Advocacy
The HVAC&R industry has some key challenges at a local level, including skills and compliance issues, right through to the global stage, where we are seeing disruptive events such as pandemic and extreme weather events. There is an urgent need for safe and effective systems with greater energy efficiency and reduction in harmful emissions.
AIRAH has consulted with industry leaders through Special Technical Groups, AIRAH conventions and division events. We have identified some key issues requiring AIRAH thought leadership. They are:
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Licensing – to achieve our national climate goal commitments and provide a safe and comfortable environment for all Australians, we need a skill-based, harmonised licensing system for HVAC&R technicians.
- Resilience – the ability for buildings to operate during, and to recover quickly from adverse events.
- Sustainability – building sustainability aligned to energy use and emissions reduction.
- Compliance – addressing undiscovered and discovered compliance issues across all elements of the supply chain.
- Refrigerants Transition and PRIME – addressing the move to low-GWP refrigerants and the training needs of the industry.
- Innovation and Research – leading the drive for continuous improvement through innovation and research, for example the Innovation Hub for Affordable Heating and Cooling (i-Hub).
To maximise our effectiveness in setting and pursuing our leadership agenda we have created a structured process for capturing and distilling industry input, using STGs and other forums, and creating valuable outputs. For each topic area we define objectives (whether that be to create best-practice industry resources or to facilitate change to government policy and/or industry regulation), identify key stakeholders, and establish and implement engagement plans.