The Victorian Department of Industry and Training has granted nearly $2,000,000 toward improving skills and education opportunities in the refrigeration industry. GOTAFE, Bendigo Kangan Institute and industry representatives CA Group Services applied for funding to complete a number of projects. And on March 15, the Hon. Gayle Tierney, Minister for Training and Skills, and Higher […]
As part of an Australia-wide rebrand, Heatcraft has announced a new trading name and logo. The Heatcraft business will now be known as Kirby. The rebrand is an evolution of the acquisition of Heatcraft Australia by Beijer Ref in April 2018. “The new logo, Kirby – A Beijer Ref Company, unifies the business with the […]
Queensland refrigeration apprentice Patrick Brennan has taken the gold medal at the WorldSkills Global Skills Challenge held in Melbourne last weekend. The competition covered not just refrigeration, but more than 20 other skill categories, from bricklaying to baking. It brought together 500 competitors and officials from 15 different countries and was hosted in several Victorian […]
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) committee responsible for IEC Standard 60335-2-89 has narrowly voted down a draft international standard that would have raised the allowable charge of flammable refrigerants in certain appliances. The vote comes after a five-year effort to raise the charge limit of flammable refrigerants such as propane and isobutane in some commercial […]
Daikin has released its latest wired remote controller, Madoka. “Designed with a focus on enhancing the user experience, the Madoka controller can be installed in any modern interior space including offices, hotel rooms, retail stores, healthcare environments and residential homes,” says Daikin. “In residential applications, it makes scheduling simple and enables homeowners to activate extra […]
In a recent trip to Australia for AIRAH’s Refrigeration 2019 conference, Prof. Dr. Michael Kauffeld of Germany’s Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences shared his expertise on natural refrigerants. In his keynote presentation, Kauffeld detailed the HFC phase-down and what’s coming next for refrigeration, particularly with regards to natural refrigerants such as CO2, ammonia and hydrocarbons. Following his […]
A new report from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has revealed the startling extent of Europe’s illegal HFC activity. The report, Doors Wide Open, is the result of surveys conducted in late 2018 with EU member states and key industry stakeholders. “Reports from industry indicate that large-scale illegal HFC trade and use is occurring in […]
Global energy consumption and CO2 emissions rose to record levels in 2018, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). And one of the major contributors to the increase was HVAC&R. According to the IEA, energy consumption worldwide grew by 2.3 per cent in 2018, nearly twice the average rate of growth […]
Eurothermal has announced the Blue Box Omicron range, a new high-efficiency four-pipe modular multi-functional chiller. With a cooling and heating capacity from 100 to 900kW, the Omicron range has been designed to provide cooling and heating simultaneously, with claimed efficiency at full-load COP greater than 3.1, and a combined cool and hot total efficiency ratio […]
Schneider Electric has announced a new generation of shoebox-sized variable speed drives (VSDs) and computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units that offer energy savings for collocation data centres – also known as “colos”. According to the company, the VSDs can deliver energy savings of up to 30 per cent by managing the operating speed of […]