Recognising and celebrating progress and change

The 2026 awards welcomed nominations across five open categories: Excellence in HVAC (Best New Project and Best Retrofit) Award; Excellence in Refrigeration Award; Industry Advancement & Inclusion Awards; Future Leader Award; and Student of the Year (VET).

In addition, the WR Aherne Award, judged by senior AIRAH technical experts, recognises the best Forum Technical Paper published in AIRAH’s official journal, Ecolibrium, during 2025.

The awards committee included Professor Hui Tong Chua, Head of Department of Chemical Engineering at University of Western Australia; Jason Duncan, Marketing Manager for Reliable Controls; Bruce Precious, Principal of Six Capitals Consulting; Dr Simon Bradwell, Managing Director of ebm-papst A&NZ; and AIRAH representatives Marie Karekla and Julia Bassal.

New projects, and new approaches

The Excellence in HVAC category saw entries from across building types, with five finalists selected and retrofits dominating the field.

The finalists are:

• ENVAR Engineers & Contractors: EQ6 – 9 The Esplanade: Design & Construct-prefabrication-led HVAC delivery, Elizabeth Quay, Perth, Western Australia.
• Plasma Shield Ltd, Echuca Regional Health and Adelaide University: retrofit project at Echuca Hospital – Sustainable Solutions for Pandemic and Bushfire Resilience.
• AE Smith: ICC Sydney Collaborative Building Optimisation Program at Darling Harbour, Sydney with the Darling Harbour Live partnership.
• Engineered Solutions:Powering Education Through Electrification at the Canberra Institute of Technology.
• Carrier Automated Logic Australia:Data-Driven HVAC Optimisation at a regional shopping centre in Brisbane.

“This year’s excellent submissions show the breadth of improvements HVAC retrofits can deliver,” said Precious.

Project achievements included safer, more efficient construction through modular, off-site methods; lower greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency; improved grid responsiveness; and electrification of existing fossil fuel systems.

“They also demonstrate greater resilience to extreme heat and bushfires. Good engineering solves for all these challenges,” he noted.

Refrigeration stars

Three finalists have been selected for the Excellence in Refrigeration Award

• AJ Baker & Sons: Combined CO₂ Refrigeration & HVAC Efficiencies, an innovative project to consolidate refrigeration systems and HVAC at a major regional supermarket.
• Seeley International: Climate Wizard Hybrid – CW-Hybrid DX & IEC, an ACT school installation, and part of a Sustainable Buildings Research Centre living laboratory.
• Scantec Refrigeration Technologies: Conversion of liquid overfeed ammonia refrigerating plant to dry expansion feed, believed to be the first project of its kind in the world.

Industry Advancement and Inclusion Award

Precious said that all the nominees for the Industry Advancement and Inclusion award demonstrate “generosity and strong personal drive to support others through mentoring and collaboration.”

“Each contributes directly to our industry while extending that impact through their networks,” he said.

The four finalists are:

• Dr Vahid Vakiloroaya, M.AIRAH, Construction Manager and Principal Engineer, Pacman Air Pty Ltd.
• Steven Lam, Mechanical Engineer, Mott MacDonald
• Nyasha Chiagra, Affil.AIRAH, National Specification and Training Manager at Fantech.         
• Martin O’Donovan, Senior Project Manager, ENVAR Engineers & Contractors

Future Leader Award

“Our future leader nominees are notable for enthusiastically solving problems and sharing knowledge,” Precious said.

He said the finalists each demonstrated a significant contribution to broadening and deepening industry understanding of HVAC applications.

The finalists are:

• Jeffrey D. Van Zetten, Chief of Engineering Design, NEXTDC.
• Michael Kelly, Affil.AIRAH, Senior Consultant, DeltaQ.
• Luke Evans, Senior Mechanical Designer and BIM Manager, HK Solutions.

Student of the Year Award

Encouraging and recognising the emerging talent in the industry is also a key element of the awards. The Student of the Year category recognises early career HVAC&R professionals who are undertaking VET or university studies alongside an apprenticeship or traineeship.

The finalists are:

• Saxon Howard, Tri Tech Refrigeration Victoria
• Hudson Mathiesen, Specialized Refrigeration Services
• Peyton Mollenbeck, ARA Mechanical
• Jye Buck, Airmaster Corporation

WR Ahern Award

AIRAH’s official journal, Ecolibrium publishes peer-reviewed technical papers that must meet robust academic research, writing and intellectual value criteria. The WR Ahern recognises the paper published in the preceding year which is considered the most outstanding. It is judged separately by a panel led by Clive Broadbent, L.AIRAH, AM.

The three finalists are:

• Augmented heat recovery for transcritical CO2 refrigeration systems by Samantha Bothma, M.AIRAH.
• Innovative space cooling and heating using an R744 heat pump: a comparative study by Alemu Tiruneh Alemu, M.AIRAH and Julian Hudson, M.AIRAH.
• The importance of external CFD for data centres by Priyatharsan Sachchithantham, M.AIRAH.

“Each year, the AIRAH National Awards provide an opportunity to recognise the outstanding work happening across our industry,” said Marie Karekla, AIRAH Head of Conferences and Events.

“This year’s finalists reflect the technical expertise, forward thinking and dedication that continue to move the HVAC&R sector forward. We congratulate everyone recognised and look forward to celebrating their achievements with the industry.”

Find more information about the finalists, past winners and details for the 2026 Awards Ceremony on November 26 in Melbourne at the AIRAH National Awards website

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