HCFC equipment ban to apply from
2010. Letter announcing proposal
Industry searches for low greenhouse
warming potential (GWP) low ozone depletion potential and high
efficiency refrigerants
Article
New Zealand cool store explosion
attributed to leaking hydrocarbon refrigerant gas
AREMA has long warned on the dangers of using inflammable
hydrocarbon refrigerants in systems not designed for them. AREMA
is currently pressing for an update of the relevant Australian standard
AS1677
NZ Fire Service report on the
explosion
NZ Safety Sheet on hydrocarbon
installations
Draft Australian/New Zealand Standard
released for public comment covering measurement of performance of
variable output (inverter) airconditioners.
A number of AREMA members are represented on the Committee which
drafted the standard, the EL15/16 Committee including Robert Beggs from
Daikin (who also represents CESA) Ken Ball from Mitsubishi Electric and
Kevin Mundy from Actron Air.
Public comments closed on 10 August 2007. Please see the MEPS area on the home page for the draft
standard.
Draft Australian/New Zealand Standard
released for public comment covering MEPS for chillers.
Public comments closed on 10 August 2007. Please see the
chiller MEPS area on the home page for the draft standards.
Transitional arrangements for new energy
star ratings labels to be introduced from October 2009
(letter from the Department of Environment & Water Resources)
AREMA provides advice to TAFE on the
syllabus for Refrigeration and Air Conditioning - Certificate IV to
Advanced Diploma Qualifications
Ken Ball from Mitsubishi Electric together with Peter Cashel and
Bernie Bugdalski from Fujitsu met with Noel Munkman from TAFE on 17 July
2007 to discuss issues the airconditioning manufacturers felt were
important and relevant for TAFE to consider when revising their training
standards. These included rapid product development, new regulations,
new refrigerants, complex communication systems, complex products, “back
to basics” training, installation and commissioning requirements,
after sales service and diagnostics and warranty costs. Peter
Cashel also attended the meeting of Refrigeration and Air conditioning
teachers from RTO’s across Australia to review the new UEE06
Electrotechnology Training Package’s refrigeration and air
conditioning Certificate IV, Diploma and Advanced Diploma qualifications
and competency standards in Adelaide on 23 July 2007.
AREMA supports the Insulation Council
of Australia & New Zealand (ICANZ) in seeking government support for
home owners to insulate their properties (7 July 2007)
According to the ABS around 40% of existing housing stock is
uninsulated. ICANZ has recommended a subsidy of $500 per house.
(AREMA's letter to the Minister for Environment & Water Resources)
Retirement of Colin Elliot, Technical
Manager - Commercial Refrigeration Heatcraft Australia
Colin retired on 30 June 2007 after 48 years in the industry mainly
at Kirby Refrigeration and later Heatcraft. AREMA members wish
Colin happy retirement which we understand will include quite a bit of
travel.
Inverter (Variable Displacement
Compressor) air-conditioners and Testing (30 Nov 2006)
AREMA has raised with Standards Australia and the AGO, the
possibility that because of the 50% load test point in the standard, it
was possible for an inverter to pass the MEPS test at 50% load but fail
at higher loads. This was not the intent of the test which was that an
inverter should meet MEPS over most of its operating range.
It is hard to test inverters under AS3282
because the test was designed around a single operating speed. As test conditions
are imposed on an inverter machine, its control program responds by
changing compressor and fan speeds which complicate measurement.
AREMA has set up a sub-committee to
develop an AREMA position on the testing methodology and recommend a
course of action to the regulators. The following members volunteered to
join the Inverter Testing Sub-Committee; Robert Mundy - Actron, Jim
Harris - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ken Ball - Mitsubishi Electric and
Allan Channells - Temperzone.
Department of Environment &
Heritage (Australian Greenhouse Office) workshop on future regulation of
the air conditioning industry (29 Nov 2006)
AREMA members were well represented at the all day workshop in
Canberra. All who attended felt it had provided a very worthwhile
picture of government thoughts on the two serious issues facing the
industry;
electricity demand management of peak loads, and;
reducing greenhouse gas emissions through improved air conditioner
efficiency and improved control of refrigerant gases.
Presentations from the workshop are available at http://www.energyrating.gov.au/forums-2006-ac-workshop.html
AREMA members have been sent a summary of the discussions that took
place on the day. AREMA and the AGO will seek to repeat the event
annually.
NSW Government Greenhouse Plan (Nov
2006)
AREMA has made representations to the NSW Premier, protesting about
elements of the NSW Greenhouse Plan developed without consultation with
the industry, despite the potentially serious implications for the air
conditioning industry, particularly from an OH&S standpoint.
The NSW Greenhouse Plan alleges that
alternative low-GWP refrigerants are available for most applications,
and that the NSW Government should prioritise suitable uses for
alternative refrigerants and develop a timetable for implementation.
AREMA members expressed concern about
alternative refrigerants being used contrary to manufacturers
specification, particularly in regard to flammable refrigerants with
their attendant OH&S issues, as well as the fact their use would
constitute an offence under Section 8 of the NSW OH&S Act.
A meeting was held between AREMA members
and a representative of the NSW Government Architect's Office, who are
conducting a study on behalf of the NSW Greenhouse Office to investigate
the feasibility of using alternative refrigerants within NSW public
sector assets.
At that meeting AREMA members were
assured that the study would look at possible future applications,
within the context of good OH&S practice, and therefore would not
consider at this time the retrofit of existing equipment to refrigerants
contrary to manufacturer's specification and not in accordance with
AS1677.
Standby Power Conference (Nov 2006)
Bernie Bugdalski (Vice President of AREMA) spoke at Standby Power
Conference which AREMA had helped sponsor. The papers presented at the
conference are available at http://www.energyrating.gov.au/forums-2006-standby.html
Some of the points to emerge from the conference were:
European and US regulators were pushing for a 1W limit for the standby
consumption of all electronic products by 2008.
Worldwide growth in airconditioning was approaching 20% pa but standby
consumption of airconditioners was generally good;
The area of greatest savings (after electronic products) was products
such as crankcase heaters.
Sale of Trane Australia New Zealand to
Dalkia
official announcement
AREMA to support phase out of
equipment using HCFC refrigerants (R22) (Oct 2006)
Members agreed to Australia following the US lead and supported a
2010 ban on the importation of equipment using HCFCs to compliment the
phase out of these refrigerants.
Progress on licensing of
air-conditioning technicians and businesses that buy, sell or store
refrigerants (Aug 2006)
Alan Woodhouse, CEO of Australian Refrigeration Council
(ARC) the body administering licensing gave an update on progress
in implementing the national licensing scheme. He said progress
had been slowed by changes to the schemes required by various
governments but they hoped to have most of the temporary authorisations
converted to licences by the end of the year.
see Allan's full presentation
AREMA Joins Minimum
Energy Performance Standard (MEPS) Process Review Committee -
known as the Equipment Energy Efficiency (E3) programme Review
Committee. (August 2006)
The Committee arose out of the concern that the process of negotiating
the current MEPS standard was cumbersome. News from the most
recent meeting of the Committee:
- The need to expand coverage of MEPS to include 100%
outside air units was being examined.
- MEPS for chillers was on track for 2008
implementation.
- Improvements in compliance and enforcement should
receive a higher priority.
The next meeting was on September 13 where MEPS for chillers would be
considered in the morning and close control air-conditioners during the
afternoon.
Other News
2006 ARBS Exhibition - "the best yet"
The Air-conditioning, Refrigeration and Building Services (ARBS)
biennial trade exhibition held August 14-16 at the Sydney Exhibition
Centre at Darling Harbour, Sydney, was voted an outstanding success by
members. There were a record number of exhibitors and attendees
and a record number of Asian firms exhibiting and Asian visitors
attending. AREMA is one of the associations which organise the
exhibition. Planning has already started for the 2008
exhibition. Improvements being discussed are the possibility of a
day where the general public could be admitted and improved registration
processes to speed up entry to the exhibition.
Changes to Australian Standards
covering the performance of ducted and non-ducted air-conditioners to
apply from 24 February 2006
Members should be aware of amendments
to the ducted and non-ducted performance standards, recently published
by Standards Australia. These amendments introduce the test methods for
recording Stand-by Power Consumption as well as address some editorial
issues.
Ducted
amendments
Non-ducted
amendments
Chinese demand
for commodities will be reflected in rising prices for finished goods
Bill Robertson (Torin Industries, AREMA Executive Committee member)
was quoted in an article in the Asian Wall Street Journal
Click
to see text of article
Press articles
on the building energy consumption
"NSW has energy-guzzling project homes in
its sights" Australian Financial Review 5/2/2004
"Green star puts out more heat than
light" Australian Financial Review 5/8/2003
