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The ARBS Education and Research Foundation has released the results of a comparative study conducted on HVAC systems in commercial buildings. The research and the resulting report – touted as a world first on air distribution systems – was conducted in Sydney by Team Catalyst. “There are few surprises for experienced HVAC engineers who understand […]
HyChill has issued a statement about the fire that broke out at its Melbourne factory last week. The Country Fire Authority (CFA) and Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) were called to the scene on Canterbury Road in Kilsyth at around 2pm on Friday afternoon. They transported one man to The Alfred hospital and closed the road […]
That was the message from Mike Dodd, senior policy officer at the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB), at the recent Future of HVAC Conference. He presented an update on the changes to Section J of Volume 1 of the National Construction Code (NCC), which will be published in February 2019 and come into effect in […]
After a preview at ARBS earlier this year, Actrol has announced the arrival of its DC-3 Smart Refrigeration system. Australia’s first “plug and play” system for walk-in/reach-in coolrooms, it promises a step change for an industry which, until now, has had to rely on bespoke solutions. The launch is scheduled for November 1. To create […]
The Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) has announced the finalists for its annual awards. Over the past 15 years the AIRAH Awards have established themselves as the leading event for recognising excellence and achievement in Australia’s HVAC&R industry. Prizes will be awarded in 10 different categories this year, including Future Leader, […]
Monash University and ClimateWorks Australia have won the Momentum for Change Award presented by the United Nations at the Climate Week conference in New York for the Net Zero Initiative. The initiative aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions from Monash’s built environment by 2030. This requires extensive work on the HVAC system, which accounts […]
For the eighth consecutive year, Australia and New Zealand’s real estate market has been ranked the world’s number one for sustainability in the internationally recognised 2018 GRESB real estate results. GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) is a global benchmark for environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of real assets, defining and measuring standards for […]
Australia’s leaders may have pronounced last rites over the National Energy Guarantee and downgraded the Paris Agreement from a firm commitment to a vague aspiration. But Australia could still make real strides in sustainability if the country’s major property owners have anything to do with it. A veritable sustainability stampede is now taking place, with […]
Australian air conditioning manufacturer ActronAir has officially opened its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Marsden Park in Sydney’s outer north-west. Located about 50km from Sydney’s CBD, the new facility accommodates 18,000m2 of factory floor space, 3,300m2 of office space and 2,300m2 of testing laboratories. The roof features 400kW of solar panels. The factory was officially opened […]
Capital Square Tower 1 in Perth has attained a 6 star “As Built” rating from the Green Building Council Australia (GBCA). The 6 star “As Built” certification was certified in the first round of application. When AAIG Nomines PTY LTD (as Trustee of AAIG Trust) purchased the old Emu Brewery site, they had ambitious goals of creating a […]
Bitzer has released a new app for air conditioning and refrigeration professionals called Bitzer Spot. By scanning the QR code on a product, users can verify its authenticity. “With this app, Bitzer offers its customers effective protection from system failures and high costs,” says the company. “Scanning the code notifies the user that the article […]
The Coroner has completed its official investigation into the deaths of Barry Purtell and David Lobb. The two men, aged 34 and 52 respectively, died after gases from a refrigeration compressor ignited in the cellar of the Hotel Rochester, Bendigo in June 2014. Purtell and Lobb, neither of whom were qualified refrigeration mechanics, were helping […]
An initiative to apply the Project Drawdown approach to the HVAC&R industry has been highlighted on the Climactic podcast. Project Drawdown is a worldwide project that lays out a plan to reverse global warming. It has drawn on more than 65 researchers and scientists from 22 countries to identify, research, and model the 100 most […]
The Global Cooling Prize is a global competition designed to spur development of a radically more energy efficient cooling technology. The competition was developed by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), a Colorado-based sustainability research and consulting organisation with a special focus on profitable innovations for energy and resource efficiency. It aims to combat the critical […]
Clariden Global will be hosting an international summit on modular construction and prefabrication in Sydney and Melbourne in February/March next year. The summit will cover topics such as on international best practices in modular construction and prefabrication, building fire protection measures, latest innovations in design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA), customer lifecycle management (CLM), kitchen […]
According to Alexia Lidas, Managing Director of DesignIntelligence and the Design Futures Council (DFC), the Fourth Industrial Revolution has arrived and is set to transform our industry in ways never seen before. Lidas says that, just as in other parts of the economy, the built environment will attract Uber-like innovators to exploit gaps in the […]
Australia’s HVAC&R sector has the expertise and the desire to exploit solar technology – now all it needs is support. That was the message from AIRAH’s Solar Cooling and Heating Forum, held in Brisbane in August. More than 60 professionals attended the event, representing industry, government and academia. It was a fitting mix of attendees, given […]
On August 20, air conditioning contractor Sol Fagan tragically fell from a vent at James Cook University (JCU) in Cairns. Fagan, 40, died as a result of the fall. A spokesperson from JCU offered the following statement: “We can confirm that Mr Sol Fagan passed away while working at James Cook University’s Cairns Campus. “The […]
Strata corporations and building owners in NSW must act immediately to avoid fines and even imprisonment as a result of a new ban on combustible cladding with a core of more than 30 per cent polyethylene. The ban came into place on August 15. The ban will affect any form of the combustible building material […]
If everything goes to plan, the Green Spine, a $2 billion twin-tower mixed-use skyscraper proposed for Melbourne’s Southbank, won’t just be Australia’s tallest structure. It will also be the world’s biggest building built to Passive House standards. The dual-tower design was the winning entry in an international competition held by developer Beulah International, which purchased the […]