Vipin agarwal

Samsung is betting big on its AC business in India and has built a comprehensive portfolio of products to cater to every segment of user, avers Vipin Agarwal, Director, System AC Business, Samsung India.

What are the important aspects of an HVAC system?

An HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system is one of the most important systems in hotels and in the real estate industry. While designing a HVAC system, there are many details to be considered, with the three most important elements being energy conservation, water conservation and indoor air quality. Besides heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment, the whole HVAC system can also be combined with other systems, especially control systems, to ensure its efficiency. Several processes in planning a successful HVAC system include designing, purchasing, operating and maintenance.

Which sectors are driving growth of Samsung’s HVAC business?

While hotels have to ensure guest satisfaction and provide a comfortable work environment for employees, a developer has to ensure comfortable environment for its customers. At the same time a check on operation cost is also important as HVAC system is a big energy consumer. At Samsung, the Hospitality and Realty Sectors are set to drive growth. Currently, Samsung’s growth in the hospitality sector is 19% and in the Real Estate sector it is 14%.

What are the important considerations while designing an HVAC system for the Hospitality and Residential sectors?
  • Maximization of operational and space efficiency.
  • Architecture of the building, the building materials being used, and the façade design.
  • Diversity of operations – guest stay or mainly using banquet halls for exhibitions / functions.
  • Maintaining the desired acoustic level with the ideal equipment selection.
  • Integration with central BMS (Building Management System).
  • Aesthetics - selection of indoor units based on interior layout/ reflected ceiling plan.
  • Ease of usage: use of key tag for hotel rooms, central controller for complete system operation.
  • Maintenance simplicity – built in redundancy for limited downtime.
What would be the difference in the treatment of air conditioning systems in these sectors?

Load diversity is 40 to 70% for guest rooms and 80 to 100% for common areas such as lobby, restaurants, health club, banquet halls, etc. Hence, inverter-based DX VRF (Variable Refrigerant Flow) systems that optimally address part load requirements are preferred. For seasonal air-conditioning for different areas, we would suggest Heat Pump models (Heating/Cooling) of DX VRF systems, which would best suit these requirements. Hot water generation from the air-conditioning system is an advantage. For aesthetics, there should be indoor unit flexibility to match the look and feel of the different spaces, and user driven control for guest rooms and administrator driven control for back office applications.

Since residential customers are especially focused for comfort and peaceful environment, the noise level of outdoor / indoor units and placement of machines is critical.

What are the advancements and new technologies being adopted in the HVAC segment?

Air-conditioning is a major user of electricity for buildings. Almost 40% of the energy consumption in a building can be attributed to HVAC system. Inverter based technology for areas with varying heat loads due to factors like occupancy level, equipment load, etc., ensure that the system runs as per the current situation resulting in energy saving.

Efforts are being made to use renewable sources of energy to fulfill the air-conditioning needs. Systems like Samsung’s DVM Water using geothermal energy or river for water-cooled condenser is one such example. Other advancements include modifying the size of indoor units and outdoor units to provide space saving benefits. With modular systems available, installation can happen in different phases during the tenure of the total project.

In addition, more improvements are being made to move to next generation systems. For example, heat recovery models for simultaneous heating and cooling of different zones by absorbing heat from one area and dissipating in another area is possible with one system, and without additional power consumption. With Smart Controllers, one can closely monitor different parameters like scheduling, using the internet for remote management, compatibility with BMS systems, etc.

How does Samsung’s product portfolio cater to this industry’s diverse needs?

Earlier, Chilled Water systems connected to individual Air-Handling / Fan Coil Units were mainly used in the hospitality sector. However, over the last 10 years, an efficient and flexible system has emerged in the DX VRF system. These provide ease and speed of installation, flexibility in system design, efficiency in operating costs, etc.

Samsung’s Digital Variable Multi (DVM) is one such product that can cater to all the AC needs of the hospitality and real estate sectors. DVM technology uses All-Inverter compressors which can take care of load diversity even below 40%, thereby ensuring minimum power consumption. A wide range of indoor units, including AHUs for large spaces, ensure that aesthetic considerations of diverse spaces in a hotel are ideally met. Indoor Air Quality is maintained by connecting the DVM to Treated Fresh Air (TFA) units.

Space is a limiting factor in providing air-conditioning solutions mainly in residential areas. Selection of equipment is influenced by the comfort level, space available and aesthetics.

Samsung’s innovative products are:

The 360 Cassette was awarded the International Forum Design Award (also called iF award) and it is the most radical innovation in the air-conditioning industry. It is the world’s first, aesthetically superior; no cold draft product for giving utmost comfort to users. A bladeless flow control ensures fast and comfortable cooling without the cold draft by ensuring 100% of air volume. It features a stylish panel and an intuitive display that allows users to change between multiple settings for air flow, depending on their preference.

Samsung’s 30 HP VRF ODU is the world’s largest capacity VRF Outdoor Unit for space saving and installation cost saving. A combination of features ensure increased efficiency and performance for the Samsung 30 HP Super DVM especially for hotels. It has innovative technologies such as the super inverter scroll compressor; hybrid heat exchanger; and the oval-shaped new diffuser.

Our 14 HP Side Discharge VRF ODU is the world’s largest capacity giving high space saving for the residential buyer with the highest level of energy efficiency. Our 14 HP Side Discharge DVM Eco has been engineered to deliver a single outdoor unit solution for apartments and office buildings, that is, a single unit can be used to manage the air conditioning of an apartment or office with its superior power of 14 HP, which comes with improved performance that meets the need for specialized single outdoor unit. It enables better utilization of space due to its compact size of only 940-mm, lessening the required installation area requirement by 54%. A flexible 4-direction installation allows for even more convenience.

Samsung slim 1-Way Cassette can overcome the challenges of space constraints being cited by architects while accommodating air-conditioners in the designing stage. With a height of 135 mm, this AC can fit in less than 6 inches of height, and fits in the corner of a room, thereby freeing up space in the center of the roof for architectural creativity. This product is suitable for guest rooms in hotels and bedroom of a residential buyer. Our ductable units can have diverse applications including guest rooms, lobby areas, visiting halls, restaurants etc.

Our DVM Chiller combines the advantages of VRF and Chiller. It gives high energy efficiency and is able to provide modular application in chiller usage. The Module Chiller offers three major operating advantages: economic operations, easy installation & maintenance, and is the preferred solution in hotel air-conditioning.

Samsung has recently introduced the Wind-Free™ cooling technology – providing customers with a cooler indoor climate and optimal energy efficiency without the discomfort of direct cold airflow. The new line-up provides ambient conditions by maintaining a comfortable room temperature using the Wind-Free™ cooling technology to gently disperse cold air through 9,000 to 15,700 micro air holes. This is a two-step cooling system, which first lowers temperatures in ‘Fast Cooling Mode’ and then automatically switches to ‘Wind-Free™ Cooling Mode’, creating ‘still air’ once the desired temperature is achieved, and also reducing energy consumption by up to 50% compared to Fast Cooling mode.

Wind Free System air conditioners are available in 1 Way, 4 Way and mini-way cassette type indoor units coupled with DVM/ VRF based air conditioning systems. Cassette Type ACs are installed onto true or false ceilings of confined spaces. The 1 Way type can be installed in the false ceiling of the room in a corner giving you clutter free walls and center of the room. It has a slim height of only 135 mm, a drain pump to drain out the condensate drain water, and multiple options of front decorative grills for the customer to choose from.

The 4 Way Cassette AC is installed in the center of the false ceiling of the room giving uniform cooling across the space. Its USP is its central installation and a drain pump. The Mini 4 Way cassette AC is installed in the center of the false ceiling of a small room giving uniform cooling across the space. It has a compact size of only 600 mm and a drain pump.

What is your marketing strategy?

Samsung is well equipped to meet the diverse needs of various segments of users with its comprehensive range of products and solutions. Our clients include renowned names in the real estate, hospitality, healthcare and pharmaceuticals sectors.

Concerted efforts are being made to make our ACs more energy-efficient; more space saving by modifying the size of both indoor and outdoor units; making modular/flexible systems for quick and easy installation, making them more operable, easy to maintain, remote controlled and more economical. We are moving to the next generation systems, for example, heat recovery models for simultaneous heating and cooling of different zones by absorbing heat from one area and dissipating it in another area, using a single system, without additional power consumption.

We will market our products aggressively in the Indian market, as we see a huge potential for our HVAC systems, especially in the hospitality, real estate and healthcare segments. Our systems are designed to suit even small houses and apartments. The VRF industry is currently worth USD 200 million in India and is growing at a CAGR of 10 to 12%, with further growth prospects in the coming years. So, we are very optimistic.