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Category: News
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Global refrigerant licence scheme launched
After a decade of work from organisations around the globe and a series of pilot projects, the United Nations Refrigerant Driving Licence (RDL) scheme was launched at the 45th meeting of the Open-ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, held in Bangkok. The RDL is a comprehensive refrigerant management qualification program that […]
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Novel CO2 supermarket cooling installed in Adelaide
A novel dew-point CO2 refrigeration system has been deployed at a Coles supermarket in Norwood, South Australia. The project is the culmination of seven years of research activities, trials and product development, including partnerships between the University of South Australia, the RACE for 2030 Cooperative Research Centre, Coles, and Adelaide-based Glaciem Cooling Technologies. According to […]
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The urgent need for thermal efficiency
Improving the thermal performance in Australian homes is an urgent priority to ease cost of living pressures, improve occupant wellbeing, and reduce energy consumption and emissions. So says H2: Opportunity Assessment Enhancing home thermal efficiency, a new RMIT University-led report, commissioned by RACE for 2030. The report assesses current challenges related to home thermal efficiency […]
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Blockchain refrigerant tracking tool in line for award
New Zealand HVAC&R professional body CCCANZ has earned a nomination in the prestigious RAC Cooling Industry Awards for its HVAC&R F-Gas Collaboration Project, which uses blockchain methodology. The group has been shortlisted in the “Environmental Collaboration of the Year” category, which recognises the importance of partnerships and collaborations in the refrigeration and air conditioning sector […]
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Equal Pay Day to be marked on August 25
Equal Pay Day, a day that calls attention to the the gender pay gap between men and women in Australia, will be held on August 25 in 2023. The particular date is chosen because it marks the 56 additional days from the end of the financial year that women must work to earn the same […]
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NSW offers preview of incoming fire safety schedule
The NSW government has shared an advance copy of the fire safety schedule template, due to start on August 1, 2023. The new schedule is one of a raft of reforms that respond to recommendations in the report on improving fire safety in new and existing buildings, developed by the Office of the Building Commissioner. […]
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ATO advises employers to check super obligations
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is encouraging employers in the construction industry to check they are up to date with their super obligations by the next quarterly due date to avoid additional costs and penalties. When employers don’t meet their super guarantee obligations, by paying late, not paying in full or paying to the wrong […]
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Danfoss opens ‘future supermarket’ in Denmark
Danfoss has announced the opening of a new flagship supermarket that it expects to be about 50 per cent more energy efficient compared to a typical supermarket, with a first-generation CO2 refrigeration system. The new “Smart Store” in Nordborg, Denmark, will work as a functioning supermarket and a development test centre for energy efficiency technology. […]
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Inaugural Women in Cooling competition winner named
Léana Khaled Payan, a refrigeration engineer with Axima Refrigeration in France, has been named as the winner of the first European Women in Cooling Video Competition. The competition, organised by European contractors group AREA and World Refrigeration Day, was designed to highlight women exhibiting best practice and innovative thinking in their work. The organisers asked that entrants […]
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ASHRAE approves infectious aerosol control standard
ASHRAE has announced the approval for publication of its airborne infection risk mitigation standard for buildings. ASHRAE Standard 241 Control of Infectious Aerosols establishes minimum requirements to reduce the risk of disease transmission by exposure to infectious aerosols in new buildings, existing buildings, and major renovations. The standard has been developed to reduce exposure to […]
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New nationally recognised training on fire safety
Superior Training Centre (STC) and AIRAH have launched a new nationally recognised training program on fire safety. Inspect, Test, and Repair Fire and Smoke Control Features of Mechanical Services Systems (UEERA0098) is aimed at fire safety professionals working in the HVAC&R industry. “Fire and smoke control features are critical components of building safety,” says AIRAH […]
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Southern hemisphere clocks warmest month on record
April 2023 was the southern hemisphere’s hottest month on record, beating the previous record set in March 2016 by 0.06°C. The record passed almost without comment or substantial media coverage, such is the level of desensitisation of a rapidly heating planet. April also happened to be the fourth hottest April globally since modern recordkeeping began […]
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Earthquake raises questions about seismic resilience
The recent earthquake in Melbourne, measuring 3.8 on the Richter scale, did not cause major structural damage. But it did raise questions about whether our building services are equipped to handle such events. A fortunate outcome According to Victoria’s SES State Commander David Baker, his crew received only three calls for help following the quake. […]
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Elastocaloric cooling a system for the future
University of Maryland researchers in the US have developed a high-performance elastocaloric cooling system they say could herald the next generation of cooling devices. Eight years in the making, the prototype system relies on pushing and pulling pieces of metal to create cooling, rather than using a refrigerant circuit containing a working fluid. Caloric materials […]
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Victoria delays energy efficiency provisions
The Victorian government has confirmed that it will delay the adoption of key provisions in the National Construction Code until May 2024. Victoria has extended the transitional arrangements for updated energy efficiency, condensation mitigation requirements, and liveable housing requirements. This includes the lifting of minimum energy efficiency requirements for new homes from 6 to 7 […]
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Federal funding for community energy upgrades
The federal government has announced $100 million in funding to deliver energy upgrades for community facilities such as local pools, sporting clubs and community centres. The assistance is aimed at helping councils cut their emissions and reduce their energy bills. “The new $100 million Community Energy Upgrades Fund will co-fund upgrades with councils and has […]
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Governments eye crucial decade for energy efficiency
Australia is among 45 countries to have endorsed the goal of doubling the average global rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030. In a ministerial statement released after the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) 8th Global Conference on Energy Efficiency in Versailles, France, governments from across Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe highlighted the critical role […]
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Australia to ban high-GWP refrigerants in small AC
The Australian federal government intends to implement restrictions on small air conditioning equipment with high global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant. From July 1, 2024, Australia will ban the import and manufacture of small air conditioning equipment using refrigerant with a GWP over 750. This ban will apply to equipment with up to 2.6kg refrigerant charge […]
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Free vehicle registration for Victorian apprentices
The Victorian government has announced it will make vehicle registration free for eligible apprentices from July 2023. The $10 million initiative, included in the Victorian Budget 2023/24, will provide free registration to apprentices if their employer can verify that their vehicle is an essential part of their work. Apprentices who need their car for work […]
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Professor Morawska wins Women in Science award
The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has announced that world-leading air quality expert and Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska has received the prestigious 2023 L’Oréal–UNESCO for Women in Science Award for Asia and the Pacific. An Australian Laureate Fellow, Australian Academy of Science Fellow, and Director of the International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Prof. Morawska is one […]