Page 19
Category: News
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Electricity critical for driving decarbonisation
Electricity generated by solar and wind technology is poised to become Australia’s most dominant source of energy, according to a new report. Released by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), Powering the Net Zero Transition: Electricity Security Explained responds to electricity as a critical component for driving decarbonisation across a wide range […]
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Roadmap to a circular economy
Monash University’s BehaviourWorks Australia has developed a roadmap for circular consumption, to assist industry bodies and policy-makers in addressing the ongoing waste crisis. The Behavioural Roadmap to Circular Consumption identifies areas in the production-consumption cycle where changes can be made, opportunities to reduce Australia’s material footprint, and ways to encourage the efficient use of limited resources. […]
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Pilot program for women in construction
The Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC), with assistance from the NSW government’s Women in Construction Industry Innovation Program (IIP) grant, has launched the ASBEC Women in Construction Future Leaders Pilot. The pilot seeks to promote gender diversity within the construction sector to create lasting transformative change. “Increasing leadership and participation of women in Australia’s […]
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Norway moving towards natural refrigerants
One of Norway’s largest property administrators, Oslobygg, has mandated the use of natural refrigerants in all comfort cooling systems and heat pumps installed in Oslo’s municipal buildings. The company’s previous requirement was that a refrigerant’s global warming potential (GWP) value should be below 10, which often led to the use of synthetic refrigerants. Technical project advisor […]
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Buildings journal invites IAQ articles
Buildings, an international, scientific, peer-reviewed, open-access journal on building science, building engineering and architecture published monthly online by MDPI, is seeking submissions for a special issue dedicated to indoor air quality. Guest editors Dr Shamila Haddad and Dr Arianna Brambilla from the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney, and Professor Dr Baojie He […]
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Time to close the natural ventilation loophole
How to improve indoor air quality in Australia’s public spaces? Experts from diverse disciplines have put forward various answers to this question. One solution, flagged by mechanical engineers long before the pandemic, remains frustratingly obvious for those in the HVAC&R industry: revisiting the provisions for natural ventilation in the National Construction Code (NCC). According to […]
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Pathway for procurement in green construction
The Australian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC) has published a best practice guide for procurement to support more sustainable construction. The Pathway to Green Construction Procurement sets out the documentation and decision-making processes required by government officials to realise green construction of government infrastructure assets. It includes the full range of environmental sustainability impact factors […]
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Daikin opens high-tech centre in Adelaide
Daikin Australia has officially opened a new state-of-the-art facility in Adelaide, South Australia. The opening ceremony was attended by Daikin dealers and key business partners involved in the development of the site. Daikin’s South Australia State Manager Matthew Tonkin; Daikin Australia Director – HR, Corporate Affairs and Service, Ian Hurley, Affil.AIRAH; and General Manager – […]
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Master Plumbers condemns gas bans
The Master Plumbers Association (MPA) of New South Wales has criticised the City of Sydney, the City of Parramatta and other local government areas (LGAs) proposing a ban on implementing gas in new builds in the state. “This move demonstrates a clear lack of consideration for its impact on essential services, such as heating, hot […]
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Infrastructure and the path to net zero
Ten industry bodies have joined forced to co-ordinate, collaborate and report on Australian infrastructure’s pathway to net zero. The Infrastructure Net Zero collaboration will share the responsibility of decarbonisation, and look at methods to combine the time, effort and expertise to develop initiatives to drive change. It will be led by a steering committee with […]
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Shipping container opens doors for cooling
Researchers from Washington State University (WSU) have created a test chamber within a shipping container to trial passive cooling systems. The project aims to help researchers and builders test carbon-free systems in a controlled environment, such as using wind towers or water evaporation instead of electricity to cool spaces. Lead author of the study and […]
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On butterfly wings: new nanofilms reflect light
Researchers from Shenzhen University in China have created a new nanofilm inspired by the structures in butterfly wings that could significantly reduce the energy needed for cooling buildings or vehicles. In a recent paper published in Science Daily, researchers explained how the new films avoid the heating effect usually experienced by coloured objects absorbing light on […]
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Winners are grinners at WorldSkills Nationals
The WorldSkills Australia National Championships were held in Melbourne over the weekend, with 470 competitors from around Australia vying for medals in different areas of vocational education and training (VET). The aim of the event is to get young Australians excited about skills and trades and growing Australia’s skills culture. It’s also about building the […]
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CO2 scholarship program open for applications
The Kirby Apprentice Fund has opened applications for the CO2 Training Scholarship program to fourth-year HVAC&R industry apprentices. The scholarship includes a two-day CO2 systems training experience, including: CO2 safety and CO2 repair and service systems training (held at the Sydney-based Beijer Ref Training Academy) Australian Refrigeration Council Green Scheme Accreditation, upon successful completion of […]
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Engineers Australia embarks on European tour
Engineers Australia’s CEO Romilly Madew and Board Chair Nick Fleming are travelling to Europe in August and September with the goal of strengthening international relations. The pair will begin the tour in Denmark, then travel on to London and Dublin. The purpose of the trip is to strengthen their post-COVID relationships and connect with overseas […]
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Students design a sustainable future
ASHRAE has announced the winners of the 2023 Student Design Competition and the Setty Family Foundation Applied Engineering Challenge. Students were challenged to design the HVAC system for a laboratory facility located in Cairo, Egypt, for the 2023 Student Design Competition. This consisted of a large single-story building with a rooftop penthouse equalling about 2,515m2. The teams were […]
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High hopes for freeze ray technology
An unusual discovery by a University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science professor is being developed as an on-demand cooling solution for high-flying military electronics. Mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Patrick Hopkins wants to create on-demand surface cooling for electronics inside spacecraft and high-altitude jets because “a lot of electronics on board heat […]
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States move ahead on road to registration
It may have taken some time since the recommendations originally appeared at the top of the priority list in the 2018 Building Confidence report, but professional registration schemes are now spreading quickly across the country, and establishing new rules to lift standards in Australia’s building and construction industry. Practice Standard in New South Wales This […]
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Highlighting the ‘health’ in OH&S
Although the concept of occupational health and safety (OH&S) is enshrined in our laws and even our culture, how much of the focus is on immediate safety issues, rather than health and wellbeing? This question is at the heart of a new book by Helen Lingard and Michelle Turner, both professors at The Centre for […]
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Supermarkets hold the key to a cool future
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is working with Enel X to launch “Unlocking Flexible Demand in the Commercial Refrigeration Sector”, a program that will assist with integrating renewable energy sources into electricity networks. ARENA has granted Enel X $3.7 million in funding to demonstrate how the flexible demand systems can work in the commercial […]