Thursday 11 May, the REHVA standing committees met in Brussels to discuss the activities of the organisation during the year 2022 and to prepare the strategy for the upcoming year. Our industry is constantly changing and evolving toward a greener future and REHVA aspires to be a leader in this movement.
The Publishing and Marketing Committee (PMC) addressed topics around the guidebook sales and the future publication planned by the Technical and Research Committee (TRC). The goal is to assess that we disseminate knowledge is the best way possible so that it can reach all our members and beyond. The point of translation was also put forward, as a European organisation, we must ensure that the content is accessible to the greater number, and that means also non-English speakers. Francesca d’Ambrosio (Italy) was re-elected as chair and Lada Hensen Centnerová (Netherlands) was re-elected as co-chair.
REHVA's TRC elected two new co-chairs, Tomasz Cholewa from Poland and Alireza Afshari from Denmark, who joined the re-elected chair, Jarek Kurnitski and co-chair Ilinca Nastase. The Activity Plan for 2023 was approved with promising outcomes in the active and newly approved Task Forces. The TRC aims to tackle topics related to EPBD revision and RePowerEU, by preparing technical guidance for EPBD implementation and decarbonisation of building stock by phasing out fossil fuels. In the pursue of improving health, comfort, safety and energy efficiency in the built environment, work will continue in TC 156 WG25 revising EN 16798-1:2019 standard, aiming to include infection risk-based ventilation design. Also in relation to and through occupant targeted ventilation TF and developing effective air distribution related guidance. These topics are supported by air quality control/IEQ requirements included in EPBD revision.
During the Education and Training Committee (ETC), Livio Mazzarella (Italy) was elected as chair and 2 co-chairs were elected: Tiberiu Catalina (Romania) and Uwe Schulz (Switzerland). The members discussed the need to create challenges to increase skills and knowledge. They also approached the idea to achieve this goal by developing further the already existing REHVA Knowledge Hub and working on new REHVA courses.
The Supporters Committee was skillfully moderated by Kemal Bayraktar (Turkey). The primary objective of the meeting was to elect co-chair Laura Bothar and share important announcements from the supporters. Four notable supporter events were presented, including the ISK-Sodex exhibition in Istanbul, the KGH 54th International Congress at the Belgrade Fair from December 6th to 8th, the Swedvac-RoomVent conference scheduled for April 2024 in Stockholm, and the CLIMA 2025, co-organised with AiCARR conference set to take place from June 4th to 6th, 2025.
Overall, the Committees decided that there is a need for greater communication within REHVA and decided that each Committee should have at least one co-chair from another Committee. As a result, Kemal Bayraktar (Chair of the Supporters Committee) was elected as co-chair of the PMC, alongside Jarek Kurnitski (Chair of the TRC).