The ARA seminar on Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (HVACR) held on Tuesday, April 5 attracted a wide range of HVACR stakeholders. The importance and opportunity for energy efficiency presented at the event was compelling with a series of new technology announcements and proof of performance across many HVACR sectors. You can access this important information from B2BForums and the Australian Refrigeration Association.
ARA President Tim Edwards said: “Our objective was to demonstrate that natural refrigerant based technologies are highly energy efficient, proven and available in Australia. We wanted to demonstrate the high degree of innovation that is delivering energy efficiency in HVACR and the need for better energy management”. The result was consensus among the delegates and speakers that the opportunity for dramatic improvement in energy efficiency is available but much more needs to be done by industry and government to accelerate HVACR innovation for energy efficiency.
Tim Edwards, President, Australian Refrigeration Association described the drivers to transition to energy efficient HVACR technology and called for greater collaboration among suppliers, end users and government to address the many dimensions that need to be addressed, particularly training and nationally consistent regulation in the use of low global warming refrigerants.
Ignacio Gavilan, Global Director of Sustainability, The Consumer Goods Forum (France) reported the unequivocal commitment of CGF members worldwide to the use of natural refrigerants and the progress being made world wide through cooperation among major refrigeration suppliers and users. He emphasised the need for training, education and collaboration among suppliers, users and government to enable the proven benefits of natural refrigerant based technology to be more rapidly adopted.
John Fick, Managing Director, EMSc Asia Pacific announced important ways of delivering major energy efficiency through Net Zero Energy Buildings. This is a package of renewable energy generation, energy storage and energy efficient technologies that offset energy from the grid. EMScAP showed how their patented innovations in voltage optimization, energy management technology and financial engineering deliver major cost savings.
The many speakers who showed how their products and technologies are delivering energy efficiency and provided of the proof of major HVACR energy efficiency available in Australia.
Commercial Refrigeration: The Natural Refrigerants Company (Ian Tuena) presented the achievements of Woolworths, Coles and Aldi, by investing in a range of natural refrigerant based technologies to reduce energy use by 30-40%. Strathbrook Engineering (Ian Wilson) reported how their work in cold stores was delivering the same level of energy efficiency using their patented refrigeration and heat management technology. KAV Consulting (Klaas Visser) showed how Carbon Dioxide based refrigeration systems can be used in the vast majority of climates worldwide to deliver energy efficiency and emissions reduction.
Hydrocarbon Refrigerants: Engas (Selwyn Wallace) and Pioneer International (George Haydock) presented a series of case studies showing how hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerants deliver energy savings in roof top chillers and cold rooms. Engas reported the success of their training programs to enable far greater use of their superior HC refrigerants and the major energy savings being delivered in Australia and throughout Asia. Pioneer International described a world first case study of a roof top chiller retrofit at Marketfair shopping centre in Campbelltown that is delivering both capital cost savings of $1M and 50% energy savings using HC refrigerants.
Ammonia: Scantec Refrigeration Technologies (Stefan Jensen) described the high performance of ammonia based refrigeration being used by leading industrial refrigeration users in Australia. He described the role of low charge ammonia technology, which Scantec has demonstrated on behalf of leading cold store operators throughout Australia and has begun demonstrating in China.
Government: The Office of Environment and Heritage NSW (Patrick Riakos and Jeremy Tarbox) described the role of the NSW government initiatives to validate new sources of energy efficiency and educate suppliers and end users in their use. They explained how energy savings certificates can be generated and make an important contribution to innovation for energy efficiency.
Voltage Optimisation: EMSc Asia Pacific (Sam Czyczellis) explained the high value and important competitive advantage of Power Star technology that combines superior performance with innovative financing to deliver attractive payback and high ROI through the many benefits of Voltage Optimisation.
Energy Management: CCM Energy Solutions (Duncan Camie) and Wave Industries (Ian Schmahmann) showed how their energy management systems deliver major energy efficiency through better energy measurement and control systems for a wide range of HVACR equipment. Duncan described energy savings achievements through improving the energy efficiency of steam boilers, heating boilers, and direct fired hot water heaters by retrofitting high efficiency equipment onto existing boilers. Ian introduced a revolutionary HVACR management system – Hawk Eye 800 which measures, reports and enables control of all of the key determinants of HVACR efficiency and performance.
The day ended with a workshop that involved the entire group and confirmed the high interest in greater use of natural refrigerant based technologies and energy management systems. Tim Edwards and Ignacio Gavilan called on the group to recognise greater collaboration is required to cause faster adoption of energy efficient, low emissions technology.
The entire proceedings were video taped. The many presentations will be available on the ARA website shortly so those unable to attend the conference can access the important information presented at the event. We will send an announcement as to when this information will be available.
