Day one of the ARBS Exhibition was a hive of activity with thousands of attendees converging on the Melbourne Exhibition Centre for the three day event.
For sports fans this was the day to attend as its the only part of the program that features a number of high profile sporting legends.
Fujitsu led the charge hosting stars at its stand from the world of cricket, NRL and Aussie Rules. Guests included former cricket captain Mark 'Tubby' Taylor, Rabbitohs star Michael 'Madge' Maguire, Aussie Rules legends David Zaharakis and Matthew Leuenberger along with Essendon coach John Worsfold.
Over at the ActronAir stand V8 Supercar champion Mark 'Frosty' Winterbottom was doing hot laps on a simulated racing car game.
It wasn't just sports stars holding centre stage at ARBS there were plenty of product announcements and demonstrations that generated a lot of interest.
Air Change launched its new low dewpoint dehumidification unit while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries had its new air to water heat pump, Q-ton. on show. Another product getting a lot of attention is TdX20, a new refrigerant in Australia which is an R22 replacement from BluOne.
There were informative product demonstrations to assist with compliance and meeting local standards. For example, Airepure Australia product specialist, Jonathan Bunge, demonstrated how to design kitchen exhaust systems to be both safe and complaint.
Bitzer Australia's engineering manager for compressor systems, Ian Suffield, hosted a session on transcritical development while Dunnair's chief engineer, Gerry Gerhard, showcased the company's inverter technology.
For HVACR technicians the place to be was the Testo World of HVACR where Testo showcased its innovative range of smart tools that technicians can use in their daily work environment.
With the availability of ultra low charge and low charge NH3 refrigeration systems gaining in popularity, there was an ARBS seminar session which presented five practical examples of low charge NH3 systems reducing energy consumption in refrigerated warehouses.