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Category: News
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World waits on airborne COVID-19 research
A team of scientists in the UK are using a new method to determine how long Sars-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – can remain viable in the air. The research will help policy-makers better understand the risk of airborne transmission, and inform strategies to prevent the virus from spreading. According to The Guardian, […]
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IIR gives thumbs-up to EU F-gas regulation
The International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) says that the EU’s F-gas Regulation – Europe’s equivalent of Australia’s HFC phase-down – has been a major success, and the next step must be to consider the energy efficiency of buildings and equipment. As part of its consultation process and feedback to the EU, the IIR consulted its […]
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UniSA and Glaciem claim engineering award
The University of South Australia and Glaciem Cooling Technologies have been announced as South Australia’s Engineering Excellence Award winner and the Sir William Hudson Award finalist for their work on The Bend Motorsport Park. The Bend Motorsport Park has now won several awards, including the 2018 AIRAH Award for Excellence in Refrigeration. The Bend was developed and […]
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UK study mulls heat pumps for net-zero buildings
A feasibility study conducted by the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) is re-evaluating building materials and exploring heat pumps as realistic design pathways to meet the UK’s decarbonisation targets. The findings are intended to improve collective understanding of the real-world implications for achieving new net zero buildings. The “Building the case for net zero” report […]
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Microsoft’s underwater data centre resurfaces
In 2018, Microsoft’s Project Natick team stored the first data centre approximately 35m underwater near the Orkney Islands in Scotland. After monitoring the server for two years, the team recently retrieved the data centre. The concept of storing data centres under water was first conceived by Microsoft during ThinkWeek in 2014. According to this article, […]
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Buildings at heart of EU’s ambitious emissions target
In her State of the Union address last week, President of the European Commission Ursual von der Leyen set an ambitious new emissions reduction target of 55 per cent of current emissions by 2030. “Our impact assessment clearly shows that meeting this target would put the EU firmly on track for climate neutrality by 2050 […]
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WELL v2 ‘ready to change the world’
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has formally launched the latest version of the WELL Building Standard – WELL v2. The WELL Building Standard is a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment that impact human health and wellbeing. It is centered on 10 concepts that impact human health and […]
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Short course trainer loses RTO status
Training group Construction Industry Training Australia (CITA) has had its RTO status cancelled for short course advertising and poor recognition of prior learning (RPL) assessments by training industry regulator Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA). The Australian Refrigeration Council (ARC) originally reported CITA to ASQA for advertising unduly brief short courses, and also for concerns regarding […]
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Los Angeles records its hottest ever temperature
Los Angeles County has registered its hottest temperature on record – a scorching 49.4°C according to the US National Weather Service (NWS). The record spike occurred on September 6 in the Woodland Hills area, breaking the previous record of 48.3°C recorded in 2006. Accurate records have been kept by the NWS since 1949. The NWS […]
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AIRAH supports established HVAC&R term definitions
The Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) has formally recognised five key refrigeration term definitions that were established by an international group of experts. AIRAH has joined a list of international partners – including the French Refrigeration Association (AFF), the Institute of Refrigeration (IOR) and the Global Cold Chain Alliance – to officially […]
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Building for a future climate
Global warming is pushing temperatures upwards, but are Australia’s buildings being designed to handle these future conditions? Probably not, according to a report produced by DeltaQ for the COAG Energy Council. The report aims to quantify the impacts of climate change on the built environment, and recommend how building regulations should adapt. “The key thing […]
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Celebrate healing of the ozone layer
World Ozone Day is held on September 16 to commemorate the anniversary as well as achievements of the Montreal Protocol. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was signed on September 16, 1987, to protect the ozone layer by limiting the production and use of ozone-depleting substances. Hailed as the most successful […]
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Workers ‘fly the flag’ to address suicide crisis
Thousands of construction workers across Australia are flying flags on major projects today to highlight the suicide crisis facing the industry, and to promote efforts to save lives by looking out for workmates. According to MATES in Construction, each year 190 Australian construction workers take their lives – six times the number killed by workplace […]
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Could thermal ‘LEGO’ blocks be the future?
The University of Newcastle has patented a new type of stackable thermal storage material, which can be housed in blocks, stored cheaply and safely, and then used to run steam turbines at power stations rather than burning coal. Dubbed Miscibility Gaps Alloy (MGA), the blocks are capable of receiving energy generated by renewables. A team […]
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Bangladesh blueprint for COVID-19 vaccine delivery
An international team of researchers will assess Bangladesh’s cold-chain framework and create a blueprint for delivering mass vaccination for COVID-19 across the Global South. With a vaccination framework supported by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the World Health Organisation (WHO), Bangladesh has one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical and vaccine industries. However, like many countries, […]
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Carel releases white paper on humidification in healthcare facilities
Carel, a manufacturer of HVAC-related control and humidification solutions, has published a white paper on the importance of air humidification inside healthcare facilities. As epidemiologists ruminate on whether to classify COVID-19 as being “airborne”, the paper discusses a timely subject on the pivotal role of relative humidity (RH) in environmental control for the airborne transmission […]
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Green light for new training package
Changes to Australia’s most widely offered RAC qualification were finally approved by the Australian Industry Skills Committee (AISC) on August 12 as part of Release 2 of the UEE Electrotechnology Training Package. The qualification, UEE32220 Certificate III in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, will supersede the current UEE32211 course. Apart from amendments to meet the 2012 […]
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Construction sector calls for help
The Australian economy was officially declared in recession this week, with the announcement of a record 7 per cent drop in GDP for the June quarter – the largest fall in quarterly GDP since records began in 1959. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the plunge in GDP was due to the combined […]
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Funding for gas industry could harm economy
A new report by energy thinktank the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) suggests proposals for providing long-term subsidies to the flailing gas industry could cause significant long-term economic damage to Australia. Led by Western Australian gas industry executive Nev Power, the National COVID-19 Commission (Advisory Board) (NCC) is proposing taxpayer funds steered […]
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Cooling solution doubles as installation art
The Panasonic Corporation, in collaboration with Obuchi Laboratory from Advanced Design Studies at the Department of Architecture, Graduate School of Engineering of the University of Tokyo (T_ADS Obuchi Lab), has conducted a field test to assess the effectiveness of its Green AC Flex innovation both as an outdoor air cooling solution and as installation art. […]