Please give a brief profile and local and international projects that you have accomplished in Pakistan? I graduated in 1965 from Dhaka University of Engineering & Technology and joined Dhaka Intercontinental as Chief Engineer in 1968. I remained associated with Intercontinental Hotels for 13 years. In 1971 I was promoted as Regional Chief Engineer for Central Asia based in Karachi. I held this position till 1981. In 1981 I set up my consultancy service named S. Mehboob & Co specializing in engineering services for all types of buildings.

I am blessed with the support of my sons two of whom are engineers specializing in HVAC Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Our company stresses on building services design with a strong emphasis on sustainability of design and green buildings. Our philosophy for design is to look at the building as a whole and provide an integrated design and look at interrelated systems separately. This lets us design highly efficient buildings with superior energy performance as per latest international standards.

We were the first Pakistani company to work as consulting engineers in UAE. There it is relatively easy to find projects, if one has a sound local partner. So far we have completed over 100 projects in UAE alone. We are listed as branch of a foreign company requiring a high level of skill and expertise. We have completed high rise buildings 60+ stories at Dubai Marina. Al Murooj Complex on Sheikh Zayed Road was one of the first to use direct cooling and water cooled chillers. In recent years we have completed many hypermarkets. The most recent is in Georgia and many other projects are underway in Armenia. In Pakistan we are working on Islamabad International Airport and previously we worked on the Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore besides some very tall buildings in Pakistan. Would you like to share how you thought of forming the HVACR society in Pakistan?

The vision behind forming HVACR Society in Pakistan was to bridge the communication gap between consultants, equipment suppliers, manufacturers and contractors by bringing them on the platform of Pakistan HVACR Society. The Society provides opportunities to all members to network amongst themselves and meet and interact on one platform. This plays a pivotal role in fostering professional growth through mentoring, making available publications published by ASHRAE and seminars and educational programs that we conduct. The Society also seeks to engage students and bring them to the HVACR profession. We also needed the Society to suggest policies to regulatory bodies as there is no formal framework for the purpose in our government. Main interest of our manufacturing needs strong advocacy for growth, energy conservation, building codes, regulations and import tariff structures. What has HVACR Society done so far to assist its members and stakeholders? HVACR Society is an Associate Society of American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) – the world leader in HVACR technology. ASHRAE has over 100 committees doing research, writing standards and guidelines besides a panel of distinguished lecturers – world class experts in their fields to visit and speak in Pakistan. ASHRAE Standards are the basis of building codes in USA and many countries. Our members have access to this vast pool of knowledge.

After we became part of ASHRAE, they have been sending speakers at their cost to Pakistan. They speak in all our three chapters that is Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Similarly companies coming up with new technologies and products and wanting to showcase them are able to meet and make presentations besides exhibiting their goods at annual expos. We have also setup libraries in all our three offices so our members can read books, know about the latest innovations to cope up with latest trends all over the world and seek assistance. Our annual Expo is Pakistan’s premier trade fair. We had about 200 exhibitors and 7-10 thousand visitors from trade bodies, industries etc in our last exhibition. How do you compare growth of HVACR industry in Pakistan with India, Bangladesh, Dubai and Malaysia? There is no comparison with India as it is a very massive market in terms of local manufacturing. And we, due to government policies, lack a strong manufacturing base. Our government emphasis is on imports while in India they focus on ‘Made in India’. They have protected their manufacturers for several decades.

Quality of human resources is the area where we are equal and share the same expertise. Frequent visits by trade delegations of India and Pakistan show that the human competence level of both countries is the same as in our industry. China is also doing the same. Dubai is a free market and a different economic model. We are far ahead of Bangladesh. Malaysia again focuses on local manufacturing and is much ahead of us. How supportive are Pakistan’s regulations for HVACR industry? Regulatory environment in the country neither encourages nor discourages investment in this sector. There is virtually no support from the government. How does HVACR contribute towards socio economic development? As far as socio-economic environment is concerned, our industry has a large business generating activity in maintenance and operations side.

There is also considerable consumer interest in sales and service of ACs, refrigeration and other cooling equipments. Refrigeration is an important part of our life as it is linked with our food and the rooms we sleep in, our office etc. Much of our transport vehicles are air conditioned and our engineers ensure the environment is eco friendly. When did your society organize the first exhibition? What was the idea and objective behind it? In 1993 we held our first exhibition and to date, it is going very well. The biggest beneficiary of our hard work was local industry. It gave them a chance to grow and showcase their products in Pakistan and abroad. The credit for success of all exhibitions goes to local manufacturers and distributors. Some locally manufactured equipment is also exported. Please tell us about developments in green energy efficient systems in Pakistan’s HVACR? Buildings are number one consumers of energy all over the world and account for 30-35% of energy use. Buildings are designed to comply with energy codes. In most developed countries codes govern design features. In Pakistan compliance is weak. This greatly effects the country’s energy demand. There is now a growing demand for energy efficient green buildings resulting in professional bodies taking up the need for legislation in this regard. What is the future of HVAC in Pakistan?

The future for our industry is bright because it is based on human needs. We need better management nationally e.g. split or other ACs are marketed without an energy label in Pakistan. So we continue to use inefficient equipment. In future renewable energy is going to have bigger share in our industry and solar assisted split units with high efficiency equipment are going to become more and more important. And I also see more regulations coming. Your message on 21st HVACR event? Please support our industry, it makes your life better, use of energy efficient equipment helps Pakistan.