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Category: News
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Leveraging infrastructure to lower emissions
The Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA), ClimateWorks Australia and the Australian Sustainable Built Environment Council (ASBEC) have released an issues paper highlighting the foundational role of infrastructure in Australia’s quest for a net zero emissions future. The organisations point out that infrastructure is responsible for up to 70 per cent of Australia’s emissions. And […]
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Construction industry braces for coronavirus impact
Both the Australian Construction Industry Forum (ACIF) and Master Builders Australia have flagged the serious fallout of the coronavirus for Australia’s construction industry. ACIF has urged industry and government collaboration to address the growing disruption to construction projects as a result of the coronavirus. The most pressing issue is the reduced supply of building products […]
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25 King scores WELL Certification
25 King Street Brisbane has been awarded Queensland’s first WELL Core and Shell Certification at the Platinum level. Led by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), WELL is a global rating system for advancing health and wellbeing in buildings. The sustainable structure has also earned 6 star Green Star Design and As Built ratings. Dubbed […]
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ASHRAE addresses coronavirus concerns
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has developed a guide to address concerns about the novel (new) coronavirus (2019-nCoV). HVAC practitioners have been fielding queries from clients since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus a public health emergency. The COVID-19 Preparedness Resources webpage is a reference for building industry […]
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Camfil acquires Airepure
Sweden-based clean air solutions manufacturer Camfil has announced the acquisition of Airepure Australia. “The acquisition will help strengthen Camfil’s position as a global leader in air filtration, offering innovative clean air solutions, which will benefit our customers across the industry in Australia and New Zealand,” says the company. “Airepure’s addition to the Camfil Group will […]
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Females to take the lead
Danfoss is embarking on an ambitious plan to ensure that the number of female leaders increases significantly over the next five years. Women currently account for over a third of all the company’s employees, but only 20 per cent of its leaders are women. The aim is for 25 per cent of its leaders to […]
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‘Cooling gap’ to drive global demand
It is estimated that 4.8 billion new units of cooling equipment will be sold globally between 2019 and 2030. Annual sales are expected to hit 460 million units, up from 336 million unit sales in 2018. The forecasts appear in a report titled The Cooling Imperative, produced by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and sponsored…
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Aussie Centre of Excellence wins international award
The HVAC Centre of Excellence at Holmesglen’s Chadstone campus in Melbourne has won a prestigious CIBSE Building Performance Award in the Learning and Development category. The awards, open to any organisation internationally, recognise the people, products and projects that demonstrate engineering excellence in the built environment. The 2020 awards were presented at a gala dinner […]
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ARC flags ‘sub-standard’ Queensland licence
The Australian Refrigeration Council (ARC) has called out Queensland for putting consumers at risk with a “sub-standard RAC licence”. The licence is part of the new mechanical services regulations that came into effect on January 1 this year. “The major issue is that one of the qualifications required for the Queensland licence does not specify […]
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Free online refrigerant course
Industry groups have joined together to create a free online course called Real Alternatives 4 Life, to provide education on the safe use of alternative refrigerants such as ammonia, hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide. The course has been developed in response to the European F-Gas Regulation, which encourages wider adoption of refrigerants with a lower global […]
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Grant funding for better buildings
Applications are open for round one of the City of Sydney environmental performance grants. Through the grants and sponsorship program, the City aims to enable residents and businesses to improve their environmental performance. The City provides funds to reduce carbon emissions, save water and cut operating costs in buildings. Recipients can commission energy and/or water […]
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Vale David Norman, engineering legend
Norman Disney & Young (NDY) founder David Norman passed away recently, aged 90. “David Norman, founder of Norman Disney & Young, was a pioneer of the engineering consultancy industry in Australia,” says NDY. “With a focus on service and communication, as well as innovative results, his methods proved well ahead of their time, and paved […]
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Coronavirus and HVAC
Since the first case was detected in China in December 2019, the novel (new) coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has spread rapidly. On January 31, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus a public health emergency. Although the vast majority of coronavirus patients have been in China, cases have been confirmed in Australia. Not surprisingly, local […]
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RAC course shut down
Trades College Australia in Punchbowl, Sydney, has lost its RTO status for issues related to the delivery of recognition of prior learning (RPL) for refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) courses. The Australian Refrigeration Council (ARC) worked with the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), the training industry regulator, on the case. ASQA took action against Trades […]
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Beijer Ref acquires ACD Trade
Global refrigeration wholesaler Beijer Ref AB has signed an agreement to acquire all shares in the Australian HVAC company ACD Trade. ACD Trade is a leading HVAC distribution company in Australia with around 60 employees. The company supplies the market with well-known brands and has a wide range of products, which includes both HVAC units […]
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Apple, Amazon, Google team up on smart home standard
Amazon, Apple, Google, and the Zigbee Alliance have joined together to work on Project Connected Home over IP, or CHIP. The new, royalty-free connectivity standard aims to increase compatibility among smart home products, with a focus on security. According to the CHIP website, the goal of the project is to simplify development for manufacturers and […]
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R32 expanding rapidly in EU
The Building Services Research & Information Association (BSRIA) has predicted the R32 market share for split systems in Europe will exceed 80 per cent by 2023. According to its research, R32 accounted for approximately 37 per cent of the market in 2019. R32 has a lower global warming potential (GWP) than other refrigerants (of 675), […]
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Rogue HFC23 emissions on the rise
A new report in Nature Communications has highlighted a large and unexpected increase in emissions of HFC23 – a hydrofluorocarbon with extremely high global warming potential that is mainly produced as an unwanted by-product during the manufacture of R22. R22 is a hydrochorofluorocarbon (HCFC) that destroys the ozone layer, and it is being phased out […]
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24ºC new AC default in India
The Indian government has announced that 24ºC will be the new default temperature for air conditioners (AC). This includes all air conditioners that are labelled under the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)-star program. The default setting is the setting at which a machine comes from the factory. Gadgets Now reports that very few people in India […]
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ASHRAE upgrades its global HQ
ASHRAE (the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) has commenced construction on its new global headquarters renovation project. ASHRAE marked the occasion with a launch event on January 10. The building is a two-story, 66,700 square-foot building in Georgia, USA, and will include features such as: Energy-efficient HVAC and lighting systems Water-efficient plumbing […]