Leading tech innovations for sustainability

Alberto Torner, Head of Ariston Group in the Middle East, Turkey and Caucasus

With a core purpose to provide sustainable comfort for everyone, in every corner of the world, with high-quality heating and water heating solutions, while protecting the environment, Ariston Group has taken it upon itself to lead the sustainability growth agenda. Driving energy efficient solutions and technologies using renewable sources are at the centre of its sustainable growth strategy.

As the GCC becomes more aware of the need to reduce the carbon footprint, efforts by global companies to contribute to the cause increase insignificance. Concerns for the environment are highlighted in Saudi Vision 2030 and reiterated regularly. Saudi Arabia’s participation in the October 2021 COP 26 Summit and statements by the government underscore this progressive outlook. In a January 2022 press release, the Saudi Press Agency stated that the “Saudi Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture Eng. Abdulrahman Al-Fadley highlighted the importance of including and protecting the environment in all development activities so as to realize sustainable development with all its economic, social and environmental aspects.”

The Ariston Group’s mission to be the world’s preferred partner in delivering energy efficient and renewable solutions for heating and hot water has resulted in continued investment in the future, in renewable and high-efficiency technologies, connectivity and digitalization.

By reducing energy consumption via absorption of the free and ecologic heat directly from the air, Heat pumps are the best example of technology in complete harmony with the environment. The Nuos heat pump range uses a thermodynamic cycle to heat the water inside the storage tank through the air sucked by the thermal group inverting the heat’s natural flow. A refrigerant fluid (R134A), through status changes, compression and expansion cycles, withdraws the heat in the air at low temperature and gives it to domestic water at a higher temperature. This is the reverse mechanism of the one used in refrigerators. Electricity consumption is restricted to operating the fan (that captures the air) and the compressor (that allows the refrigerant fluid to circulate in the system) work. Buying and installation costs are also lower, and it is a ‘future-proof’ product.

The other noteworthy development is the enhancement of high efficiency solar thermal systems. The special highly transparent toughened glass of the collectors supplied by Ariston reflects the incident solar rays to a minimum, thus losing little energy, a product of The Group’s research over the years. The solar energy absorbed is also withheld thanks to its prismatic surface, which creates a “greenhouse effect” inside the collector. The maximum efficiency is accompanied by the safety of toughened glass, tested against hail. The main benefits are significant reductions – from 25 to 75% — in energy consumption and pollution emissions.

The Ariston Group offers hybrid solution by integrating heat pumps with solar thermal systems to increase energy savings even more. These systems utilize solar energy generated by the collectors to pre-heat the water needed while the built-in heat pumps assure that the water reaches the required temperature. Such a hybrid system results in optimum savings in energy since heat pump as a backup source utilizes the ambient air temperature to heat up the water while keeping the electric consumption low.