Foundation of Falcon Chapter – Dubai (ASHRAE Chapter 175)

In the known history of this region, we have had Professional Engineers who joined ASHRAE membership since 1975. However, this region did not have any formal chapter in those days as the region was not developed and much of it remained as empty sand dunes. Later in the years when Oil started bringing money to the region, the construction industry started to pick up. This movement generated the requirement of professionals in the field of HVAC as Cooling is an inevitable part of any building design in the region. In the year 2003, some of the engineering
professionals who were members of ASHRAE decided to take the lead and establish a local chapter to provide support to HVAC engineers in the region. As the region was still in the early developing stage, this chapter was formed to provide technical and professional support to Mechanical Engineers in UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
The Founding members of the chapter are Mr. Basam Al Elassad, Mr. Vijay Kumar, Mr. Bassel Anbari, Mr. Girish Hira and Mr. Mohsen Abu Naga. The chapter was inaugurated on December
7th, 2003 by Mr. Samir Traboulsi, the then RAL DRC who supported the whole idea. The chapter was named “Emirates Falcon Chapter”.
We are all familiar with the rest of the history; the gulf regions drew unprecedented growth in wealth and construction activity and eventually Qatar and Bahrain developed their own local
Chapters and Emirates Falcon Chapter became ASHRAE Falcon Chapter to serve engineering professionals in UAE. Falcon Chapter still supports engineering professionals in Oman as Oman
does not have a local chapter yet. Falcon Chapter became a very important player in the field of HVAC, Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency. ASHRAE Falcon Chapter is currently
involved with various Ministries, ESMA, MOEW, UNEP, UNIDO and other International Bodies. ASHRAE Falcon Chapter plays an integral part in assisting these bodies in organizing International Conferences in UAE.