Page 22 - Climate Control News Magazine December-January 2022

HVACR Leadership Awards
Energy Savings
& Sustainability Award winner
Julian on the job.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY HAS BEEN AT THE VERY CENTRE OF JULIAN HUDSON’S HVACR CAREER.
THE ENERGY SAVINGS & Sustainability Award winner spent years as a refrigeration con- sultant specialising in CO2 & NH3 plant design.
Prior to that he spent almost five years as engi- neering manager at BITZER.
Today Julian is the managing director of Gla- ciem Cooling Technologies. With such an out- standing career in HVACR it’s hard to believe how it all began.
L-R: Alfa Laval’s Anson John. Glaciem Cooling managing director, Julian Hudson.
At 17 years of age Julian was offered an appren- ticeship as an electrician, however the refrigera- tion apprenticeship paid two pounds more per week, making it a much more appealing option.
“I had no idea what the job entailed but I chose refrigeration because it paid more,” he says. “Now I love the diversity of this sector no two jobs or projects are ever the same, each one has
its own unique set of challenges.”
Julian says HVACR is an industry that is al-
ways changing, mainly due to the phase out of refrigerants, new technology and the cost of en- ergy driving the need for more efficient systems.
In the past decade, he says the biggest change has been the uptake of natural refrigerants, par- ticularly CO2 in the heavy commercial/light in- dustrial sector.
“And more recently it is the uptake of heat pumps for combined heating and cooling,” he says. Despite the drive to net zero, Julian says the industry is still stuck on tried and tested old de-
signs and catalogue engineering.
“This is evident when we see that the use of
R404A has increased rather than declined since the HFC phase down began in 2018,” he says.
“I feel this is largely due to the lack of skills and training in the industry, there are also no dedi- cated refrigeration degrees at university level.”
Julian says another problem is visibility and branding because most people including govern- ments do not understand the importance of the HVACR industry.
“The HVACR industry is responsible for eight per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and uses 17 per cent of all electricity generated in the world,” he says.
“NO TWO JOBS ARE THE SAME, EACH ONE HAS ITS OWN UNIQUE SET OF CHALLENGES.”
“Net zero is not achievable without dramatic change in the HVACR industry.”
Asked about his future plans, Julian says he is focused on growing the Glaciem business and promoting more sustainable technology path- ways for the sector.
Sponsored by Alfa Laval, the winner of the En- ergy Savings & Sustainability Award was an- nounced by refrigeration industry manager at Alfa Laval, Anson John.
CLIMATECONTROLNEWS.COM.AU
22