After considerable deliberation from the judging panel, the finalists of the AIRAH Awards 2014 were announced this week.
AIRAH COO Neil Cox said the high standard of nominations across all categories made it a difficult task.
“Once again, the projects and individuals nominated for the AIRAH Awards have truly set the standard on innovation, leadership, and performance,” he said.
"It highlights the importance of recognising and encouraging outstanding work, in the hope that others in the industry will also strive for excellence.”
Winners of the AIRAH Awards 2014 will be formally announced at a presentation dinner held in Brisbane on November 27, 2014.
The AIRAH Future Leader Award is a particularly tough category with the industry’s brightest emerging leaders competing.
This year’s finalists are Chris Fontana from Degree C (Tasmania), Brett Saunders from HiFlow Industries (Queensland), Alex Baidjurak from Arup (New South Wales), Katherine Hay from A.G. Coombs (Qld) and Leigh Graham from AE Smith (Qld).
The Student of the Year Award recognises outstanding students, at any level, in the HVAC&R industry.
Finalists for 2014 include Dylan Black from Umow Lai (Qld), Matthew Webb from the University of Melbourne (Victoria) and Massimo Fiorentini from the University of Wollongong (NSW).
AIRAH’s Award for Excellence in Innovation shines the spotlight on significant Australian improvements in HVAC&R achieved through innovation. Finalists for 2014 are ActronAir’s Hercules packaged air conditioning unit, WSP’s Echuca Regional Health (ERH) Redevelopment, and AE Smith’s Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital (LCCH) energy plant.
Recognising Australian initiatives that have improved the sustainability of HVAC&R systems or the industry, AIRAH’s Award for Excellence in Sustainability celebrates a crucial area of the HVAC&R industry.
Finalists for 2014 are: the CBA’s Retail Portfolio HVAC Upgrade Project; Seeley International and D Squared Consulting’s Zero Carbon House; ActronAir’s ESP Platinum split-ducted technology; WSP’s Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre; and Norman Disney & Young’s National Australia Bank at 700 Bourke Street.
Finalists in the Best HVAC and Refrigeration Retrofit or Upgrade category include: Airmaster Australia’s chiller plant retrofit and BMS upgrade at the Sheraton Mirage Resort and Spa; Cundall Australia’s 140W (140 William Street, Melbourne); GeoExchange Australia’s Riverina Highlands Building Energy Efficiency Project (RHBEEP) at Tumut; Norman Disney & Young’s 247 Adelaide Street, Brisbane; and Quik Cool Cooling Technologies’ Parilla cold storage upgrade with Thermcold thermal storage.
The Denis Joseph Award for Innovative Use of Solar Energy in HVAC and Refrigeration recognises Australian initiatives that, through innovative use of solar energy, substantially improve HVAC&R system performance.
The finalists for 2014 are: Energy Analysis and Engineering’s UTS micro urban power station, at the University of Technology Sydney; and committee CS028’s Sustainable Energy Transformation: The development of a performance standard for solar cooling technologies, AS 5389-2013 – Solar heating and cooling.
In the Award for Excellence in Refrigeration Research category, the CSIRO has been named as a worthy finalist for its ground-breaking Residential Building Energy Efficiency Study.
The WR Ahern Award is awarded to the best technical paper by an AIRAH member published in Ecolibrium over the previous year. Nine papers are in contention this year.
The AIRAH Awards 2014 sponsors are A.G. Coombs (Future Leader), NABERS (Retrofit), Heatcraft (Student of the Year) and Air Change (Excellence in Sustainability).