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AHR Expo helps prove everything is big in Texas |
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Tuesday, 06 February 2007 |
 They say everything’s big in Texas, and the 2007 AHR Expo is proving that again. Thousands of people were waiting when the show opened at 10:01 a.m. Monday, 29th of January. By Tuesday attendance had easily surpassed the previous record for a Southwest Show, reveals one of ASHRAE's press releases.
“I’ve been to a lot of shows all over the United States, and I’ve never seen a crowd like this. It’s a beautiful show,” said Emma Lee Falls, from OST Manufacturing in Houston.
By the end of Tuesday, 27,256 attendees had entered the floor at the Dallas Convention Center. The attendance doesn’t include the 19,055 people staffing the Show’s 1,789 exhibiting companies’ booths. These numbers will increase when the Wednesday counts are added to the totals.
Reasons for strong attendance vary. For some, Texas location was the key. However, the overarching reasons cited by attendees was to see what’s new in the industry, and to discover more energy-efficient ways to meet their customers’ needs.
“We’re always looking to provide something more economical and efficient,” said first-time visitor Bobby Goyne, a contractor from Dawson Service Co., in Garland, Texas. He was especially interested in learning what’s available in tankless water heaters.
Another first-time visitor, Robert Watson, P.E. a consulting engineer from Plano, Texas, said was looking to expand his work as a building acquisitions consultant to include energy conservation services. “We’re always looking to do new things.” He said he was especially interested in software.
Erin Adkins, a consulting engineer at GA Engineers, Fayetteville, Ark., says interest in energy efficiency has really jumped in the last year. “Energy costs keep going up, so people want to look for ways to make things more efficient.” Her interests include heat, project management software, radiant heat, multizone, minisplit and ductless systems.
Others come to network. One such visitor, Darlene Meeh, an HVAC&R contractor from Denville, N.J., began before the show started.
“We’ve already met a product manager from a company in China with a product that seems interesting,” Meeh said. “On the shuttle over here, we met a guy who reps a heat pump line. We probably wouldn’t have stopped at that booth otherwise.”
Brandon Johnson, a senior at the University of Georgia majoring in structural systems engineering, is attending the show to see the new technology, but also has the future in mind. “I’m graduating in a couple of months, and I’m sure there are future employers here.”
A growing part of Expo attendance in recent years is international visitors. This year’s show is continuing that trend with some 320 international exhibitors and delegations from many regions. Ra’ed H. Al-Amawi, Member ASHRAE, is part of a delegation from Saudi Arabia. "We need many, many air conditioners where I come from. It is very hot and humid in Saudi Arabia.”
David Espeut, managing director of Tropic Airconditioning, came from the Cayman Islands to find new suppliers. He said construction is booming there in part because of the rebuilding being done after Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
Thousands of products are not the only reason to come to the Show. This year’s Show features more than twice as many educational courses than offered last year. In addition to ASHRAE Short Courses, for the first time eight ASHRAE Technical Sessions are being held at the Convention Center.
The 2008 AHR Expo is in New York Jan. 22 to 24 at the Javits Convention Center. |
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