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Category: News
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Design competition looks at adapting empty buildings
An Australian design competition based around tackling major issues facing the construction sector has issued a new challenge this year: adapt and reconfigure empty buildings. Established in 2020, the Fleetwood Challenge Cup is an inter-university, cross-disciplinary team competition which aim is to uncover the next generation of built environment professionals. The competition is developed by […]
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Young Aussies tackle sustainable living
The Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE), in partnership with Orica, has developed a remote learning module that focuses on sustainable housing. The module was designed for the STELR (Science and Technology Education Leveraging Relevance) education program and teaches secondary school students to design a low-energy home. ATSE Chief Executive, Kylie Walker, says the sustainable housing education kit is […]
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National search for engineering and technology champions
The International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS) has established two annual communications prizes to find compelling technological and engineering innovations. The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) is a founding member of CAETS, and is searching for technological scientists and engineers who are involved in ground-breaking work and are also […]
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Australian researchers develop ‘green’ ammonia
Researchers at the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales have found a way to make ammonia production “green” – using only air, water and renewable electricity. The breakthrough has implications for refrigeration, as well as for fertiliser production and energy storage. For more than 140 years, ammonia has been a popular […]
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Biden signs orders to ratify Kigali – and more
US President Joe Biden has set the wheels in motion for his country to finally ratify the Kigali Amendment for the phasing down of HFCs. It was announced among a raft of measures aimed at addressing climate change. Via an executive order, Biden directed his administration to prepare to send the Kigali Amendment to the […]
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Oventrop launches new brand identity
In response to the dynamic sanitary, heating and air-conditioning market, Oventrop has launched a new brand identity that underlines the company’s market awareness around emerging trends in digitisation and innovation. At the heart of the new brand image is a new German-language position statement – “Wir regeln das. Seit 1851”, which translates as “We take […]
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Aurecon on track for zero emissions
Aurecon is set to achieve its goal of net zero emissions by 2025. The international engineering, design and advisory company has released plans to decarbonise its business and transition its services towards a 100 per cent net zero emissions future. By 2025, Aurecon will implement measures to reduce: Direct emissions from owned or controlled sources […]
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ASHRAE releases core advice on reducing airborne spread
The ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force has released new guidance to address control of airborne infectious aerosol exposure. It has also issued recommendations for communities of faith buildings. During the course of 2020, experts placed increasing emphasis on the role of aerosols in transmitting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Although at first the virus was […]
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Global Cooling Prize reveals field testing results
The Global Cooling Prize team has completed the field test portion of the prize, and has now started lab testing at CEPT University. The Global Cooling Prize is an innovation competition that seeks to incentivise development of a residential cooling solution that will have at least five times less climate impact than standard room air […]
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AIRAH STG seeks data on renewable installations
AIRAH’s Renewable Heating and Cooling Special Technical Group (STG) has launched a survey to collect industry information on renewable installations across Australia. The industry response will help the STG to develop and maintain a database of renewable heating and cooling system installations around the country. This will contribute to the STG’s current efforts to develop […]
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Female fridgies succeeding in TAFE NSW program
Two Indigenous Australian women are filling a growing need for more females in HVAC&R thanks to an industry-sponsored training program at TAFE NSW. The Career Start in Air-conditioning & Refrigeration program allows students to develop their skills and knowledge in the trade by completing an entry-level qualification. Upon successful completion of the program, industry sponsor, […]
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ARC releases free ‘tech packs’ for R32
The Australian Refrigeration Council (ARC) and the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment have created free “tech-packs” on R32 refrigerant for licensed technicians and authorised businesses. The packs contain information on refrigerant characteristics and properties, equipment requirements, safety, relationship to R410A, and more. They also include refrigerant safety stickers to help technicians identify the […]
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Electric truck uses solar energy to cool cargo
Rhyner Logistik is taking advantage of solar technology to power the refrigeration unit of its all-electric truck. Joining the Swiss haulier’s 100-strong delivery fleet, the Renault D Wide Z.E. truck was recently purchased for the purpose of transporting supplies to the Denner supermarkets in Zurich and its suburbs. Denner is Switzerland’s third largest supermarket chain. […]
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Study shows workouts create higher bodily emissions
The University of Colorado Boulder has released a study which shows human bodily emissions can combine with bleach cleaners to produce new airborne chemicals. According to the study, a person who is exercising can emit as many chemicals as five sedentary people. And when this happens in a place such as a gym, the bodily […]
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Driver injured in explosion from AC system
The driver of a mining truck in Queensland has suffered serious burns in an explosion believed to be caused by an air conditioning system incorrectly charged with hydrocarbon refrigerant. According to the Queensland Mines Inspectorate, the explosion occurred in the truck cabin while the vehicle was being driven in an underground mine. It caused serious […]
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US passes HFC phase-down bill
The US government has passed a bill authorising a 15-year phase-down of HFCs in alignment with the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. The American Innovation and Manufacturing Act of 2020 (AIM) requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement a phase-down of the production and consumption of HFCs through an allowance program. The phase-down […]
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Smart cooling for Singapore’s sustainable town
Singapore has set a target of capping its emissions by around 2030 and then halving them by 2050. Part of the Southeast Asian nation’s effort to reach that goal comes in the form of Tengah, Singapore’s first smart and sustainable town. It is the country’s most ambitious project to date in building the city of […]
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Renewed interest in thermoelectric cooling
Researchers writing in Nature Materials have called for increased efforts to find new thermoelectric materials. In 1834, French physicist Jean Peltier discovered that at the junction of two different metals, a heating or cooling effect could be produced through electrical currents. Bismuth tellurium compounds have now been used for thermoelectric cooling for more than 60 […]
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Ireland establishes first direct heating scheme
Tallaght in Dublin is set to become the site of Ireland’s first large-scale district heating scheme. Common in many large European cities, district heating is a system for redistributing waste heat from local industry, power stations or incinerators to meet heating requirements for other premises. In this instance, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has designed a data […]
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Report finds ‘disjointed’ laws on flammable refrigerants
A new report commissioned by Refrigerants Australia has mapped out the laws that govern the use of flammable refrigerants in this country. It also highlights key themes and gaps within the regulatory landscape. The report, written by Bronwyn Weir and Krista Weymouth, reveals a complicated patchwork of regulations. There is no one set of laws […]