REFRIGERANTS INTERVIEW In the hot seat
Andy Hawes, general manager technical sales, Aermec UK talks to ACR News about his new role at Aermec, the impact of AI and resourcing in the industry.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you
get into the industry? My career started within the agricultural sector. I undertook an apprenticeship in agricultural engineering. This led to me working with a company that specialised in Nitrogen and Air generators predominately for laboratory use but commercialised to include beer dispensing and large-scale warehouse storage. I then joined a major international HVAC
corporation working within their engineering test team and eventually managing a number of testing activities which included MOD, commercial and a fully hemi-anechoic test facility. I was also involved with numerous R&D projects and formed part of the engineering team specialising in noise reduction of new products.
This was followed by a move into
commissioning consultancy and commissioning management and included working on a wide range of project sectors including datacentres, rail project, pharmaceutical as well as commercial building and residential.
What is your biggest achievement to date? From a work perspective, the respect I have
been given within the industry is my biggest achievement. I have been fortunate enough to have been involved with many projects and worked with many diff erent suppliers and manufacturers who either know me personally or have heard of me through the industry. My aim is to be fi rm but fair. On many occasions, I have been asked advice on what can be done to improve facilities, testing
communication etc which has been gratefully accepted by both me and the recipient. I am now in a position whereby clients specifi cally ask for me and, in some cases, will only work with me. There are many projects I could cite. But peer respect for what I do and my knowledge and demeanour, but also the way I have undertaken my roles are my biggest achievements. I aim to maintain that throughout the rest of my career.
How do you plan to drive Aermec forward in the UK? What can we expect to see in the coming months? From a product perspective the ability for our engineers to be able to monitor equipment on site remotely to the point where minor adjustments can be made will benefi t both end users and suppliers ensuring systems are operating as expected. This leads onto the ability to manage maintenance even to a point of predictive maintenance ensuring less downtime for the end-user and faster response time. As AI becomes more sophisticated, we could see a change to the traditional BMS whereby the main plant systems are integrated as one complete system using the technology to learn and predict the system temperature and fl ow requirements. Aermec already use a dynamic setpoint system which adjusts the system temperature in accordance with load requirements hence reducing energy whilst maintaining adequate environmental conditions, this is very often weather compensated. AI enhances the potential for main plant equipment to become intelligent in its day-to- day operation ensuring optimum performance is always met.
Decarbonisation is the ‘buzz’ word and in some cases is very easy to achieve. There are many systems operating with traditional systems that can cut carbon emissions by undertaking a simple TM 44 inspection. The key to delivering this type of inspection is reporting real issues and resolutions that can be applied practically. Within the datacentre market there is ample opportunity to undertake PUE reduction surveys considering the whole interactive system from
14 September 2023 •
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data hall through to primary chilled water equipment. I have achieved this on several occasions with great success and will be looking to use Aermec’s ability to specialise in this sector to work alongside clients and change the way they think and implement changes that will benefi t them and the climate. There is an awareness that the minimum building EPC ratings are changing, and this gives a great opportunity for Aermec to use heat pump technologies which have been a main stay within the company for over 10-years so eff ectively we know we have tried and tested equipment. With the move to remove fossil fuels the use of ASHP and Booster units for domestic hot water is leading to an increasing number of all electric buildings. These concepts coupled with the intuitive capability of AI and ability to remotely monitor installations means decarbonisation can be an achievable aim for all buildings. Interact this with renewable energy and the result is Net Zero Emissions. Since joining Aermec, I work closely with Paul
Lawrence, MD. Our vision is for Aermec UK to be a Centre of Excellence in Northern Europe. To achieve this our strategy involves: ■ Aermec SPA continuing its rigorous R&D programme developing new products to bring to market.
■ The factory in Italy is equipped with state-of- the-art testing facilities. This enables rigorous Factory acceptance Testing and every unit from the production line is End of Line tested under Eurovent conditions.
■ Aermec specialise in engineered solution, this means that we can provide a solution which is not a catalogue product and can be engi- neered to suit a project.
■ My aim is to provide a cradle to grave solution for our clients. The greatest challenge is after sales. I have already re-structured the internal technical side of the business to facilitate a more effi cient approach.
■ I have established a framework with our ser- vice partners and extended the reach across the country with additional service partners in UK regions.
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