The United Nations Environment Programme has praised the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturers Association (AREMA) for training support provided to Pacific Island countries.
AREMA provided training pods, which replicate refrigerant equipment, allowing students to practice servicing machines with real world tools and materials.
The goal is to equip students with direct demonstrations and hands-on experience.
The supply of training pods is also aimed at assisting students by providing vocational skills and to ensure that appropriate serving practices are met. This is more likely to occur when students have an opportunity to see examples of refrigerant technology in use to directly visualise how they function.
AREMA were supported by the Air Conditioning Mechanical Contractors Association (AMCA) and AG Coombs, which built the training pods.
The equipment was generously donated by Danfoss and Daikin. Fourteen pods have already been distributed to nations throughout the Pacific, including the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Micronesia, Palau, PNG, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu.
The supply of training pods is part of the Regional HCFC Phaseout Management Plan. One of the programme’s aims is to improve training and technical vocation in the refrigeration industry so refrigerant technology can be serviced and maintained.
This training helps to ensure that HFCs are reused and reclaimed, rather than released into the atmosphere.
By ensuring that technicians are educated with Good Servicing Practices, the programme can further its aim of reaching the targets set in the Montreal Protocol.
Aside from reaching these goals, the training pods also help to sustain Australia’s close relationships with Pacific Island Countries.