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 Chair's Message
Robert D. Smith, 2007-2008 Chair,
International District Energy Association
Vice President, RMF Engineering, Inc.
rdsmith@rmf.com
Fourth Quarter 2007, District
Energy Magazine
Now that fall is upon us,
many Americans are already anticipating the traditional
festive season ahead. For some of us, the coming months will
include viewing one of the best-loved movies, the 1946 classic
It’s a Wonderful Life by Frank Capra.
While reading Great
Projects – The Building of America, I was reminded of the
night scene in the movie when George Bailey (played by James
Stewart) is courting Mary Hatch (Donna Reed) and makes a wish
when he throws a rock. “What did you wish, George?” Mary asks.
George says, “Well, not just one wish. A whole hatful, Mary. I
know what I’m going to do tomorrow and the next day and the
next year and the year after that. I’m going to build
airfields. I’m gonna build skyscrapers a hundred stories high.
I’m gonna build bridges a mile long!”
In Dubai, the site of IDEA’s
International District Cooling Symposium, Oct. 28-30, 2007,
the leaders are building airfields and bridges and skyscrapers
a hundred stories tall. In fact, these visionaries are
building some of the most impressive structures in the world,
including the world’s tallest buildings Burj Dubai and Al Burj,
indoor desert ski slopes, and manmade islands so large that
they can be seen from outer space.
The people of the Middle East
are living their dreams, setting new records each day and
achieving new goals unthinkable by the western world. At the
heart of the success of this impressive development is
district cooling. District cooling is appearing in increments
of 40,000-ton, 50,000-ton, 60,000-ton and larger blocks to
meet the incredible facility growth and the challenging
climate. Estimates suggest that the potential for district
cooling in the region may reach 10 million tons.
District cooling is
aggregating cooling loads, providing energy efficiency and
creating economical comfort in an environment with the highest
requirements for reliability, and IDEA members are essential
partners in this activity. In fact in this issue, we are
debuting a special section of industry news devoted solely to
activity in IDEA’s Middle East Chapter and district cooling
news from the region.
Our gracious hosts and
sponsors from IDEA’s Middle East Chapter have promised an
amazing session of learning, networking and technology
exchange at the October symposium. Attendees will learn about
the challenges of building massive cooling systems for some of
the world’s most exciting real estate developments.
Exciting plans are also under
way for the 21st Annual Campus Energy Conference, "Clean
Energy, Sustainable Campus", to be held in Boston, Mass., Feb.
11-15, 2008, hosted by Harvard University. This event
continues to be popular among IDEA’s college, healthcare and
airport campus members.
Sustainability has received
much attention as the world comes to grips with the depletion
of finite energy resources and the serious concern about
climate change. The concern is so great that more than 300
leaders of institutions of higher education have signed on to
the American College & University Presidents Climate
Commitment organized by the Association for the Advancement of
Sustainability in Higher Education, in an effort to reduce
carbon emissions and the effect of global warming. Many of
these institutions will be participating in the upcoming
Campus Energy Conference. What makes the challenge even
greater is the phenomenal growth that colleges and
universities have been realizing as campuses continue to add
new laboratories, residences, student centers, sports
facilities and classrooms. Balancing growth with energy
conservation requires careful choices in energy use, fuels and
technology.
In February, we will also be
colocating the annual Distribution Workshop in Boston just
ahead of the campus conference. Much discussion there will be
focused on sustaining the safety and efficiency of our
nation’s utility distribution network. A marketing workshop is
being planned for April.
Those who are familiar with
It’s a Wonderful Life know that George Bailey never
builds the bridges or buildings of his dreams. Instead, he
takes a job as a banker in his family’s business in a small
town. Only a privileged few get to look out into the sea and
imagine a new manmade world like Sheikh Mohammed, or stand
below sea level in the massive chiller plants beneath The Palm
Jumeirah with Keith Levers, or stand at the foot of the Burj
Al Arab (all 3,900+ ft of it) with Trevor Richter of Stellar,
and know that the success of these structures is built on
district cooling and a rapidly progressing energy distribution
infrastructure. These structures and the systems that support
them will forever tell a story.
I encourage everyone to take
advantage of upcoming IDEA conferences and workshops.
Participation in such IDEA activities is always rewarding. The
sharing of knowledge at conferences, in District Energy
magazine, in Web site forums, on technical tours and through
social networking has brought enormous benefits to my firm. We
learn new technologies, see real applications in person and
meet the users. We develop new partners for moving forward.
Come and see for yourself.
Click below to view earlier
columns:
3rd Quarter 2007
2nd Quarter 2007
1st Quarter 2007
4th Quarter 2006
3rd Quarter 2006
2nd Quarter 2006
1st Quarter 2006
4th Quarter 2005
3rd Quarter 2005
2nd Quarter 2005 |
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