DWD International Celebrates Anniversary

This spring marks DWD International’s 40th year providing specialized HVAC to oil and gas clients. The energy industry has undergone many changes since 1974, yet DWD International has remained a constant presence throughout this time.

The idea for the company came to co-founder Winston Chin in the early 1970s. At the time, Chin was working for a company that provided residential, commercial and light industrial HVAC. Seeing a demand for large-scale industrial HVAC for offshore drilling rigs and intrigued by the heating, cooling and ventilation challenges involved, Chin founded DWD International together with David Wilhelm and David Cope in April 1974.

The company was truly an international service provider from day one, completing work for platforms in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore as well as the Gulf of Mexico. DWD operates out of a single facility in northwest Houston, and maintains agents worldwide. In 2013, DWD International was named Best Marine HVAC System by the African Product Awards.

While DWD is best known for its offshore HVAC systems, it has also provided heating, ventilation, filtration and pressurization units for many onshore industrial facilities, including electrical buildings, chemical plants and refineries. “As in any market, there have been trends and shifts,” said Winston Amador Chin, son of founder Winston Chin and current executive vice president. “Sometimes there’s more growth onshore, sometimes offshore. At DWD, we can do both.” 

One such shift occurred in the mid-1990s, when deepwater rigs took off. “As rigs moved further offshore, downtime became an increasingly big problem for operators,” said Chin. “In response, we began designing systems with more redundancy and backup measures. We also made the move from painted cabinetry to stainless steel, which holds up better in extreme offshore climates.”

What started forty years ago as three partners working out of a townhome is now a thriving business with a 60,000-square-foot facility. DWD International has completed systems for many of the major oil and gas companies, including Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell and Valero.

“We’re extremely proud of where we stand at this important milestone,” said president Gerry Scott. “Our sustained level of service is a testament to the high quality of work produced by our employees every day. As the requirements for the equipment we provide become more demanding, we continue to build our organization and capabilities to service our clients’ needs. We look forward to providing reliable HVAC to our customers for many more years to come.”