We talked to Professor Branislav Todorovic, Ph.D., about the air conditioning, heating and refrigeration sectors, and his project parameters used for calculation in all projects for heating and air conditioning in the former Yugoslavia.
We asked him if we can see and experience healthy, sustainable buildings, localities, and cities in Serbia and whether the Serbian economy can produce adequate and high-quality products and systems for ventilation and air conditioning.
He revealed to us why he compares buildings with the behaviour of the human organism, and he also advised young colleagues and students.
EP: In the beginning, I would like to refer to the ceremony in May which marked the 150th anniversary of the Union of Engineers and Technicians of Serbia. On that occasion, you received the Golden Plaque from the Union. How important is this recognition for you, given the fact that you have been a long-term president of the Serbian Society of HVAC&R?
Branislav Todorovic: The anniversary of the Union of Engineers and Technicians of Serbia is a grand celebration of the Serbian engineering profession, which was organised in 1868, and began its operations among the first in Europe. The Golden Plaque of such an institution is indeed a great recognition and satisfaction for more than 50 years of my commitment to the engineering profession which dates from selecting my thesis topic and graduation and the work in the field of heating, ventilation and air conditioning, or as it is popularly known in our practice, in the HVAC profession.
EP: Your project parameters are used for calculations of all heating and air conditioning projects in former Yugoslavia. How did that come about?
Branislav Todorovic: Already my first professional works were related to meteorology, that is climatic conditions. In these works, I devoted myself to determining the outside temperatures in Yugoslavia’s cities for which it was necessary to provide heating capacities to reach a specified temperature in buildings. It was already observed by that time that the outside temperature had a constant tendency to increase, and now we know that this is due to global warming of the atmosphere. Our famous scientist Milutin Milankovic was suggesting precisely that in his works.
EP: What does the HVAC field cover today?
Branislav Todorovic: Today, the HVAC field involves many things and cannot be separated from the civil engineering, architecture, healthy environment in facilities designated for working, producing, living or curing. At the opening of this year’s HVAC Congress, I pointed out that only medicine is probably more comprehensive and responsible to people, their health and sense of comfort than the HVAC sector today.
EP: There is more and more talk about sustainable buildings, settlements, and cities, with zero emissions of carbon dioxide. Will it become a reality in Serbia, or will it only remain a beautiful story?
Branislav Todorovic: We, engineers, are confident that our cognition is continually increasing, and HVAC congresses and other expert gatherings are an opportunity for direct exchange of knowledge, experience, skills, and preparedness. But that is not enough. It is necessary to adapt not only the school and university programs but also provide opportunities for the realization of knowledge in practice. It once existed in our country, but today it has almost disappeared. HVAC congresses have always been of particular importance because they have been enabling precisely that. Progress is also possible in our country, but it will be significantly behind. There is a lack of domestic factories, laboratories, and practices.
Prepered by: Milisav Pajević
Read the whole interview in the new issue of the Energy portal Magazine on CLEAN ENERGY, December 2018. – February 2019.
