Four years after its last edition, MCE 2022, the 42nd Mostra Convegno Expocomfort dedicated to The essence of comfort, took place from June 28th to July 1st. Leading companies and numerous professionals from the HVAC +R, renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors came together for one of the most important events dedicated to the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning of residential, commercial and industrial environments. A must-go event to meet and discuss the sector's panorama, in which the new technology proposal aims at improving comfort and saving energy.
What has emerged from the 42nd edition? Together with Raffaella Zambellini, Co-CEO of SLIM, and Barbara Zago, the company's Business Developer, who attended the exhibition as visitors, we delved into the highlights of MCE 2022, which tell the story of the transformation of an industry looking to the future. Let's discover all the highlights together!
What are the innovative aspects to focus on for the development of the HVAC sector? Find out in the in-depth study dedicated to Developments in the HVAC sector: hi-tech systems for sustainable comfort, two experts in the sector give their point of view on the drivers of the moment.
MCE Expocomfort: le tendenze della 42° edizione
Good morning Raffaella and Barbara, why did you decide to visit Mostra Convegno Expocomfort?
Barbara Zago: MCE is the exhibition dedicated to the most innovative products and systems in the HVAC, renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors. The exhibition brings together professionals working in heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, water treatment and plumbing services.
We at SLIM, as suppliers of light signalling components for products related to this sector, could not miss the trade fair to meet our partners and shed light on the future of living comfort. More than 1,581 exhibitors and 90,735 visitors, more than a third of whom came from abroad: these are some of the figures for the 2022 edition that show the event's desire to restart after a four-year hiatus.
Living comfort and energy efficiency: what's new?
Raffaella Zambellini: The HVAC industry is a sector deeply affected by energy issues. At a time like this, the sensitive issue of the energy crisis is part of the broader spectrum of sustainability, bringing even more attention to these topics. Today it is even more important to take into account the protection of resources, control and optimisation of consumption. As for manufacturers, the proposal is for energy-saving appliances with the aim of offering thermal comfort in a more rational, reasoned and conscious way. Everyone then declines their solutions according to the technological level of their products. Some offer thermal control systems integrated with the IoT that allow data to be collected, consumption to be monitored, and devices to be conveniently managed remotely.
Still on the energy front, another topic that emerged at the exhibition concerned hydrogen-powered boilers as the heating type of the future: these will no longer involve the use of gas with a view to reducing CO2 emissions. In fact, hydrogen is considered by manufacturers in the sector as a key element for the future of the national energy system. Its potential lies in its ability to replace the contribution of non-renewable sources, thus facilitating the ecological transition. The introduction of new energy efficiency technologies shows how the HVAC sector is increasingly focusing on optimising resources to generate thermal comfort.
What are the industry trends according to the exhibitors at the new edition?
Barbara Zago: As far as air conditioning is concerned, the trends that emerged relate to issues such as digitisation, integration with IoT and sanitisation. The Covid-19 pandemic, in fact, has highlighted the need to rethink living comfort and the healthiness of environments, giving rise to new proposals for building technologies.
This is how the equipment and devices exhibited at the trade fair present special technologies within their ventilation or cooling systems that allow air to be purified and sanitised in confined spaces.
The centrality of this theme is also evident from the new "Health Academy" format launched at this edition through a cycle of meetings to promote indoor healthiness.
What is SLIM's signalling proposal for equipment in the HVAC sector?
Raffaella Zambellini: As part of the HVAC sector, we at SLIM interface mainly with companies that manufacture water heaters and air conditioning devices. Since this is very technical equipment, ours is a classic and functional signalling proposal, designed to last a long time. LED signalling, specifically, has a long service life and is efficient, ideal for those devices that also look at the residual energy consumption of the components themselves.
In addition to the basic light indicators, our proposal also consists of custom designs, which allow us to define indicators with shapes and functionalities chosen by the customer according to his requirements. Custom solutions also include UVC LED modules: innovative custom designs with air purification functionality. In this specific case, the prototypes that are tailor-made to the customer's needs will be tested to ensure that the technology actually works before being inserted into the devices.
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