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Passive House hits prime time
As Australians struggle through another sweltering summer, more families are trying to lower their power bills through better energy efficiency in their homes. A recent report on ABC’s 7.30 delved into exactly how much Australians could be saving if they had Passive House homes. Passive House (also known as Passivhaus) is a low-energy and high-comfort […]
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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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Moving beyond sustainability
The Sustainable Building Innovation Laboratory (SBiLab) at RMIT University is holding an event called “Architecture of Goodness: Moving Beyond Sustainability” in Melbourne on Wednesday, February 5. The event will feature: Shirish Beri | Shirish Beri and AssociatesBeri is the founder of Shirish Beri and Associates in Kolhapur, India. Beri’s works reflect his values and concerns […]
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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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New podcast on building physics
A new episode of the AIRAH on Air podcast features highlights and experts’ insights from the 2019 Building Physics Forum. The event, held in Melbourne from October 23–24 last year, featured 35 presenters discussing topics such as air movement, thermal performance, passive house, control of moisture, sensible and latent energy, acoustic performance, light, solar control, […]
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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 […]
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The ultimate beer for fridgies?
San Diego-based craft brewery Ballast Point is taking sustainability to heady new heights, by using condensate from air conditioning systems to make beer. Ballast Point has teamed up with San Diego International Airport to use waste water for the new SAN Test Pilot beer. The airport has been collecting the condensate dripping from the AC […]
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NCC workshops coming soon
In March and April, the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) will be presenting seminars on the National Construction Code (NCC) in capital cities around the country. The 2020 NCC seminars will focus on answering common technical enquiries concerning the application of the NCC Volumes One and Two, and information relating to the changes contained in […]
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Videos on new energy labels
Last year the government ran information training sessions on the new energy labels that will soon start appearing on air conditioners. It has now placed a suite of information related to the content of the information sessions on the Energy Rating website. This includes a series of videos based on the information sessions. The videos […]
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Chemours suspends supply of R404A and R507A
Chemours has suspended the supply of refrigerants with a high global warming potential (GWP) in the European Union, including R404A (GWP 3,922) and R507A (GWP 3,985). The move supports the European Union F-Gas Regulation to lower-GWP alternatives and prepare for the next quota phase-down in 2021. On January 1, 2020, a prohibition came into effect in […]
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The top dog in trade
Forty-year-old Queensland apprentice Troy Connors has been awarded the Refrigeration and Air conditioning Apprentice of the Year award, at the second annual TAFE Queensland – SkillsTech Apprentice Awards evening. Connors says he was honoured to be recognised and wasn’t expecting to win. “To be awarded Apprentice of the Year feels pretty surreal,” he says. “It was very […]
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Advice for workers in smoky conditions
As a result of the bushfires burning throughout Australia, smoke has been affecting large parts of the country, including capital cities. On Monday in the Melbourne CBD, the air quality index (AQI) peaked at 213, considered “very unhealthy”. The suburb of Box Hill experienced an AQI of 372, considered “hazardous”. According to the Environment Protection […]
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MHIAA wins Choice award
Capping off its 20th anniversary year, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Air-Conditioners Australia (MHIAA) has once again been recognised as the Best Brand of Air Conditioners by leading consumer advocacy group Choice. The award is based on test reviews of over 140 split system air conditioners and the results of the annual reliability and satisfaction survey completed […]
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Solving Sydney’s urban heat dilemma
Penrith City Council is hosting a Masterclass event in 2020 to try and tackle Sydney’s urban heat dilemma. The event will bring key stakeholders and leading professionals together at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre on February 18. Penrith Mayor Ross Fowler says that the Cooling the City Masterclass was developed as a result of councillor concerns arising from […]
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AIRAH announces 2020 Industry Nights
The Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) has announced the schedule for the 2020 Industry Nights. The 15 Industry Nights will take place across Australia, and give attendees the opportunity for networking and to see the HVAC&R industry’s latest innovations. Industry Nights are free to attend. AIRAH chief executive Tony Gleeson, M.AIRAH, […]
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Closing the energy performance gap
The Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) and the Australian Department of the Environment and Energy have partnered to produce a research report about building energy performance. The report was commissioned as part of the IEA’s Building Energy Efficiency Taskforce (BEET). Building energy efficiency has been identified as a cost-effective opportunity to reduce energy consumption […]
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IBTech at ARBS 2020
As anticipation builds ahead of ARBS 2020 – slated for May 19–21 in Melbourne, the organisers have revealed more about what to expect. Alongside over 250 exhibitors offering access to the latest in HVAC&R, the event will include IBTech@ARBS – a precinct within the exhibition dedicated to the latest intelligent building technologies. “This technology will […]