Concepcion-Carrier sees 30% hike in sales of green-cooling systems

MANILA, Philippines -  Concepcion-Carrier Air Conditioning Co. (CCAC), the country’s leader in cooling solutions, expects a substantial increase in sales for the so-called green cooling systems in the near term.

CACC chief executive officer Raul Joseph Concepcion told reporters over the weekend that from only one to two percent today, they see the growth in the use of these energy efficient cooling solutions to rise to up to 30 percent.

“We have been seeing a very big shift of the market on the use of these products since last year from only one to two percent to about 20 to 30 percent todate,” he said.

Over the next five years, he said the company sees about 10 to 15 percent of its sales coming from these type of products.

The swift change in technology, he said, would warrant the government’s firm stance against substandard products proliferating the local market.

Concepcion said this is the reason why they have been urging the Department of Energy (DOE) to review the current standards which have been there for more than a decade.

He said updating the standards on energy efficiency of appliances, including air-conditioning systems, is necessary safeguard not only the consumers but also the industry from below standard products.

“I will be meeting with the DOE on Monday (June 6) to see what had happened to moves to review and revise the existing standards on the rating system of electric appliances,” he said.

According to Concepcion, based on earlier talks with the DOE, the new set of standards should have been in place by July this year.

“We have seriously looked at these standards late December last year and there was a plan for phase out within the first six months of 2011 and by July, a new regulation should have been released,” he said.

Concepcion is wary that the DOE is so engrossed addressing the issue on oil and missing out on issues relating to power conservation.

“I am worried that up to now the DOE has not been talking about it. We think that the urgency is there. There are a lot of manufacturers who have been releasing false advertisement about their products. And the rating system today, I believe, is misleading.

He said at present, air-conditioning system’s market stood at P11 billion to P12 billion; refrigerator at P5 billion to P6 billion; and fans, roughly P6 to P7 billion.

“We are talking of a relatively small industry or P25 billion but this still has impact on the economy,” he said.

CCAC recently launched a number of green cooling solutions such as the Carrier XPower Inverter and its Carrier Evergreen 23XRV, the world’s first integrated variable-speed, water-cooled screw chiller.

He said CCAC has already recommended to the DOE for standard testing parameters in order to determine the exact amount of savings that can be enjoyed by the consumers from inverters.

“A standard is needed because even with constant outside temperatures, inverters can operate at different capacities (and thus require different amounts of energy), depending on load conditions. Other claims of 50 percent savings or more may not be enough, because there is no government-approved industry standard or rating condition for basing this savings figure,” he said.