Ahmedabad: The 15th ISHRAE Confluence & REFCON, organised by the Ahmedabad Chapter of The Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, commenced in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Themed “Decoding Decarbonisation” and supported by the United Nations Environment Programme, the event has brought together top experts from across the country, offering participants a unique opportunity to stay abreast of cutting-edge technology and trends while networking with industry professionals.

Delivering the keynote address, Pankaj Dharkar, Chairman of the 15th Confluence & REFON, emphasised the importance of decarbonisation initiatives to tackle the challenge of climate change.

“A key focus of this conference is on decarbonisation in the air-conditioning and refrigeration industry and creating greater awareness about energy efficiency. There is also a need to develop an extensive cold chain if we want to double or triple farmers’ income,” said Mr. Dharkar, who is also the chair of the decarbonisation cell formed by ISHRAE to carry out various initiatives to promote decarbonisation efforts across the industry.

Minister of State for Forest and Environment Mukesh Patel was the Chief Guest. Ajay Prakash, Director at Gujarat Energy Development Agency, Bipin Talati, Additional Secretary of Gujarat’s Climate Change department, and Atul Bagai, Country Head of the United Nation’s Environment Programme, were the Guests of Honour.

Mr. Bagai spoke about the pivotal role of the cooling industry in addressing the challenge of climate change.

“Meeting the ambitious 1.5-degree Celsius global climate target and India’s commitment to achieve net zero by 2070 depend significantly on prioritising the cooling sector. ISHRAE, with its expertise, has a crucial responsibility to actively contribute towards realising these environmental goals,” Mr Bagai said.

The first day of the 15th Confluence & REFCON featured insightful sessions and panel discussions on topics such as decoding decarbonisation, integrating passive cooling and district cooling in urban developments, and more. Speakers of international repute, including Gaurang Patel, Angshuman Siddhanta, Pawanexh Kohli, Rajan Rawal, Anubhav Saxena, Ankoor Sanghvi and others shared their insights.

A host of insightful sessions and panel discussions have also been organised on the second day of the event. Some of the topics include best practices for decarbonisation in dairy, decarbonisation in refrigeration, the role of heat-pump in decarbonisation, green refrigerants, accelerating decarbonisation in built environments with AI and ML, the role of technology in achieving decarbonisation in HVAC &R, among others.

In addition to the United Nations Environment Programme, the 15th Confluence & REFCON have received support from leading national and international societies, including ASHRAE WIC, IPA, IGBC, RATA, IPA, IIID, and IIA.

ISHRAE, a 42-year-old society with 52 chapters and sub-chapters and over 28,000 members across the country and overseas, continues to be at the forefront of advancing knowledge and collaboration in the field.