DECEMBER 2019 · VOLUME 18.11

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New benchmarkAn AIRAH Awards finalist shows the way.

ANNUAL

AIRAH

AWARDSSPECIAL

A I R A H AWA R DS

DECEMBER 2019 • ECOL IBR IUM 57

GOLD STANDARDThe 2019 AIRAH Awards presentation gala provided Australia’s HVAC&R industry with the opportunity to come together and applaud its leading people, projects and products.On November 14 at Doltone House in Sydney, more than 300 people from Australia’s HVAC&R industry – a record attendance for the event – put on their black-tie best for the AIRAH Awards presentation gala.

AIRAH president Ian Harwood, F.AIRAH, opened the evening by reflecting on the occasion.

“I don’t know of any engineers, contractors, designers, researchers or indeed anyone at all in the HVAC&R industry

who sets out to win an award,” he said. “It’s just not in their mindset, which is more attuned to using BIM or CFD, or to calculating set points and dew points.

“And that’s the whole purpose of the AIRAH Awards – it’s our chance to recognise, to elevate and to celebrate a group of people who have always been more about the work than receiving awards for the work.”

Winners were announced in 12 categories.

58 DECEMBER 2019 • ECOL IBR IUM

A I R A H A W A R D S

Brett Fairweather, M.AIRAH, flanked by the Standards Australia crew.

The A-Gas team, finalists in the Excellence in Diversity category.

DECEMBER 2019 • ECOL IBR IUM 59

A I R A H A W A R D S

The team from Hoctor Refrigeration.

Your hardworking AIRAH team.

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BEST HVAC RETROFIT OR UPGRADE

■ DMA Engineers and VAE Group – Mater Private HospitalThis Brisbane project involved the replacement of 22 existing AHUs with 25 new AHUs, and the upgrade and/or replacement of mechanical services switchboards, BMS controls and steam equipment.

EXCELLENCE IN DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

■ Ben Adamson, F.AIRAHAs managing director of Refrigeration Engineering International, Adamson has actively sought staff from various experiences, nationalities, cultural backgrounds, genders, age and religions.

EXCELLENCE IN HVAC&R RESEARCH

JOINT WINNERS■ DevelopmentWA – Cool Earth, The Vive, CraigieCool Earth examines the sustainability benefits of geothermal technology over conventional reverse-cycle air conditioning by comparing the efficiency of the systems in two identical homes in a residential estate in Perth.

■ Solar Decathlon Team, University of Wollongong – Desert Rose Solar Decathlon HouseTeam UOW’s Desert Rose Solar Decathlon house competed with other teams in the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018. The innovative HVAC system developed assisted the team in winning second place in the overall competition.

Ben Carter from VAE Group (left) and Russell Lamb, M.AIRAH, from DMA Engineers.

Yeganeh Baghi, Stud.AIRAH, Wenye Lin and Brendan Banfield, Stud.AIRAH,

from University of Wollongong’s Solar Decathlon Team.

Ben Adamson, F.AIRAH, receives his award from Standards Australia’s Alison Scotland.

Professor Dr Hui Tong Chua accepts the award for DevelopmentWA.

WINNERS

DECEMBER 2019 • ECOL IBR IUM 61

EXCELLENCE IN INNOVATION

■ Alinta Energy Geothermal – Fairwater geothermal installationFairwater is a Frasers Property Australia community located in Blacktown in Sydney’s west. When completed, it will be the largest geothermal community in the southern hemisphere, with the technology accessible to all 800 homes onsite.

EXCELLENCE IN SUSTAINABILITY

■ AECOM – Gillies Hall, Monash UniversityGillies Hall, at Monash University’s Peninsula Campus, is Australia’s largest Passive House building and delivers on Monash University’s ambitious “Net Zero” initiative.

EXCELLENCE IN REFRIGERATION

JOINT WINNERS■ Scantec Refrigeration Technologies – Bidfood MackayScantec’s low-charge ammonia cold storage solution in the challenging climate of central Queensland is an example of world-leading refrigeration technology.

■ Woolworths Food Group – Woolworths Prestons SupermarketThe Prestons integrated HVAC&R transcritical CO2 system has broken new ground in terms of the use of CO2 in Australia’s hottest climates.

Dario Ferlin, M.AIRAH, from Woolworths.

Andrew Cogger from Alinta Energy Geothermal, and Adam Nobbs from Mitsubishi Electric.

Stefan Jensen, F.AIRAH, from Scantec.

Matt Rose from AECOM.

A I R A H A W A R D S

62 DECEMBER 2019 • ECOL IBR IUM

FUTURE LEADERJOINT WINNERS

■ James Spears, M.AIRAHSpears is one of the founding members of DeltaQ, an energy management consultancy. He helped establish a Canberra office and secured work with the ACT Carbon Neutral Government Team. He also worked on the 2019 NCC.

■ Jack Wardale, M.AIRAHIn 10 years, Jack’s role has changed from practical tradesman to consulting engineer, providing technical advice and designs for some of the most significant construction projects in Victoria.

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR

■ Shepherd Filters – Disposable kitchen grease filters After suffering severe burns in a fire, Jeremy Kronk, Affil.AIRAH set about developing a wool kitchen grease cover product. Shepherd Filters now counts McDonald’s as a client, and is starting to distribute its filters internationally.

STUDENT OF THE YEAR – HIGHER EDUCATION OR RESEARCH

■ Brendan Banfield, Stud.AIRAH, University of WollongongBanfield was the building services manager of the very successful Desert Rose house, the University of Wollongong (UOW) entry into the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 competition held in Dubai, UAE.

STUDENT OF THE YEAR – TRADE

■ Mat Patrick, Stud.AIRAH, Cold LogicMat Patrick is a third-year apprentice studying a Certificate III in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning at TAFE SA and working at Cold Logic, a specialist in ammonia-based refrigeration systems.

Virender Rana from LG, and Mat Patrick, Stud.AIRAH.

Jeremy Kronk, Affil.AIRAH, from Shepherd Filters.

James Spears, M.AIRAH, receives his award from A.G. Coombs’ Bryon Price, F.AIRAH.

Adrian Brown, Affil.AIRAH, from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Brendan Banfield, Stud.AIRAH.

WINNERS

DECEMBER 2019 • ECOL IBR IUM 63

W.R. AHERN AWARDThis award goes to the best technical paper by an AIRAH member published in Ecolibrium over the previous year.

■ Graham Carter, M.AIRAH – “Not so cool roofs” April 2018 Ecolibrium

JAMES HARRISON MEDALThe James Harrison Medal is the highest honour AIRAH can bestow upon an individual.

■ Paul Cooper, F.AIRAH, University of WollongongThroughout his career in the HVAC industry, Cooper has dedicated himself to bettering lives through his committed research in roles at the University of Wollongong and involvement with industry organisations such as AIRAH, ASHRAE and ASBEC. His focus is on developing positive societal outcomes through the most efficient and effective engineering solutions to improve the quality of living and working environments for all.

Graham Carter, M.AIRAH.

Paul Cooper, F.AIRAH, receives the Institute’s highest honour from AIRAH president Ian Harwood, F.AIRAH.

A I R A H A W A R D S

P R O U D L Y P R E S E N T E D B Y :

Event sponsor

Future Leader

Student of the Year – Higher Education or Research

Student of the Year – Trade

Excellence in Innovation

Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion