Shine bright

The AIRAH Awards aim to highlight the leading people, projects and products that have made an impact in the industry over the past two years. From promising future leaders to established sector veterans, exciting new projects and the best retrofits, each finalist has been selected by an independent panel of industry judges. 

The winners will be announced at a black-tie gala dinner and awards presentation at the Crown Aviary Melbourne on Thursday, November 21, 2024. 

Finalists 

Best HVAC Retrofit or Upgrade 

• Goondiwindi HVAC upgrade, NRG Services: This project is a testament to NRG Services’ commitment to delivering high-quality services in healthcare infrastructure and HVAC and medical gas systems. 

• Regis Blackburn – Ventilation upgrades, Regis Aged Care PTY: Regis Blackburn faced challenges with limited fresh air and increasing odours in various wings, and installed heat-recovery ventilation units to enhance ventilation without significant energy penalties. 

Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion 

• CFM Air Conditioning: CFM Air Conditioning strives to foster an environment where all employees feel valued, respected, and empowered to contribute to the company’s success. 

• SP&R Group: The SP&R Group is dedicated to inclusivity and support for women in construction, creating vital opportunities for women in trades and internal development programs.

Excellence in Sustainability 

• Birchgrove House (Wurrungwuri), CWL Group: CWL Group was engaged to design and construct a sustainable solution that would create a connection to Sydney Harbour and bring commercial practices to a residential scale. 

• Canberra is Electrifying, Engineered Solutions for Building Sustainability – ESBS: During 2023/24, ESBS was heavily involved with the ACT government, the University of Canberra and other clients for the electrification of existing buildings. The project scope included investigations, detailed feasibility studies, developing optimised solutions, life-cycle analysis, development of strategic staging plans, detailed design, and project management. 

• Sydney Airport International Terminal T1 chilled water plant optimisation, A.G. Coombs and Exergenics: The chilled water plant optimisation project at Sydney Airport involved using the latest machine learning and simulation techniques to improve the control logic of the Terminal 1 chiller plant and secondary pumping system. The project achieved a 33.4 per cent increase in efficiency, reducing energy consumption by 890,094kWh and cutting GHG emissions by 704tCO₂ over nine months, through improved efficiency. The overall annual project reduction in energy consumption was 1,742,000kWh, equivalent to 1,377 tCO₂.
  The project was undertaken in a close partnership between A.G. Coombs Advisory and Exergenics, working with the Sydney Airport team to achieve their ambitious sustainability targets. 

• Woolworths Metro Gadsden CO2 WaterLoop system, Woolworths: The Gadsden West Melbourne development, incorporating the facade of a historic tin smithing and canning factory, features a Woolworths Metro convenience store with 630m2 of trading area. 

Excellence in HVAC&R Research 

• Accelerating solar and thermal energy storage for HVAC decarbonisation, University of Wollongong: This initiative involved the development of innovative solutions to advance solar energy and thermal energy storage in HVAC systems for decarbonising the heating and cooling of buildings. It delivered innovative HVAC systems and solutions. 

Excellence in Innovation 

• Prefabulous, Air Engineers: During the construction of the mechanical services for the new Woolworths supermarket in Caulfield South, Air Engineers re-invented the conventional supermarket and the services riser, providing safer construction processes for all stakeholders and personnel involved. 

• Sydney Airport International Terminal T1 chilled water plant optimisation, A.G Coombs and Exergenics: The chilled water plant optimisation project at Sydney Airport involved using the latest machine learning and simulation techniques to improve the control logic of the Terminal 1 chiller plant and secondary pumping system. The project achieved a 33.4 per cent increase in efficiency, reducing energy consumption by 890,094kWh and cutting GHG emissions by 704tCO₂ over nine months, through improved efficiency. The overall annual project reduction in energy consumption was 1,742,000kWh, equivalent to 1,377 tCO₂.
  The project was undertaken in a close partnership between A.G. Coombs Advisory and Exergenics, working with the Sydney Airport team to achieve their ambitious sustainability targets. 

• Temperzone Service Tools app, Temperzone: The Temperzone Service Tools App is an app designed to provide technicians with Temperzone product expertise and assist the diagnosis and commissioning of any air conditioning system. 

• Woolworths Metro Gadsden CO2 WaterLoop system, Woolworths: The Gadsden West Melbourne development, incorporating the facade of a historic tin smithing and canning factory, features a Woolworths Metro convenience store with 630m2 of trading area. 

Excellence in Refrigeration 

• 1,000kW ammonia heat pump, Kilcoy Global Foods: This project recovers low-grade heat from the plant’s existing ammonia refrigeration system to significantly reduce natural gas used to generate process hot water at the site. 

• Simplot Devonport freezer tunnels and refrigeration plant room, Degree C: Degree C installed a 4.2MW two-stage refrigeration system purpose built to refrigerate two linear freezer tunnels for vegetables at -44° sea surface temperature (SST). The refrigeration system incorporates energy saving, heat claim capability and maintenance-friendly features. 

• Woolworths Metro Gadsden CO2 WaterLoop system, Woolworths: The Gadsden West Melbourne development, incorporating the facade of a historic tin smithing and canning factory, features a Woolworths Metro convenience store with 630m2 of trading area. 

• SuperTest Testing and Validation Services, SuperCool Group: SuperTest is Australasia’s only purpose-built, NATA-accredited testing facility for stationary and mobile HVAC&R systems. SuperTest recently constructed a unique new test chamber designed for testing refrigerated display and storage cabinets, which is accredited by NATA in accordance with ISO 23953-2. 

Future Leader 

• Bilal Babadagi, M.AIRAH 

• Sean Reed, Affil.AIRAH 

Student of the Year – Trade 

• Jordan Hocking, Stud.AIRAH 

• Skye O’Keefe, Stud.AIRAH 

Student of the Year – Higher Education or Research 

• Poorya Shaghaghi, Stud.AIRAH 

• Sonali Deshmukh, Stud.AIRAH 

WR Ahern Award 

• Disaggregation of precipitation data applicable for climate-aware planning in built environments – David Ferrari, M.AIRAH and Trevor Lee, Affil.AIRAH et al 

• Developing a framework for delivering quality towards a sustainable built form future – Peter Phillips, F.AIRAH 

• Striking a balance: planning and implementation considerations for natural gas removal – Simon Witts, M.AIRAH et al 

• Semiconductor heat pumps – a new approach to zero emissions heating – Amnon Holland, M.AIRAH 

Visit airah.org.au/awards for more information and to register for the gala dinner and awards presentation. 

AIRAH Awards 2024 sponsors

AIRAH thanks the sponsors –   
Gala sponsor: Daikin  
Entertainment sponsor: Superior Training Centre 
Best HVAC Retrofit and Upgrade sponsor: Superior Training Centre 
Diversity and Inclusion sponsor: Standards Australia 
Excellence in Innovation sponsor: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 
Excellence in Sustainability sponsor: Construction Specialties 
Future Leader sponsor: A.G.Coombs  
Student of the Year sponsor – Trade: LG  
Product of the Year sponsor: HVAC&R Search  
W.R. Ahern sponsor: Ecolibrium 
Supporter: Fair Air 
Media partner: HVAC&R News