The Air Conditioning, Refrigeration and Building Services exhibition 2008 (ARBS 2008), held in Melbourne last week, has been hailed as the most successful show in its 10 year history.
Exhibition organiser Sue Falcke said exhibition space sold out after only a few weeks of sale and additional 1500 square metres of space at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre was secured to accommodate the increased demand.
“Total space sold was a 40% increase on the last exhibition in Melbourne in 2004 and a 24% increase on space sold for the last ARBS (2006) in Sydney. This is surprising given that historically, Sydney has always been a bigger show than Melbourne.
“Over 6660 visitors attended the exhibition, which is a 25% increase on numbers for the last Melbourne ARBS in 2004.
“In the last decade, the exhibition has built a reputation around the globe for the place to see modern engineering, technologies, products and services for the heating, ventilation, refrigeration and building services industries,” she said.
According to Sue Falcke, the distinguishing feature this year was the clear focus on the industry’s efforts and achievements in sustainable development and green building practices.
“Exhibitors have responded strongly to the need for energy-efficient products that reduce their impact on the environment. This year’s exhibition featured a compelling line-up of solutions for the green marketplace,” she said.
Exhibitor Simon Bradwell, Managing Director, embpapst, said ARBS was critical to the industry’s success in launching new products and demonstrating new innovations.
“The wide range of displays showed once again that the building industry in this country is focussed on growth, and there were many overseas exhibitors keen to get in on the action,” he said.
Anthony Piscopo, General Manager, Building Technology Products with Siemens said ARBS gave him the chance to get a glimpse of future technologies being introduced to the HVAC industry.
“ARBS 2008 certainly met all of the expectations being promoted throughout the industry in the pre-show build-up,” he said.
The next ARBS is being held at the Sydney Exhibition Centre, 12-14 April, 2010.