Mark Vender

October 8, 2020

HVAC&R poised to play key role in Australia’s recovery

News

The Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH) has applauded this year’s strong Federal Budget focused on economic recovery, and says the HVAC&R industry will play a vital role in making the government’s programs pay off. “As our Treasurer Josh Frydenberg noted, jobs are key,” says AIRAH CEO Tony Gleeson, M.AIRAH, “especially in […]

October 6, 2020

New RAC training package gets final approval

News

The updated UEE Electrotechnology Training Package, which includes many refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) qualifications, has now been endorsed by the skills ministers. Key components of the updated package relate to changes to UEE32220 Certificate III in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration to ensure it includes the latest refrigerants, technologies, standards, codes, and work health and […]

October 6, 2020

Essential safety measures under scrutiny

News

The Victorian Building Authority (VBA) has announced new initiatives to boost the compliance and performance of essential safety measures (ESMs). ESMs include many parts of a building, some directly related to HVAC systems. For example, air-handling systems for smoke control and mechanical ventilation systems that incorporate a cooling tower or hot or warm water system […]

October 1, 2020

World waits on airborne COVID-19 research

News

A team of scientists in the UK are using a new method to determine how long Sars-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – can remain viable in the air. The research will help policy-makers better understand the risk of airborne transmission, and inform strategies to prevent the virus from spreading. According to The Guardian, […]

October 1, 2020

Update to flexible duct standard

Regulations

The draft standard AS 4254.1 Ductwork for air-handling systems in buildings, Part 1: Flexible duct is open for comment until November 18. The document provides standardised requirements for the performance testing, manufacture and installation of flexible ducts in order to improve their thermal performance. It is particularly relevant for specifiers, manufacturers, regulatory authorities and installers […]

September 29, 2020

Webinar on possible updates to flammable charge limits

Events and conferences

“Cool & Safe: Climate-friendly cooling is just one step away” is a free one-hour webinar on September 30 about the proposed update to the international standard for the use of flammable refrigerants in room air conditioners. It is organised by Environmental Action Germany and independent consulting firm HEAT, in cooperation with German development agency GIZ […]

September 28, 2020

Australia must catch up, say buildings physics experts

Events and conferences

Australia is lagging behind the rest of the developed world when it comes to sealing, thermal performance and control of moisture in our buildings. That was the consensus at AIRAH’s Building Physics Virtual Forum, held on September 17. But the event also highlighted the opportunity to improve by using our local expertise and learning from […]

September 25, 2020

Outlook 2020 goes online

Events and conferences

AIRAH has announced that the flagship event of its Centenary year, Outlook 2020, will now be held as a virtual event. The International HVAC&R Conference and Awards Gala will be live-streamed from 9am–5.30pm (AEDT) on November 10. This year’s keynotes include Professor Lidia Morawska and Deb Noller. “In my time with AIRAH I can’t recall […]

September 21, 2020

Buildings at heart of EU’s ambitious emissions target

News

In her State of the Union address last week, President of the European Commission Ursual von der Leyen set an ambitious new emissions reduction target of 55 per cent of current emissions by 2030. “Our impact assessment clearly shows that meeting this target would put the EU firmly on track for climate neutrality by 2050 […]

September 18, 2020

Water and space heating from solar PV

BusinessEvents and conferences

Energy Smart Water has organised a Toolbox Techtalk about maximising solar PV self-consumption by diverting power to resistive loads for water heating, hydronic and electric in-floor heating. “Join the Smart Energy Lab Live Techtalk this Sunday, September 20 at 4pm AEST (3.30pm ACST/2pm AWST) with the developers of this smart energy device, the AC•THOR Photovoltaic […]