Page 72
Category: News
-
Coalition of the chilling to combat climate change
Launched at the First Global Conference on Synergies between the 2030 Agenda and Paris Agreement recently held in Copenhagen, the Cool Coalition is a global effort led by major government and private organisations to promote clean and efficient cooling methods. Included in the Cool Coalition are the UN Environment initiative, the Climate and Clean Air […]
-
Could AC units be our oil wells of the future?
Air conditioning units could help mitigate climate change by capturing CO2 and converting it into renewable hydrocarbon fuels. That’s the premise of a new article titled “Crowd oil not crude oil” published by a team of researchers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. “Imagine the renewable-electricity-powered air conditioning system in your house, apartment or office […]
-
NABERS sets ambitious new targets
The National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) has published a new five-year plan for 2019–2023. It contains some ambitious goals. NABERS is a national government initiative to measure and compare the environmental performance of Australian buildings and tenancies. Since its inception, the program and its well-known star system has clocked up some impressive numbers. […]
-
Shooting for input on Green Star for New Buildings
The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has put out a call to industry for feedback on newly proposed changes to its Green Star program – beginning with Green Star for New Buildings. Over 2,250 projects across Australia have now been certified under Green Star, a program established with the goal of making the built […]
-
Nominations open for trade scholarships
Nominations have opened for the 2019 Industry Educational Trade Scholarship. Now in its fourth year, the scholarship provides students studying commercial refrigeration and air conditioning through TAFE with the opportunity to train at one of the industry’s premier educational institutions – the Refrigeration and Climate Control Centre of Excellence (RCCC) in Melbourne. The program was […]
-
Training package ready to review
The Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) that has been working on the Electrotechnology Training Package Review project has prepared draft materials and is now looking for industry feedback. As reported previously, the project is an extension of the UEE11 Electrotechnology Training Package Transition Project. The transition and review of the training package is […]
-
Victoria pledges $2 million to refrigeration training
The Victorian Department of Industry and Training has granted nearly $2,000,000 toward improving skills and education opportunities in the refrigeration industry. GOTAFE, Bendigo Kangan Institute and industry representatives CA Group Services applied for funding to complete a number of projects. And on March 15, the Hon. Gayle Tierney, Minister for Training and Skills, and Higher […]
-
Heatcraft rebrands as Kirby
As part of an Australia-wide rebrand, Heatcraft has announced a new trading name and logo. The Heatcraft business will now be known as Kirby. The rebrand is an evolution of the acquisition of Heatcraft Australia by Beijer Ref in April 2018. “The new logo, Kirby – A Beijer Ref Company, unifies the business with the […]
-
Brennan scores top honours at Global Skills Challenge
Queensland refrigeration apprentice Patrick Brennan has taken the gold medal at the WorldSkills Global Skills Challenge held in Melbourne last weekend. The competition covered not just refrigeration, but more than 20 other skill categories, from bricklaying to baking. It brought together 500 competitors and officials from 15 different countries and was hosted in several Victorian […]
-
IEC rejects rise in flammable charge limit
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) committee responsible for IEC Standard 60335-2-89 has narrowly voted down a draft international standard that would have raised the allowable charge of flammable refrigerants in certain appliances. The vote comes after a five-year effort to raise the charge limit of flammable refrigerants such as propane and isobutane in some commercial […]
-
GCP releases detailed technical application information
The Global Cooling Prize (GCP), a worldwide competition to spur the development of radically more energy-efficient cooling technology, has released its Detailed Technical Application. “We’re very excited to announce that we’ve released the Detailed Technical Application,” say staffers from the Global Cooling Prize. “In this stage of the Prize, applicants must submit comprehensive information about […]
-
Industry responds to 2019–20 Budget
Although the 2019–20 Federal Budget has made no direct mention of HVAC&R, the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) has called out some positives in the government’s recent announcement. This includes the focus on infrastructure; encouragement of women in engineering; funding to modernise the vocational education and training (VET) sector; and expansion of […]
-
Authorities find ‘ice’ in imported fridges
Refrigeration made the headlines for unusual reasons recently when more than half a tonne of the drug ice was found in a shipment of imported fridges. Australian Border Force officers at the Sydney Container Examination Facility examined the container shipped from Singapore. It was declared to contain electronic ovens but was found to have 11 […]
-
Illegal HFC trade ‘flourishing’ in Europe
A new report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has revealed the startling extent of Europe’s illegal HFC activity. The report, Doors Wide Open, is the result of surveys conducted in late 2018 with EU member states and key industry stakeholders. “Reports from industry indicate that large-scale illegal HFC trade and use is occurring in […]
-
Energy consumption and emissions hit record levels
Global energy consumption and CO2 emissions rose to record levels in 2018, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). And one of the major contributors to the increase was HVAC&R. According to the IEA, energy consumption worldwide grew by 2.3 per cent in 2018, nearly twice the average rate of growth […]
-
The future of AC and heating?
A research team at Germany’s Saarland University has developed a prototype device that can transfer heat using “muscles” made from nickel-titanium. Nickel-titanium is a shape-memory material that releases heat to its surroundings when it is mechanically loaded in its superelastic state. It absorbs heat from its surroundings when it is unloaded. The team, led by […]
-
K-CEP establishes Million Cool Roofs Challenge
The Kigali Cooling Efficiency program (K-CEP) has announced the Million Cool Roofs Challenge. A US$2 million global competition, the initiative is designed to rapidly scale up the deployment of highly solar-reflective “cool” roofs in developing countries. The Challenge will award US$100,000 grants to up to 10 teams this year to deploy solar reflective coating and/or […]
-
HVAC contractors needed for $500m schools initiative
The NSW government has advertised an Expression of Interest (EOI) to establish panels of HVAC contractors to undertake works at schools across the state. The work is part of the $500 million Cooler Classrooms initiative announced last year. The program will provide air conditioning in permanent learning spaces and libraries at schools that experience a mean […]
-
So how do you define refrigeration?!
A group of experts from the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) have been working together to establish common definitions of five words that characterise the refrigeration sector. After more than a year of discussions, the organisations came to the agreement on the following […]
-
Exploding the 22°C comfort myth
A new Australian study is taking on the long-held debate: is your office’s 22°C thermostat really set at the correct temperature? Around the world, 22°C has become standard practice. For workers, it’s believed to be the optimal temperature for productivity – a claim backed by ASHRAE and REHVA. Not so, says a team from South […]