AIRAH Awards finalists announced

The Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) has announced the finalists for its annual awards. Over the past 15 years the AIRAH Awards have established themselves as the leading event for recognising excellence and achievement in Australia’s HVAC&R industry.

Prizes will be awarded in 10 different categories this year, including Future Leader, Student of the Year, Product of the Year, Excellence in Refrigeration, Excellence in Sustainability, Excellence in Innovation and Best HVAC Retrofit or Upgrade. The winners will be announced at the AIRAH Awards presentation dinner on November 15 in Melbourne.

AIRAH CEO Tony Gleeson, M.AIRAH, says that the individuals, organisations, projects and products in this year’s list of finalists show the industry is responding strongly to the challenges of the day.

“We are living through a time of transformation in the built environment,” says Gleeson. “The urgent need to improve energy efficiency and sustainability, the phasing down of HFCs, and the continued digitisation of our industry have all spurred great change – and great innovation.

“The AIRAH Awards are a chance to celebrate the best of that innovation. Whether or not they go on to win their category, all of the finalists have achieved a standard of excellence that deserves recognition.”

Airmaster has been announced as a multiple finalist, including two outstanding projects in the Excellence in Innovation category. Airmaster NSW state manager Jason Harrison, Affil.AIRAH, has also been named as a finalist for the Future Leader Award.

Airmaster CEO Noel Courtney, M.AIRAH, says: “To be recognised as a multiple finalist is testament to the work of our staff who continually drive and deliver innovation to our customers”.

In the Best Retrofit or Upgrade category, Energy Action was named as a finalist for its work at 221 London Circuit in Canberra.

“Being nominated for this award is a great recognition of the holistic thinking that can benefit retrofit projects,” says senior consultant James Spears, M.AIRAH. “There’s still so much opportunity to improve occupant comfort and energy efficiency in Australia’s older buildings, and it’s not just limited to the plant room. When we question the performance of our building façades we can achieve more than expected.”

Another finalist in the same category is ENGIE Services ANZ for its Build, Own, Operate and Transfer scheme upgrade at the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney.

“Being acknowledged by AIRAH and our peers in the HVAC industry and to be nominated among a range of other strong projects is a real honour for our team,” says ENGIE’s Caroline Bommes. “We are grateful for the trust our clients put in us to deliver solutions that meet their unique needs.”

In the Future Leader category, Chris Stamatis, Affil.AIRAH, from CopperTree Analytics, expressed his satisfaction at being selected.

“We are at the forefront of driving change in the industry. Being a finalist for this award is confirmation that the late nights and hard work weren’t for nothing.”

The full list of finalists is shown below. Detailed information on the nominees can be found in this month’s issue of Ecolibrium.

Future Leader Award

Massimo Fiorentini, Affil.AIRAH, SBRC, University of Wollongong; Jason Harrison, M.AIRAH, Airmaster; Lina Le, Affil.AIRAH, BUENO; Firas Shawash, Affil.AIRAH, i-Fire Engineers; Chris Stamatis, Affil.AIRAH, CopperTree Analytics; Mark Vigors, M.AIRAH, Ellis Air Conditioning.

Student of the Year – Trade

Matthew Benger, Stud.AIRAH, TAFE SA; Patrick Brennan, Stud.AIRAH, TAFE Queensland SkillsTech; Anthony Consterdine, M.AIRAH, South Metropolitan TAFE, WA; Matthew Farrugia, Stud.AIRAH, TAFE NSW – Nirimba.

Student of the Year – Higher Education or Research

Farnam Fathalian, Stud.AIRAH, South Metropolitan TAFE, WA; Clayton McDowell, Stud.AIRAH, SBRC, University of Wollongong.

Product of the Year

Trafalgar Fire Containment – Firebox; Aeris Environmental – AerisGUARD Corrosion Protection Plus; Hevac Controls – HCP7 carpark CO controller; Seeley International – Braemar Evolution.

Excellence in Refrigeration

Cold Logic – Coopers Brewery; Glaciem Cooling – The Bend Motorsport Park; Heatcraft and Goff’s Refrigeration – Optus Stadium.

Excellence in Sustainability

Refrigeration Innovations – Ritchies IGA Supermarket Beechworth; BUENO and Crown Melbourne – Crown Melbourne – Data utilisation for sustainability; NDY – RN Robertson building at the Australian National University; CIM Enviro – 99 Elizabeth St – Fault detection and diagnostics; A.G. Coombs and AECOM – ICC Sydney Mechanical and HVAC Services; Kingspan Insulation Australia – Kingspan Insulation manufacturing facility.

Excellence in Innovation

A.G. Coombs and AECOM – ICC Sydney Mechanical and HVAC Services; Airmaster – Tuggeranong Office Park – Building services network project; Black Stump Technologies – Solar powered deployable mortuary; Airmaster – John Gorton Building; Kingspan Insulation Australia – Kingspan Insulation manufacturing facility.

Best HVAC Retrofit or Upgrade

NDY – RN Robertson building at the Australian National University; Aurecon – UQ TC Beirne School of Law; Cundall – TAFE NSW Northern Sydney Institute of Asian Cookery; ENGIE Services ANZ – Four Seasons Hotel Sydney energy efficiency upgrade (BOOT scheme); AECOM – RMIT New Academic Street; Energy Action – NABERS upgrade at 221 London Circuit.

The WR Ahern Award goes to the best technical paper published in Ecolibrium written by an AIRAH member. Eight papers are eligible this year.

Also in 2018, AIRAH will be presenting the James Harrison Medal, the Institute’s highest honour, to an individual who has made an outstanding lifetime contribution to the HVAC&R industry.

The 2018 AIRAH Awards sponsors are Daikin (Event sponsor); A.G. Coombs (Future Leader); LG Electronics (Student of the Year – Trade); Standards Australia (Excellence in Innovation); Heatcraft (Excellence in Sustainability); Mitsubishi Electric (Entertainment sponsor).