Page 16 - Climate Control News Magazine March 2019
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Industry leaders recognised in Australia Day Honours List
A NUMBER OF HIGH PROFILE INDUSTRY LEADERS WERE RECOGNISED IN THE 2019 AUSTRALIA DAY HONOURS LIST INCLUDING FORMER REFRIGERANTS AUSTRALIA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STEVE ANDERSON.
HIS MEDAL IN the Order of Australia recog- nised his outstanding contribution and ser- vice to the air conditioning and refrigeration industry through the development of environ- mental policy.
Anderson was joined by outgoing Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) Chief Ex- ecutive Officer Romilly Madew who was award- ed an Order of Australia award in honour of her distinguished service to the construction sector as a change agent and advocate for sustainable building practices.
Another champion of sustainability in the built environment and inaugural GBCA Board Member, Peter Verwer was also recognised for distinguished service to the property sector, to sustainable development and construction, and to professional bodies.
Refrigerants Australia was quick to issue a for- mal statement congratulating Anderson who formally retired in 2014. “Steve's recognition is well deserved,” the statement said.
He positioned industry to work collaboratively with government and to take necessary steps – typically at significant cost and risk – to deliver improved environmental outcomes. In its state- ment Refrigerants Australia said the results of Anderson's efforts are both astonishing and sub- stantive and include:
Effective transition away from ozone de- pleting substances resulting in the ozone hole beginning to close with it expected to be healthy by 2050.
Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the early 1990s to today of over 90%, and with further reform he initiated a further reduction of another 90% between 2018 and 2036. This repre- sents a reduction of 99% over 45 years.
Improvements in energy efficiency by 60% over the past 20 years.
“Steve achieved these outcomes in two ways. Firstly he worked closely with the Commonwealth to agree on phase out schedules that pushed in- dustry to move away from substances that had negative impacts on ozone or climate change.
“STEVE HELPED INITIATIVE IMPORTANT INDUSTRY PROGRAMS LIKE RRA AND ARCTICK.”
“He also worked with the industry he repre- sented to be flexible and to push themselves to accept change. These efforts can be seen in the initial passage of the Ozone Protection Act in 1989 and its major revisions in 2004 and in 2017.
“The second element of Steve’s genius was to convince the industry to develop and in-
vest in innovative programs that deliver substantive environmental benefits. This includes Refrigerant Reclaim Australia,
which is an industry funded program that collects and destroys used refriger- ants,” the statement said.
the most effective anywhere. Its operations have prevented the equivalent of 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide entering the atmos- phere and has saved over 10 million tonnes of stratospheric ozone.
“The second program Steve helped initiate was ARCtick. This initiative certified those tradespeople who could demonstrate that they were suitably trained. ARCtick clearly demon- strated environmental benefit and the Common- wealth made it a mandatory license program in 2004,” the statement said.
Another industry leader deserving of recogni- tion was Madew who has just been appointed Infrastructure Australia CEO.
“I feel privileged in my work across industry and with government to support Australian ex- cellence and international leadership, and an en- during commitment to deliver more sustainable, productive and liveable cities and communities across the country,” Madew said.
“With over 2250 buildings across Australia now Green Star certified, we can now all expe- rience the benefits of more sustainable build- ings every day.”
Peter Verwer was also recognised for his com- mitment to sustainable development. Verwer was Chief Executive of the Property Council of Aus- tralia from 1992 to 2014, then Chief Executive Of- ficer of the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association.
He was also co-founder of Australian Sustain- able Built Environment Council (ASBEC) and the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA).
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In Focus
CLIMATECONTROLNEWS.COM.AU
“RRA was the first of these types of
programs globally and remains among Steve Anderson Peter Verwer Romilly Madew


































































































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