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Tag: Featured
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A chameleon coating for buildings
In the natural world, chameleons can change colour to reflect heat and stay cool or transition to a darker colour to absorb heat. Now, researchers from the American Chemical Society have developed a coating inspired by the Namaqua chameleon, which acts as a colour-shifting coating. Fuqiang Wang and colleagues wanted to create a coating that […]
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Final call for seminar speakers at ARBS 2024
Speaker nominations for Australia’s largest HVAC&R and building services industry exhibition, ARBS 2024, are closing at 5pm on September 30, 2023. ARBS features informative seminars and discussions focusing on the latest trends, innovations, and technologies in HVAC&R and building services. The key topics for speaker submission include: Emerging trends in HVAC&R and building design Latest […]
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Vertiv acquires water-based chiller technology
Vertiv – the former Emerson Network Power business, owners of Liebert-brand chillers and provider of equipment and services for data centres – has acquired the patents and other assets of German company Efficient Energy GmbH. Efficient Energy, the manufacturer of chillers that use water as a refrigerant, entered administration on June 2 after the collapse […]
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Heritage Lanes comes up 6 star
Mirvac has achieved a 6 star Green Star Buildings V1 certified rating from the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) for its Heritage Lanes project in Brisbane. According to AECOM, the consulting firm that worked on the project, Heritage Lanes is an Australian first. A 74,000m2, 35-storey premium office tower in Brisbane’s CBD, It retains […]
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Milking the system: cooler cows keep it flowing
University of Queensland researchers have demonstrated how dairy cows can be kept cool 24/7, helping to prevent heat stress, adding to the cows’ welfare, and increasing milk production. With hot weather often impacting dairy cattle health, wellbeing, and overall milk production, dairy producers will use a variety of cooling strategies to prevent heat stress in […]
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Ramping up flexible demand in Australia
One of the big challenges Australia faces as the grid decarbonises is how to ensure reliable supply from intermittent renewable energy sources. Alongside this challenge is a big opportunity: the potential to use distributed energy resources (DERs) in buildings, such as HVAC systems, electric vehicles and batteries to manage demand. This has the threefold benefit […]
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Electricity critical for driving decarbonisation
Electricity generated by solar and wind technology is poised to become Australia’s most dominant source of energy, according to a new report. Released by the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE), Powering the Net Zero Transition: Electricity Security Explained responds to electricity as a critical component for driving decarbonisation across a wide range […]
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Digital summit on green cooling in the cold chain
The German Environment Agency (UBA) is holding an online Green Cooling Summit on October 10–11, 2023. It will explore policy approaches, technology solutions and innovative business models for green cooling along the cold chain. According to the organisers, green cooling refers to a combination of natural refrigerants that harm neither the ozone layer nor the […]
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Roadmap to a circular economy
Monash University’s BehaviourWorks Australia has developed a roadmap for circular consumption, to assist industry bodies and policy-makers in addressing the ongoing waste crisis. The Behavioural Roadmap to Circular Consumption identifies areas in the production-consumption cycle where changes can be made, opportunities to reduce Australia’s material footprint, and ways to encourage the efficient use of limited resources. […]
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AIRAH celebrates talent in South Australia
AIRAH is hosting the South Australia Apprentice Awards on Tuesday, October 10, where the top refrigeration and air conditioning apprentices will be recognised. The Awards celebrate the achievements of apprentices in the South Australian HVAC&R industry, and recognises the Apprentice of the Year; Runner-Up Apprentice of the Year; Airefrig Scholarship Award; and Encouragement Awards. This […]
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Norway moving towards natural refrigerants
One of Norway’s largest property administrators, Oslobygg, has mandated the use of natural refrigerants in all comfort cooling systems and heat pumps installed in Oslo’s municipal buildings. The company’s previous requirement was that a refrigerant’s global warming potential (GWP) value should be below 10, which often led to the use of synthetic refrigerants. Technical project advisor […]
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Buildings journal invites IAQ articles
Buildings, an international, scientific, peer-reviewed, open-access journal on building science, building engineering and architecture published monthly online by MDPI, is seeking submissions for a special issue dedicated to indoor air quality. Guest editors Dr Shamila Haddad and Dr Arianna Brambilla from the School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney, and Professor Dr Baojie He […]
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Women in construction: Have your say
The NSW government is collecting feedback from female construction workers to improve working conditions in the industry. Only 13 per cent of the construction industry in New South Wales is made up of women, and a recent survey showed 12 per cent of respondents identify as women within the industry nationally. The survey aims to […]
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Consultation on Australia’s carbon credit scheme
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) is consulting on the next phase on proposed changes to the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme. These changes aim to ensure the ACCU Scheme has high integrity and delivers confidence to participants, the market, and the wider public, says DCCEEW. As outlined in the ACCU […]
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Pathway for procurement in green construction
The Australian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC) has published a best practice guide for procurement to support more sustainable construction. The Pathway to Green Construction Procurement sets out the documentation and decision-making processes required by government officials to realise green construction of government infrastructure assets. It includes the full range of environmental sustainability impact factors […]
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Big names gather to ‘change the air’
The Change the Air Foundation in the US is holding its first annual summit on Monday, September 18, with high-profile speakers including Gwyneth Paltrow, Dr Deepak Chopra and Dr Will Cole. The goal of the event is to raise awareness around the importance of indoor air quality and provide actionable ideas and suggestions that will […]
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Master Plumbers condemns gas bans
The Master Plumbers Association (MPA) of New South Wales has criticised the City of Sydney, the City of Parramatta and other local government areas (LGAs) proposing a ban on implementing gas in new builds in the state. “This move demonstrates a clear lack of consideration for its impact on essential services, such as heating, hot […]
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Reimagining a climate resilient built environment
Cundall is holding an online panel discussion on Monday, September 11 to mark World Green Building Week 2023. The discussion, titled Reimagining a Climate Resilient Built Environment, is Cundall’s response to the urgent calls in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Synthesis report released in April 2023, and will focus on how to […]
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Infrastructure and the path to net zero
Ten industry bodies have joined forced to co-ordinate, collaborate and report on Australian infrastructure’s pathway to net zero. The Infrastructure Net Zero collaboration will share the responsibility of decarbonisation, and look at methods to combine the time, effort and expertise to develop initiatives to drive change. It will be led by a steering committee with […]
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CO2 scholarship program open for applications
The Kirby Apprentice Fund has opened applications for the CO2 Training Scholarship program to fourth-year HVAC&R industry apprentices. The scholarship includes a two-day CO2 systems training experience, including: CO2 safety and CO2 repair and service systems training (held at the Sydney-based Beijer Ref Training Academy) Australian Refrigeration Council Green Scheme Accreditation, upon successful completion of […]