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HVAC Engineering: Design, Commissioning and Operational Considerations for Large Infrastructure...60 seconds with Stephen Knowles, Atkins Global

Stephen Knowles, Atkins Global

About HVAC Engineering: Design, Commissioning and Operational Considerations for Large Infrastructure, 3-4 March 2020, London
About HVAC Engineering: Design, Commissioning and Operational Considerations for Large Infrastructure, 3-4 March 2020, London

The HVAC market is estimated at a value of $108.1 billion in 2018 and is poised to register a CAGR of 3.9% during 2019-2024. The overall growing construction industry is observed to be the major driver for the HVAC industry.

As the UK Government target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, many, if not all, companies are looking at ways to reuse waste energy and reuse this energy within the business.

With this in mind, the Institution's upcoming conference on HVAC engineering is a unique opportunity for engineers to discuss these and other challenges with HVAC design, management and maintenance and understand the lessons learned from recent projects across multiple engineering sectors. Ahead of the conference, we caught up with Norman Rhodes, Chief Engineer at Atkins Global, who will be presenting on considerations for ensuring HVAC resilience for critical infrastructure.

Q: Could you briefly explain your role, involvement and experience with regards to this conference?

Stephen Knowles (SK): I work for Atkins and am a Chief Engineer, responsible for the engineering management of building designs and HVAC systems in the nuclear sector. As such I have significant experience in the delivery of designs for essential parts of large infrastructure. 

Q: What are the main challenges facing the industry at the moment and what are the most common issues you hear from colleagues?

SK: In the nuclear sector, the main challenges are delivering cost effective designs and supply of HVAC equipment for safety classified systems for the first UK new-build power stations in 30 years, to ensure that new-nuclear remains financially viable alongside other low and zero-carbon power generation.

Q: What key topics are you excited to speak about?

SK: How we are designing the UK’s first new-build nuclear power stations to be designed during my working life.

Q: Who else are you most interested in hearing from on the programme, and why?

SK: I’m interested in hearing from Benjamin Berman. There is a lot of synergy between nuclear and other highly regulated industries such as biomedical, not least due to both requiring HVAC systems with high levels of filtration, environmental control and cascade pressure regimes, so I’m interested in hearing about innovation in that sector.

Q: What is your top tip for engineers working in similar roles to your own?

SK: Continue to learn, especially from other industries and sectors where knowledge and skills can be transferred.

Q: Why is it important for engineers to join this conference?

SK: It’s important for engineers to not only keep up to date with developments within their own sectors, but also to understand what work is being done in other sectors and establish what transferable knowledge there is.

Q: What developments are you most interested in for the future and why?

SK: I’m particularly interested in the development of Small Modular Reactors and nuclear fusion. Both provide significant changes to how nuclear energy is harnessed, with the first potentially a shorter-term more cost-effective alternative to large power plants, and the latter the long-term ’holy grail’ of much cheaper, cleaner and safer energy.

Event details

About HVAC Engineering: Design, Commissioning and Operational Considerations for Large Infrastructure takes place 3-4 March 2020, in London.

Join this two-day event to learn from experts in nuclear, construction, pharmaceutical, data centres, railway, commercial buildings, biomedical, and tunnelling. Hear best practice that will address challenges across HVAC engineering with a core focus on system modelling, temperature control strategies and approaches to optimise energy efficiency.<./p>

To find out more and book your place visit www.imeche.org/hvac

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