | adi-media.com | APRIL 11 | TV VEOPAR JOURNAL | 63

AC SF.indd 63 4/20/11 5:26:12 PM

ing Company, Samsung Electronics Corp., Sanden Corporation, Sharp Corporation, Toshiba Carrier Corpo-ration, Trane Inc., Whirlpool Corpo-ration, and York International Cor-poration among others.

RefrigerantsOn January 1, 2010, we witnessed the largest and most dramatic change to the air conditioning in-dustry that affects every one of us on this planet. Backed by the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US Government and 190 coun-tries world-wide, January 1 marked the beginning of the phase out of hy-drochloroflurocarbons.

Hydrochlorofluorocarbons, or HCFC such as R-22, are chemicals that are mainly used as refrigerants in the air conditioning industry. Releases of HCFC’s damage the ozone layer, which shields the Earth from harm-ful ultraviolent radiation. In addi-tion, HCFC is a greenhouse gas and when manufactured, results in a by-product that contributes signifi-cantly to global warming. By coming together, the impact of this phase out will include repairing the ozone layer and reducing the incidents of skin cancer and cataracts.

Because R-22 has been the refrig-erant of choice for residential air conditioning systems for over four decades, a great number of hom-eowners may be made aware of this phase out. There are no legal re-quirements to stop using HCFC in the existing air conditioner or other equipment and there is a lengthy phase out period which does provide time to switch to ozone-friendly re-frigerants. However, homeowners should be aware that supplies of HCFC that run the air condition-ing system will be limited due to the phase out, causing prices to rise. Additionally, starting in 2020, there will be a ban on the produc-tion of HCFC, so consumers will need to rely solely on the recycled or reclaimed quantities to service any system that is in operation af-ter this date.

Go GreenWith various governments imple-menting national or regional ini-tiatives and programs to encourage energy conservation activities, the green trend is taking off in a big way in the Asia Pacific. The govern-ments’ endeavors offer tremendous opportunities to technologists in the green and energy efficiency space. The market is likely to register more than 10 percent growth annu-ally until 2015 due to the increasing price of conventional energy.

The Green Building trend is break-ing out of the confines of the Japa-nese market and is gaining currency in many other countries in the Asia Pacific. Despite green technologies’ high costs, consumers are increas-ingly basing their purchase deci-sions on the product’s environment friendliness and their ability to re-duce energy costs and carbon foot-prints.

In fact, this enhanced environmen-tal consciousness among consum-ers is compelling companies and industries to become more respon-sible corporate citizens and invest in green HVAC, BAS, and lighting systems. Even the businesses and building owners that deem these technologies too expensive to install and maintain can be persuaded with a demonstration of the technology’s long-term returns on investment.

“Green HVAC, BAS, and lighting technologies can greatly improve the bottom line of the business, provided that they are applied properly,” says Frost & Sullivan Consultant Melvin Leong. “They generate financial ben-efits through energy efficiency, ener-gy and water savings, reduced wast-age, improved indoor environmental quality, greater employee comfort or productivity, as well as lower opera-tions and maintenance costs.”

These benefits have to be conveyed using effective promotion, educa-tion, and public awareness programs through collaborations with all par-ties such as the government, non-government organizations (NGOs),

businesses, and the media.

By advertising their green drives, companies can also set themselves apart in their markets. A proper policy framework and enforcements on green efforts and initiatives could also give a huge boost to the mar-ket.

“The HVAC segment has been using advanced technology that allow air conditioners to intelligently lower power levels once the ideal ambient temperature is reached, which, in turn, lowers users’ electricity bills,” notes Leong. “In the BAS sector, building owners and facility manag-ers are provided with a web-based BAS that unifies diverse equipment systems and control devices into a single, easy-to-navigate website.”

Latest developmentsThe US Department of Energy’s Na-tional Renewable Energy Laboratory has invented a new air conditioning process with the potential of using 50 percent to 90 percent less energy than today’s top-of-the-line units. It uses membranes, evaporative cool-ing, and liquid desiccants in a way that has never been done before in the centuries-old science of remov-ing heat from the air.

The idea is to revolutionize cooling, while removing millions of metric tons of carbon from the air.

Hot and humid climates are tricky. Evaporative coolers are a lower-cost alternative to airconditioning in dry climates that do not get too hot or humid. Water flows over a mesh, and a fan blows air through the wet mesh to create humid, cool air.

In humid climes, adding water to the air creates a hot and sticky building environment. Furthermore, the air cannot absorb enough water to be-come cold.

In hot places, the evaporative cooler can bring down the temperature, but not enough to make it pleas-ant inside on a 100-degree day or during the four to eight week mon-soon season. The cooling bumps up

64 | TV VEOPAR JOURNAL | APRIL 11 | adi-media.com | An ADI Media Publication

AC SF.indd 64 4/20/11 5:26:12 PM

against the wet bulb temperature, the lowest temperature to which air can be cooled by evaporating with-out changing the pressure. The wet bulb temperature could be 75 or 80 degrees on a mid-summer day. Typi-cally, evaporative coolers only can bring the temperatures about 85 percent of the way to the wet bulb level.

So, for most of the country, refriger-ation-based air conditioning is the preferred way of keeping cool.

Cooling requires temperature drop and less moisture. Cooling comes in two forms - sensible cooling, which is a temperature drop, and latent cooling, which comes from pulling the moisture out of the air.

One intriguing product already on the market in arid, temperate cli-mates is the Coolerado cooler. It dif-fers from a typical evaporative cool-er by never increasing the moisture content of the supply air. It provides cool air through indirect evaporative cooling. Indirect evaporative systems use a purge air stream that removes heat from the product or supply air stream that is then directed into a building. That way, the Coolerado can cool the air all the way to the wet-bulb temperature.

It is a big improvement on evapora-tive cooling because it does not add moisture and still gives cold air. However, in a humid climate, it still does not provide cold air or humidity control.

DEVap: Liquid Desiccants, Perme-able Membranes. The DEVap solves that problem. It relies on the desic-cants’ capacity to create dry air us-ing heat and evaporative coolers’ capacity to take dry air and make cold air.

By no means is the concept novel, the idea of combining the two. But no one has been able to come up with a practical and cost-effective way to do it. HVAC engineers have known for decades the value of des-iccants to air conditioning. In fact, one of the pioneers of early aircon-ditioning, Willis Haviland Carrier,

knew of its potential, but opted to go the refrigeration route.

Most people know of desiccants as the pebble-sized handfuls that come with new shoes to keep them dry.

The kind NREL uses are syrupy liq-uids – highly concentrated aqueous salt solutions of lithium chloride or calcium chloride. They have a high affinity for water vapor, and can thus create very dry air.

Because of the complexity of des-iccant cooling systems, they have traditionally only been used in in-dustrial drying processes. Inventing a device simple enough for easy in-stallation and maintenance is what has impaired desiccant cooling from entering into commercial and resi-dential cooling markets.

To solve that problem, the NREL device uses thin membranes that simplify the process of integrating air flow, desiccants, and evapora-tive cooling. These result in an air conditioning system that provides superior comfort and humidity con-trol.

The membranes in the DEVap A/C are hydrophobic, which means wa-ter tends to bead up rather than soak through the membranes. Imagine rain falling on a freshly waxed car. That property allows the membranes to control the liquid flows within the cooling core. It’s that property that keeps the water and the desiccant separated from the air stream.

The water and liquid desiccant are brought into DEVap’s heat-mass exchanger core. The desiccant and evaporative cooling effect work to-gether and create cold-dry air.

The air is cooled and dried from a hot-humid condition to a cold and dry condition all in one step. This all happens in a fraction of a second as air flows through the DEVap air conditioner. The result is an air con-ditioner that controls both thermal and humidity loads.

DEVap helps the environment in many ways. DEVap uses 50 percent

to 90 percent less energy than top-of-the-line refrigeration-based air conditioning.

Because DEVap uses salt solutions rather than refrigerants, there are no harmful chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) or hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) to worry about. A pound of CFC or HCFC in refrigerant-based ACs contributes as much to global warming as 2,000 pounds of car-bon dioxide. A typical residential size AC has as much as 13 pounds of these refrigerants. The release of this much refrigerant is equivalent to burning more than 1,300 gallons of gasoline, or driving over 60,000 miles in a 2010 Toyota Prius. That’s based on the Environmental Protec-tion Agency’s fuel efficiency rating for the 2010 Toyota Prius and on the standard of 19.5 pounds of carbon dioxide for every gallon of gasoline burned.

Traditional air conditioners use a lot of electricity to run the refrigeration cycle, but DEVap replaces that re-frigeration cycle with an absorption cycle that is thermally activated. It can be powered by natural gas or so-lar energy and uses very little elec-tricity.

This means that DEVap could be-come the most energy efficient way to cool your house in any climate.

NREL has patented the DEVap con-cept, and NREL expects that over the next couple of years they will be working on making the device smaller and simpler and perfecting the heat transfer to make DEVap more cost effective.

Eventually, NREL will license the technology to industry, “We’re never going to be in the air conditioner manufacturing business,” said Ron Judkoff, Principle Program Manag-er for Building Energy Research at NREL. “But we’d like to work with manufacturers to bring DEVap to market and create a more efficient and environmentally benign air con-ditioning product.”

Research conducted in March 2011

An ADI Media Publication | adi-media.com | APRIL 11 | TV VEOPAR JOURNAL | 65

AC SF.indd 65 4/20/11 5:26:13 PM