ABOK ACTIVITY: MAIN TENDENCY

ABOK activities concern the following fields:

1. Promotion of professional technological and scientific progress, based on ABOK members' cooperation in research and design supported by federal and regional authorities.
2. Initiative and participation in development and revision actual State Codes and Standards (Construction Standard, guidebooks, etc.) caused by increasing demands for energy saving and indoor air quality and wide range of new climatisation equipment offered for sale.
3. Control the certification programs - testing equipment in order to check it's operating characteristic and prove the consumer attributes, declared by manufactures.
4. Render assistance to State institutions (federal and regional) in arranging competitions, tenders, expert's examinations and developing legislation and regulation documents.
5. Holding professional workshops and training specialists in order to raise the skill level, establishing post-graduate course for HVAC specialty.
6. Publishing activities and information services for ABOK's members, state officials and the broad sections of the specialists.
7. Participation in the work of international institutions, conferences, exhibitions, congresses. Supporting ABOK members in international business contacts and presentation manufactured goods for international trade.

ABOK program includes main tasks of HVAC industry

    1. Energy and fuel saving in building heating systems.

    ABOK carries out a policy of development new codes and standards, participation in demo-projects, holding contests initiated by state institutions, arranging exhibitions and conferences, publishing information about new energy-efficient climatisation equipment.
    ABOK studies the possibility of issuing it's own regulation documents, admitted by ABOK members and their partners. The purpose of this project is to create the uniform base for design and research, to make the equipment able to meet competition, to integrate into international cooperation and use it's advanced experience.
    The analogs of above-mentioned documents are Standards of ASHRAE, ARI, etc.

    2. Energy audit for indoor climate systems and energy use in buildings

    In ABOK's opinion, all industrial and public buildings constructed before the 1990 need auditing in order to find out the ways of energy conservation and to improve the indoor air quality; another objective of auditing is energy and ecological certification. This work will be a success only if all the participants would use the uniform methods and comparable indicators. ABOK takes in hand the development of document base for energy audit and building's energy and ecological certification.

    3. Indoor climate quality

    ABOK considers the most part of buildings in our country characterized by low indoor air quality: it is the reason for sickness rate and decrease in labor productivity. The first step in solving this problem was ABOK's initiative in developing Indoor Climate State Standard for residential and public buildings.
    In ABOK's opinion, the main trends of it's activity for the nearest future should be the following:

1. Methodical work in increasing skill level of HVAC specialists, especially for decision-making managers;
2. Informing broad sections of the specialists about the latest international advances in research, standardization and technology of HVAC systems;
3. Put into practice measures for arrangement mechanical exhaust ventilation in residential buildings: toward this object new design methods, standards and equipment would be required; besides, buildings layout seems to be changed.

    4. Equipment certification

    International and domestic trade is usually based on a set of standards, admitted by all partners of their own free will.
    ABOK sets as an object participation in international standardization system in order to promote developing new standards and adapting for Russia international HVAC standards.
    ABOK is ready for cooperation with foreign institutions in this field for cross-admittance of equipment certification programs wherever it's desirable and possible.

    5. Building heating systems reconstruction

    In ABOK's opinion, there are two main trends in this field:

1. Reconstruction of heat control and distribution in district heating systems, in particular supply district heating substations in buildings with parameter and consumption control devices and consumption accounting means.
2. Application local building heating sources.

    "Code for heating substations design", developed with the ABOK's participation, federal and regional contests for heating substations and local heating sources can be considered as the first steps in this way. At present a guidebook for local heating source design is being developed.
    ABOK is going to do this in the following manner:

1. Development guideline for local building heating sources application;
2. Development building heating technology with the use of temperature and hydraulic control providing heat consumption according to outdoor climate and indoor comfort.
    

    6. Professional licensing

    7. Global climate change

    ABOK accepts the significance of climate change problem ('green-house effect'), caused by industrial air contamination, particularly from heating and power stations.
    Increase in level of efforts for energy conservation and development energy-effective equipment can be considered as essential measures to meet engagements set by International Global Climate Change Frame Convention.
    ABOK stresses the importance of HVAC equipment efficiency in the cause of energy conservation.

   Cooperation with State departments
    ABOK sets as it's objectives to provide decision-making state officials with complete information about HVAC industry and to represent concern of HVAC industry and ABOK members in legislation and some other state commissions.
    ABOK has close connection with State Construction Committee, State Fuel-Energy Ministry, Russian Joint-Stock Company "Gasprom", Moscow municipal Fuel-Energy Department, Moscow Commission of Experts.
    In particular, State Construction Committee made ABOK responsible for methodological support in the cause of energy conservation in district heating systems and for providing information about energy saving technology.
    ABOK in cooperation with Moscow municipal Fuel-Energy Department holds contests for new climatisation equipment and systems, publishes "Energosberezheniye" magazine, participates in the work of Moscow Government Energy-saving Commission.
    ABOK together with Moscow Government hold 12 large-scale conferences and exhibitions "Moscow - energy efficient city", which have made an important contribution in energy conservation, expert activities and new HVAC equipment promotion.
    ABOK considers expedient to continue:

1. Holding above-mentioned exhibitions and conferences in order to increase it's significance;
2. Holding (in cooperation with Moscow Government) tenders for new HVAC equipment;
3. Developing municipal and regional codes and standards for HVAC industry.

    Cooperation with domestic similar-type institutions
    ABOK contacts with the following institutions: Russian Energy - conservation Union, Non-commercial Partnership "Energoresursosberezheniye", Power Manager's Association, Climatisation Industry Association (APIK), Russian Demonstration Zones (RUSDEM), Energy-saving Windows' Manufactures Association (APROK), exhibition complex "Messe Dusseldorf International".
    This cooperation is based on mutually beneficial support, equal rights and tendency to concentrate efforts on main tasks of HVAC industry.

    International activity
    ABOK is a member of REHVA (Federation of European HVAC specialists' Associations), associated member of ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, Air-conditioning Engineers), serves as representative at international conferences and exhibitions such as "Clima 2000", "Cold Climate", "Healthy Buildings", "Roomvent"; besides, ABOK cooperates with ARI (American Refrigeration Institute), HVAC specialists' Associations of Finland, Denmark, Norway, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine (APOSK - Association of HVAC installation, setting-up and service companies), Azerbaijan (International Power and Ecology Academy), participate in guidebook's editing, specialist's interchange.

    Publishing and information activity
    In order to inform specialists about the latest advances in their scope ABOK issues professional magazines: "АВОК" (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, District Heating, Building Physics Journal) - since 1990, "Energosberezheniye" - since 1995.
    In addition, ABOK annually publishes Catalog of ABOK's Collective Members, renders information assistance to conferences, exhibitions and other similar actions.

    Professional training
    ABOK activity in professional training includes holding workshops "Design engineering and regulation documents" and "Effective heating, ventilating, air conditioning and district heating systems" in the course of the exhibition "Interstroyexpo", "Modern efficient equipment for building heating and climatisation" - in the course of the exhibition "Plumbing, heating, air conditioning". ABOK establishes post-graduate study and training course for raising the skill level of HVAC specialists.