Events and Exhibitions
SHECCO SHAKES
UP THE ATMOSPHERE
Compiled by Ntsako Khosa
The highly anticipated first-ever ATMOsphere conference in South Africa
brought together the industry in Cape Town.
T
www.hvacronline.co.za
ATMOsphere
conferences
occur all over
the world,
several times
a year.
he conference took place on 10 March at the Vineyard in
Cape Town. Under the theme of providing environmentally-
friendly solutions that are business-and-economically savvy for
the HVAC&R industry, industry experts shared their perspectives.
About 150 thought leaders, including policymakers,
manufacturers, end users, NGOs, contractors and academics
attended to discuss the latest market developments for natural
refrigerants, provide updates on regulations and standards, and
showcase new technology innovations.
The programme ran as follows:
Group CEO, Mark Chasserot, was MC at the event. He
welcomed attendees and introduced the speakers.
Under the Global Market Trends topic, deputy manager
Market Development at shecco, Ilana Koegelenberg and John
Ackermann, founder of Cold Link Africa, gave a thoroughly
explained panoramic view of global market trends and how these
may affect the Cape Town region.
Under Tech Trends, Wynand Groenewald, chief technology
officer at Commercial Refrigeration Services (CRS), Grant Laidlaw
owner and principal of the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
Academy (ACRA) and Thomas Motmans, Sustainable Energy
Finance specialist from Cooling as a Service (CaaS) gave an
exclusive look at how global technology changes are tied into
Cape Town’s market.
During the break, guests were given the opportunity to
go around the exhibition area to view various companies and
products they supply.
After the break, Koegelenberg and Obed Baloyi from the
Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DEFF) gave
an in-depth explanation of policy changes that could affect the
industry and markets in and around the Cape Town area. A panel
discussion with representatives from Spar, Woolworths and Pick
n Pay shared their experiences using different types of natural
refrigerant technologies, including benefits, challenges and
future plans.
The last topic of the day covered case study presentations
from Energy Partners, Valeo and Arneg. Case studies were
on both commercial and industrial applications of natural
refrigerants.
ATMOsphere conferences occur all over the world, several
times a year. They target local industry and commerce interested
in natural refrigeration by giving these entities opportunities to
network, learn about new trends in policy, technology, markets,
and present their products and services. These conferences can
target whole continents, countries, or in the case of Cape Town,
zones that have a high potential for development in natural
refrigerants. RACA
RACA Journal I March 2020
25