ASHRAE Training from Middle East Center Impacting Company Performance
From eSociety, August 2018
The ASHRAE Global Training Center for Building Excellence offers training customized for the Middle East to companies for in-house training as well as to individuals who attend regularly scheduled training events. All courses presented at the center earn credits toward ASHRAE’s Building Excellence Credential.
One of the companies that recently scheduled training was Taqeef, a Dubai-based full-service air-conditioning design firm.
“It’s essential that all our employees have a holistic understanding of HVAC fundamentals-irrespective of what their function or job is,” said Wael El Ghossein, COO, Taqeef Technical Center.
The built environment in the Middle East is constantly evolving as the region is witnessing rapid growth. As a result, the need for engineers and professionals involved in building technology to have access to quality training on the complexities required to design, operate and maintain efficient buildings in the Middle East is rising. According to company officials, Taqeef has made it a priority to invest in the skills of their engineers through ASHRAE’s HVAC Design Essentials onsite training. Wael El Ghossein, the COO of Taqeef’s technical center, says “we run a rolling program of training and development for all staff, and the ASHRAE training formed part of this for our engineering teams in 2018, as an introductory course for some and a refresher course for others.”
The process first began in February 2018 when ASHRAE conducted a pre-training assessment for engineers from different departments to help Taqeef identify which engineers require training. With the company having complete control as to when, how and where the training takes place, a total of 21 engineers from 8 different departments attended the training at Taqeef’s facilities in Jebel Ali, Dubai. Engineers were divided into two groups and the training was divided over a period of five days instead of three.
Highlighting the importance of engineers from different departments to have comprehensive insight of HVAC fundamentals, engineer Wael says: “It’s essential that all our employees have a holistic understanding of HVAC fundamentals—irrespective of what their function or job is. This training covered many different topics, some of which weren’t strictly within the scope of the departments or individuals who attended. This broadens understanding and prevents people working in silos; by giving job functions context, we improve interdepartmental working, reduce overlaps, and produce better and quicker outputs.”
The ASHRAE training was presented by subject matter experts and ASHRAE Training Center instructors Samir Traboulsi, Ph.D., P.Eng., Fellow Life Member ASHRAE and Hassan Younes, Member ASHRAE, BEAP, BEMP, HBDP, CPMP, HFDP, OPMP. The five-day HVAC Design Essentials (MENA) course they gave provided intensive, practical training for designers and engineers involved in delivering HVAC services in the MENA region.
At the end of the training, ASHRAE administered a post-training assessment to determine the areas each department is strongest in and the areas where progress still needed to be monitored so that Taqeef can ensure continuous improvement across all functions. “While it’s early days yet, the team has reported some interesting learnings and some insightful knowledge share; they’re already implementing some best practice procedures as a result of the training” says engineer Wael.
“Our employees were motivated and enthusiastic about the training and left with a renewed vigor and passion. That’s great news for us, and we’d certainly recommend this course as part of a wider program of training and development.”
To learn about employee training assessments and how to schedule ASHRAE training in house contact Ayah Said, asaid@ashrae.org. The schedule of courses for individuals is available here.