Page 10 - Climate Control News magazine February 2022

News
AREMA withdraws support for NCC 2022
AREMA president, Mark Padwick.
THE AIR CONDITIONING and Refrigeration Equipment Manufacturers Association (ARE- MA) has identified a serious flaw in the proposed 2022 National Construction Code (NCC).
AREMA president, Mark Padwick, said the proposal takes a whole-of-home approach to en- ergy efficiency which includes heating and cool- ing equipment.
“The approach proposed by the Australian Building Code Board does not ensure reductions in energy use, at least in relation to heating and cooling,” he said.
The methodology proposed only considers the efficiency of heat pump systems for heating and cooling, but not the size of the system.
“Most new systems are inverter (variable speed) and one of the ways they get their efficien- cy is by running at less than rated capacity for much of their operation,” he said.
“It is important to understand that smaller systems are typically more efficient than larger ones and maximum efficiency of inverter sys- tems typically occurs at around 50-70 per cent of rated capacity.
“Therefore, without any requirement for the air conditioner’s cooling capacity to be matched to the building load it is possible that the builder will select a smaller system because it is lower in cost and meets the so-called efficiency target.
“The perverse outcome is that the undersized air conditioner will spend most of its operating time at maximum capacity and its energy con- sumption will be higher than projected by the NCC, with higher energy costs and decreased comfort.”
Padwick said an undersized system cannot deliver the efficiency, electricity costs or comfort levels projected by the NCC.
“AREMA calls on the Australian Building Code Board to incorporate sizing of heating and cool- ing equipment into the 2022 National Construc- tion Code,” Padwick said pointing out that ARE- MA cannot support the current approach which will lead to higher energy bills, increased electric- ity use and a rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
Guidelines drafted to reduce emissions
VICTORIA’S ENVIRONMENT PRO- TECTION Authority (EPA) has released draft guidelines for public comment on managing greenhouse gas (GHG) emis- sions.
Submissions close 8 February, 2022 with final guidelines set to be released in August.
The draft guideline outlines a risk man- agement approach that can be applied to GHG emissions. It is being implemented un- der Victoria’s Environment Protection Act 2017 which was introduced on 1 July, 2021.
The new Act increases maximum pen- alties for serious environmental offences with corporates facing fines up to $3.2 million and individuals can get jail terms up to five years.
The centrepiece of the legislation is the General Environmental Duty (GED), which is criminally enforceable. It means
reasonable steps must be taken to mini- mise harm to the environment.
The Australian Refrigeration Council (ARC) has welcomed the release of the draft guidelines pointing out the refriger- ation and air conditioning industry has been adhering to an emission reduction scheme for almost 20 years.
ARC CEO, Glenn Evans, said that since the introduction of the industry’s national licensing scheme in 2005 Australia’s RAC technicians have reduced emissions of ozone depleting gases by more than 25 mega tonnes.
“Today, Australia’s RAC technicians number more than 115,000,” he said.
“More and more, the environment has become the driver and state and federal governments implement operating guide- lines that make it necessary for business- es to evolve.” ✺
RAC technicians have been reducing emissions for almost 20 years.
CLIMATECONTROLNEWS.COM.AU
Mark of authenticity
DESPITE A HIGH number of HVAC equip- ment suppliers moving their manufacturing offshore, Temperzone has increased the size and capacity of its local operations.
Temperzone’s cooling and heating prod- ucts are produced in state-of-the-art manu- facturing facilities in Sydney, providing hundreds of jobs to the local manufactur- ing sector.
As a result of this commitment to the local economy, Temperzone now displays the Aus- tralian Made logo on air conditioning sys- tems that are manufactured at its factory in Sydney’s west.
This includes air cooled package units, air cooled split ducted, air handling units, chilled water fan coils and vertical water cooled package units.
Described as the true mark of Aussie au- thenticity, the logo is Australia's most trust- ed, recognised and widely used country of ori- gin symbol.
It is underpinned by a third-party accred- itation system, which ensures products that carry the logo are certified as 'genuinely Australian'.
ABOVE: A Temperzone installation in Melbourne.
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