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Author: Mark Vender
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Could AC units be our oil wells of the future?
Air conditioning units could help mitigate climate change by capturing CO2 and converting it into renewable hydrocarbon fuels. That’s the premise of a new article titled “Crowd oil not crude oil” published by a team of researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. “Imagine the renewable-electricity-powered air conditioning system in your house, apartment or office […]
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KSB announces pump management seminar
Pump specialist KSB Australia is hosting a seminar in Adelaide to highlight a new range of monitoring and automation products. “Be among the first to learn about innovative new ways to manage your pump assets,” says the company. “Gone are the days of reactive maintenance. Partnering with KSB Australia and our new technologies means you’ll spend less time trouble-shooting and […]
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NABERS sets ambitious new targets
The National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) has published a new five-year plan for 2019–2023. It contains some ambitious goals. NABERS is a national government initiative to measure and compare the environmental performance of Australian buildings and tenancies. Since its inception, the program and its well-known star system has clocked up some impressive numbers. […]
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Shooting for input on Green Star for New Buildings
The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has put out a call to industry for feedback on newly proposed changes to its Green Star program – beginning with Green Star for New Buildings. Over 2,250 projects across Australia have now been certified under Green Star, a program established with the goal of making the built […]
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Victoria pledges $2 million to refrigeration training
The Victorian Department of Industry and Training has granted nearly $2,000,000 toward improving skills and education opportunities in the refrigeration industry. GOTAFE, Bendigo Kangan Institute and industry representatives CA Group Services applied for funding to complete a number of projects. And on March 15, the Hon. Gayle Tierney, Minister for Training and Skills, and Higher […]
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Heatcraft rebrands as Kirby
As part of an Australia-wide rebrand, Heatcraft has announced a new trading name and logo. The Heatcraft business will now be known as Kirby. The rebrand is an evolution of the acquisition of Heatcraft Australia by Beijer Ref in April 2018. “The new logo, Kirby – A Beijer Ref Company, unifies the business with the […]
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Brennan scores top honours at Global Skills Challenge
Queensland refrigeration apprentice Patrick Brennan has taken the gold medal at the WorldSkills Global Skills Challenge held in Melbourne last weekend. The competition covered not just refrigeration, but more than 20 other skill categories, from bricklaying to baking. It brought together 500 competitors and officials from 15 different countries and was hosted in several Victorian […]
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IEC rejects rise in flammable charge limit
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) committee responsible for IEC Standard 60335-2-89 has narrowly voted down a draft international standard that would have raised the allowable charge of flammable refrigerants in certain appliances. The vote comes after a five-year effort to raise the charge limit of flammable refrigerants such as propane and isobutane in some commercial […]
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Daikin releases Madoka controller
Daikin has released its latest wired remote controller, Madoka. “Designed with a focus on enhancing the user experience, the Madoka controller can be installed in any modern interior space including offices, hotel rooms, retail stores, healthcare environments and residential homes,” says Daikin. “In residential applications, it makes scheduling simple and enables homeowners to activate extra […]
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Getting natural with Michael Kauffeld
In a recent trip to Australia for AIRAH’s Refrigeration 2019 conference, Prof. Dr. Michael Kauffeld of Germany’s Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences shared his expertise on natural refrigerants. In his keynote presentation, Kauffeld detailed the HFC phase-down and what’s coming next for refrigeration, particularly with regards to natural refrigerants such as CO2, ammonia and hydrocarbons. Following his […]
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Industry responds to 2019–20 Budget
Although the 2019–20 Federal Budget has made no direct mention of HVAC&R, the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) has called out some positives in the government’s recent announcement. This includes the focus on infrastructure; encouragement of women in engineering; funding to modernise the vocational education and training (VET) sector; and expansion of […]
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Illegal HFC trade ‘flourishing’ in Europe
A new report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has revealed the startling extent of Europe’s illegal HFC activity. The report, Doors Wide Open, is the result of surveys conducted in late 2018 with EU member states and key industry stakeholders. “Reports from industry indicate that large-scale illegal HFC trade and use is occurring in […]
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Energy consumption and emissions hit record levels
Global energy consumption and CO2 emissions rose to record levels in 2018, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). And one of the major contributors to the increase was HVAC&R. According to the IEA, energy consumption worldwide grew by 2.3 per cent in 2018, nearly twice the average rate of growth […]
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Eurothermal announces new chiller series
Eurothermal has announced the Blue Box Omicron range, a new high-efficiency four-pipe modular multi-functional chiller. With a cooling and heating capacity from 100 to 900kW, the Omicron range has been designed to provide cooling and heating simultaneously, with claimed efficiency at full-load COP greater than 3.1, and a combined cool and hot total efficiency ratio […]
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Schneider Electric’s new data centre solution
Schneider Electric has announced a new generation of shoebox-sized variable speed drives (VSDs) and computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units that offer energy savings for collocation data centres – also known as “colos”. According to the company, the VSDs can deliver energy savings of up to 30 per cent by managing the operating speed of […]
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Heatcraft launches Gas2Go cylinder management app
Heatcraft has released a new app to help customers better manage their cylinder fleets. Gas2Go lets business owners and contractors assign and transfer cylinder holders, scan bar codes and geolocate cylinders. They can also assign locations and add activity notes against each cylinder. And fill weights can be adjusted to accurately measure refrigerant across the […]
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HVAC contractors needed for $500m schools initiative
The NSW government has advertised an Expression of Interest (EOI) to establish panels of HVAC contractors to undertake works at schools across the state. The work is part of the $500 million Cooler Classrooms initiative announced last year. The program will provide air conditioning in permanent learning spaces and libraries at schools that experience a mean […]
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RICS announces Confidence Conference
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is convening a Building Confidence Conference in Sydney on May 2 and is encouraging professionals in property – working across investment, lending, valuation, cost reporting, construction risk, certification and development – to attend. The aim of the conference is to facilitate industry-led discussion around the challenges to winning […]
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Exploding the 22°C comfort myth
A new Australian study is taking on the long-held debate: is your office’s 22°C thermostat really set at the correct temperature? Around the world, 22°C has become standard practice. For workers, it’s believed to be the optimal temperature for productivity – a claim backed by ASHRAE and REHVA. Not so, says a team from South […]
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EcoDuct wins best practice status
In response to growth in the use of low-profile PVC ductwork, the Vinyl Council of Australia has added the product as a new category to its Best Environmental Practice (BEP) PVC Product Register. And the first product to score the BEP trade mark is the EcoDuct 300 Series. The mark is awarded to independently assessed, […]