ASHRAE Journal - January 2012 - 72

INTERNATIONAL COLUMN
the disappointment of discovering that your guests do not eat Indian, Chinese, or Mexican cuisines, or that they don’t eat seafood. Availability of vegetarian food is a plus as, nowadays, we may meet more vegetarian people for health or religious reasons. Alcohol is another important item as some people do not drink alcohol. Try to build good understanding of how a culture perceives interaction with the other gender. In some cultures, it is always preferred to have a female member of the host company present when inviting female members of the client company. On the technical side, the list of items to keep in mind is quite long and could make huge impact on your business development effort. Your overseas clients should feel that you are totally aware of their local, cultural, economical, climate, prevailing design standards and regulations, special design needs, preferred communication and information transfer methods. Issues such as payback period, energy conservation, use of economy cycles, equipment brands, renovation versus demolition, system selection and others need to be viewed from the client’s perspective. What applies to a certain region as feasible or practical may well be unaccepted or represent uncommon practice in another region. Working with overseas clients is a great opportunity to transfer knowledge and learn to look at problems from totally different perspectives. While some client requests may seem highly unrealistic or even opposes the project’s interest, you still need to give these requests thorough consideration. It is important to understand the client’s explanation of his/her requests and advise whether you agree or disagree with the proposed idea. This will enhance the design output. More important, it strengthens the business conﬁdence with the client through showing that all effort is being made to give them system designs that serve their needs best. Different regions appreciate payback periods differently. For certain systems or equipment types, a four to ﬁve year payback period is considered quite satisfactory. In other regions this period is considered too long and does not warrant the added capital cost. One to two years is considered good. Everyone seems to agree on the beneﬁts of economy cycles. However, I have seen them installed in extreme environments where they end up running for few days per year, leading to a very long payback period, probably longer than the main system can survive. It is important to simulate the operation of the proposed economy cycle against the project’s geographical location and climate. Assuming that it is feasible based on our home environment could lead to incorrect decisions. Discuss with the client the added advantages of building management and control systems versus the added maintenance as a result of introducing motorized dampers, sensors, variable frequency drives and other control system components. In some countries, due to lack of specialized maintenance and substandard preventive maintenance practices, clients may prefer simpliﬁed control systems. While some regions seem to go as far as possible towards renovating and expanding existing building systems to suit building changes or expansions, other regions seem to ﬁnd it
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easy to decide to demolish existing systems and install new ones. Building system designs usually are based on certain equipment manufacturer. Generally, we base the design on our preferred local manufacturer’s products. With overseas projects, it is important to liaise with the client to get his/her opinion on the brand of the major equipment to be installed in the project. On the one hand, there is no point basing the design on equipment that may be totally different to the ones that are available locally or the product that the client prefers to use. On the other hand, it is important to advise the client of any special features, added beneﬁts or higher efﬁciency that can be achieved by using a product that we are familiar with. This ensures that the client is getting the best service and the business relationship is improved. Also, it represents an opportunity to create a new market for our home products in a new overseas market if the client is convinced that the product will serve his needs better. Review your standard construction details to ensure that they suit and apply to the project’s overseas climate and special conditions. An outside air intake sand louver is not required for a project located in Auckland, New Zealand. Similarly an expensive weather louver with rainwater eliminators may be overkill for the amount of rain that falls in Dubai. How to communicate with your overseas clients and how to present proposals and system design documents can make big difference to your business relationship. While electronic communication is becoming the main communication method, some high level managers may still prefer phone calls followed by written conﬁrmation to discuss issues. Transferring design documents by e-mail or using dedicated websites are widely used; however, in some regions project managers still prefer to receive hard copies of the design documents for each design stage. Local ASHRAE chapters in overseas countries can be great source of information to the individual professional and engineering ﬁrms. ASHRAE chapters can provide ample countryspeciﬁc, cultural and technical information in addition to invaluable opportunities for professional networking. ASHRAE Region-At-Large has more than 23 local chapters in Poland, Romania, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Qatar, Kuwait, Dubai, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nigeria. ASHRAE Region XIII has seven chapters in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. These local chapters are always seeking to welcome members and non-member professionals. You can also support local ASHRAE chapters, as they are always looking for specialized professionals and equipment manufacturers to take part in the chapters’ technical events and technology transfer presentations. Ramiz Gabrial, P.E., is a building services consulting engineer in Melbourne, Australia. He has worked with major consulting ﬁrms worldwide. He is a founding member and the immediate past president of the Qatar Chapter of ASHRAE.
ashrae.org January 2012

ASHRAE Journal - January 2012

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