From the editor

June 10, 2025

Same, but different

In a sense, nothing changed from May 3 to May 4. Australians went to the polls on election day with a Labor majority government and woke up the next morning still with a Labor majority government.

But in another sense, everything changed. What had previously been government on a knife’s edge for Anthony Albanese and his cabinet has transformed into the strongest political mandate we’ve seen in generations.`

AIRAH is and always has been agnostic to political parties. We want what is best for Australia’s HVAC&R industry, best for the occupants of the buildings our members work on, and best for the planet we all share.

We hope Labor’s strong majority and clear mandate over the next three years will allow the federal government to implement significant policy to tackle the concurrent climate, housing, and skills shortage crises. As you’ll see on p15 of this issue of Ecolibrium, AIRAH has prepared a host of policy priorities for the re-elected government, and we will engage closely to advocate for their implementation.

You could argue that the election result represents a wholesale rejection of the Trumpian politics and rhetoric that have once again taken over the USA. Australians saw what is happening to the world’s most powerful country and opted for moderation rather than extremism. Our two countries be much the same in many ways, but Australia has decided to take a very different path.

By now, you can probably see where I’m going with the same/different metaphor. This issue of Ecolibrium that you’re holding in your hands (or reading on a screen) is the same publication AIRAH has been producing since 1947, but it’s also significantly different. You’ll notice that the Ecolibrium website – along with the print and online versions of our other flagship publication, HVAC&R News – have also been redesigned.

I want to thank Stephen O’Connor from Artifishal Studios and AIRAH’s in-house designer, Justin Smyrk, for working together to redesign the magazine in record time. The aim has been to make the magazine more visually engaging, easier to read, and better aligned with AIRAH’s brand. I’d like to think the redesign has achieved these goals.

The major theme of this issue is indoor air quality. We look at the human impact of living in mouldy conditions through the stories of Dr Mali Rezaei and Brandon Chappo from Change the Air Foundation, as well as exploring the fundamentals of holding a safe event for those who are immunocompromised. We also consider perspectives on gender diversity in HVAC&R, hear from William Lane, F.AIRAH, on the importance of proper training for commissioning technicians, and cover the principles of thermodynamics with Daniel Bonatti, M.AIRAH. Laura Timberlake’s case study examines the state-of-the-art redevelopment of the Canberra Raiders Centre of Excellence.

I’m thrilled to include two fantastic technical papers in our Forum section: one by Jeremy Mansfield on blind spots in Australia’s refrigerant emissions reporting structures, and a comprehensive overview of the efficacy of airborne pathogen mitigation techniques by Sonali Shrikant Deshmukh, Stud.AIRAH, and her co-authors.

I hope you enjoy this same/different issue of Ecolibrium!