Panel session: Launch of the AIRAH Resilience Checklist – A Practical Guide to Designing, Engineering, Installing, Maintaining and Operating HVAC&R

Weather events such as deluges, extreme-heat days, bushfires, tornadoes and other volatile phenomena are becoming more frequent. There is no doubt, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says, that this is due to climate change. The evidence is as irrefutable as it concerning. Nineteen of the world’s warmest years on record have occurred since 2000. Indeed, temperature records are now bested with alarming regularity. Coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic and human-made threats such as terrorism and cyber-attacks, our buildings and assets are increasingly exposed to acute shocks and chronic stresses. 

A cornerstone of AIRAH’s advocacy platform is HVAC&R resilience. As a critical enabler of the Australian economy, the HVAC&R industry has both direct and indirect roles to play in safeguarding the built environment and its occupants. The resilience of Australian buildings, the refrigerated cold chain, IT infrastructure, health services, manufacturing facilities, and processing sectors all depend on the resilience of the HVAC&R systems that support them. 

In this session, we discuss the launch of the inaugural AIRAH Resilience Checklist. This panel session will explore how this new tool can enable key decision-makers, influencers and stakeholders to make more informed choices when selecting, installing, operating or maintaining HVAC&R assets. 

Liza Taylor, M.AIRAH
Global IQ Group

About Taylor:
Taylor has more than 20 years’ experience working for some of Australia’s most popular brands, across R&D, product, marketing and management – before “falling into” the HVAC&R industry over a decade ago.
As CEO and co-founder of Global IQ Group, she is a key advisor to many HVAC&R organisations on strategy, innovation and marketing.

Taylor helped initiate the Resilience Special Technical Group for AIRAH and is the Associate Director of the group, which focuses on energy, climate and risk resilience in the built environment. She is a Non-Executive Director of AIRAH and a member of the Women of AIRAH. More recently, she has been working with AIRAH and the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources to develop the AIRAH Resilience Checklist. 
(LinkedIn)

Scott Gregson, M.AIRAH
AirSmart

About Gregson:
From implementing clean technology to leading national service and maintenance teams, Gregson has firsthand experience in the challenges that the HVAC&R industry faces in achieving more resilient buildings and assets.

He is the Chair of the Resilience Special Technical Group and will discuss the role that maintenance and service has in improving resilience, energy efficiency and asset life. 
(LinkedIn)

Lasath Lecamwasam, F.AIRAH

ESBS

About Lecamwasam:
Lecamwasam is a Chartered Professional Engineer with 35 years’ experience working in England, Scotland, New Zealand, and Australia.

He has a passion for sustainable and resilient design of new buildings and refurbishment of existing buildings, and has worked on projects that have won national awards for best practice HVAC retrofits. Lecamwasam was president of AIRAH’s ACT division for six years and is the founder and director at Engineered Solutions for Building Sustainability (ESBS), which was formed in 2015.

Kerryn Wilmot
Institute of Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney

About Wilmot:
Wilmot leads smart cities and regenerative urban environment research programs at the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF). Her research approach takes a user perspective, and is focused on creating change in the urban environment that benefits people foremost. 

Recent projects include using environmental sensor data to inform the planning decisions and construction management for a major residential development under a Smart Cities grant; defining project and sustainability aspirations with development teams; and developing policies and regulations for built environment energy productivity approaches. Wilmot is currently managing ISF’s role in a wider UTS team that is undertaking a randomised controlled trial for Sustainability Victoria on the health impacts of improving residential thermal comfort. 
Wilmot is a highly experienced architect who specialised in sustainability over a 30-year career as a consultant architect in Victoria. She has delivered complex projects, including the pioneering and innovative 60L Green Building in Carlton, which won a Banksia Award and influenced the design of today’s commercial buildings and sustainable development tools.
(LinkedIn)