ATMOsphere Australia 2018
Last updated on 22 May, 04:51 PM
The 3rd Annual ATMOsphere Australia is held in Luna Park, Sydney on 7 May 2018.
ATMO Australia is expected to welcome 220 participants from 95 organisations, including 34 expert speakers who will take the stage to share their enthusiasm for natural refrigerants. The event is supported by 25 industry-leading companies.
Follow our coverage here on Medium with the latest session updates on top!
MEDIA COVERAGE
ATMO Australia: ‘Adopt low-charge NH3 to comply with HFC phasedown’
Scantec’s Stefan Jensen was in Sydney this week to make the case for low-charge, centralised DX ammonia systems as a means of complying with the global HFC phasedown.
ATMO Australia: ‘GEA Australia: Lifecycle costs driving end users to NatRefs’
At ARBS 2018 in Sydney on 8 May, Greg Clements of GEA Australia told this website that end users’ increasing focus on total cost of ownership is triggering more demand for ammonia-based industrial refrigeration systems.
ATMO Australia: ‘More end users recognising NatRef business case’
Demand for future-proof systems is driving further natural-refrigerant adoption in Australia’s commercial retail market.
ATMO Australia: ‘Share knowledge to expand NatRef market’
Raising awareness of the availability and benefits of natural refrigerant technology options is key to growing the market.
ATMO Australia: CO2 tech ‘warm-climate ready’
New tech innovations are improving transcritical efficiency in Australia’s warm climate, heard ATMOsphere Australia participants.
VIDEO COVERAGE
PHOTOGRAPHY COVERAGE
Have a look at some pictures that we took during the networking dinner, when the participants had an additional chance to share their expertise and connect with key people from the HVAC&R sector.
TECHNOLOGY CASE STUDIES
Key message from #ATMO Australia’s technology case studies was that while there is no ‘silver bullet’ natural refrigerant, they can usually be applied to the full spectrum of HVAC&R applications if every specific project and end user need is evaluated according to its own merits.
“By adding parallel compression with an optional ejector, #Heatcraft’s racks are ‘warm climate-ready’” — Brett Hedge, Heatcraft
“Our partnerships with end users are key to delivering new #technology” — Brett Hedge, Heatcraft
In the Australian and New Zealand markets, “investment in training is a must”. “Contractor application training is critical, but training end users on selling the benefits of using the technology is just as critical” — Brett Hedge, Heatcraft
“Once you go #ammonia, you’ll never go back!” — Stefan Jensen, #Scantec
“The numbers speak for themselves. We now have 14 systems running in #Australia, with five more under construction” — Stefan Jensen, #Scantec
“Plug N’ Cool uses a very low propane charge for each circuit (below 150g). It offers a safe and environmentally friendly alternative to centralised #supermarket #refrigeration systems”- Marek Zgliczynski, #Embraco
“With CUBO2 Smart we’ve made CO2 TC easy. We’ve reduced the #refrigerant charge and the unit is easy to install” — Inderpal Saund, #BeijerRef
“We concluded that there is no silver bullet #refrigerant. Every specific project and end user needs to be weighed up on its own merits” — Jonathon Hare, Natural Refrigerants Company
Arneg offers plug-in standard units for R290 and CO2 in #Australia. It has put a lot of effort into R290 waterloop systems recently” — Andrew Reid, #ArnegOceania
“Using advanced technology such as waterloop systems allows easy compliance with #energyefficiency regulations and helps to reduce energy costs” — Miriam Solana, #CAREL
“CO2 transcritical is here in #Australia!” — Mike Baker, #BakerRefrigeration
“Our energy savings compared to Freon systems have reached up to 50% with CO2 transcritical” — Wynand Groenewald, #CRS
“Hybrid CO2 evaporative condenser/gas coolers (HECGC) may be applied all over the world to achieve efficient CO2 refrigeration with minimum water consumption” — Klaas Visser, #KAVConsulting
HEAT PUMP WORKSHOP
TRAINING PANEL
#ATMOAustralia’s #Training Panel focused on up-skilling the trade for the transition to #NatRefs and had #ARA, #ARMA, #AIRAH, #ARC and #Danfoss on the stage. #GoNatRefs
“Learn the right stuff developed by the people with the knowledge. That’s what we are saying” — Ian Tuena, Australian Refrigeration Association (ARA)
“iManifold Platform is used to track, store, and analyse data for industry. This is industry going into the 21st century” — Kim Limburg, Australian Refrigeration Mechanics Association (#ARMA)
“#AIRAH supports the industry to up-skill in many ways — in fact everything we do is about up-skilling the industry! I believe we can make a difference. That’s why i’m here” — Phil Wilkinson, Australian Institute of #Refrigeration Air Conditioning and #Heating
“#ARC has also introduced a smart code. QR code on the card allows access to technical resources, realtime records, improving #safety and compliance” — Rod Cumming, Australian Refrigeration Council (ARC)
“#Danfoss offers complete CO2 learning portfolio online, with webinars and training videos” — Nielsen Mads Holst Danfoss
“How do people want to learn? They want to read and learn, and then get hands on. That’s when the learning happens. Technicians like hands on #training” — Jatinder Masson, #Danfoss
FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY END USER PANEL
#ATMOAustralia’s all-star Future of the Industry End User Panel, chaired by SkyNews TV’s Jon Dee has #Costco, #AldiStores, #IGA, #ColesSupermarkets, #Woolworths and #Countdown on the stage!
“If you look at one of the simplest things that can create a real diff to their bottom line and their #sustainability impact, is to go with #NatRefs. The prospects for #NatRefs have never been better. People are becoming more aware of the #HFC phasedown” — Jon Dee
“I am interested in how the end users are communicating to their customers and stakeholders how they are using #naturalrefrigerants” — Jon Dee
[Regarding their #transcritical systems] “Everybody told me its not possible. But here we are. Its only a question of aren’t you believing it?” — Marcus Meier, #Aldi Stores
“Lifecycle cost are the part which we are more interested in but it takes time to figure that out” — Marcus Meier, #Aldi Stores
“The greatest part was to look at economics. That’s how we perceive it. We’ve looked at it and said, ok certain refrigerants are going to be phased out — certainly the equipment using these gases will be banned” — Petar Lujic, IGA Wentworth Point
“The ones that aren’t natural are always going to be on the end of questionability” — Petar Lujic, IGA Wentworth Point
“That’s why we’ve gone w/ #NatRefs, not only because there is an endless abundance of it and reduces our environmental impact and we can now focus on running our business and not about changing refrigerants” — Petar Lujic, IGA Wentworth Point
“We’re satisfied with the trial at Coburg North and are now going into the pilot phase. We have 5 stores w/ CO2 transcritical in the process. 2 of 5 will be launched before Christmas” — Stuart Saville, Coles Supermarkets
“We’re doing a waterloop store. This store is an exciting store, where we’ve got waterloop and transcritical tech in one store. Waterloop is a combination with hydrocarbon cabinets. The store will launch before Christmas” — Stuart Saville, Coles Supermarkets
“One of the key things is CO2 is not new to this industry. We’ve respected the fluid over the last 10–15 years and now we’ve moved on to higher pressures” — Michael Englebright, #Woolworths
“The fact is we at Woolworths are actually living and breathing our #sustainability strategy. We’ve got a passionate leadership and engineering team” — Michael Englebright, #Woolworths
“Our goal is to go 100% #naturalrefrigerants eventually and we have a plan in place” — Greg Lewis, #Countdown
“One of the big differences i’ve seen was that last time everyone was debating CO2 vs. Ammonia — this time around there seems to be no preferences. Everyone seems to be saying the same message about how to get the message out to all the end users” — Greg Lewis, #Countdown
POLICY SESSION
Presentations by government experts on the latest regulatory issues and standards for natural refrigerants at Australian and New Zealand region and international dimensions are on stage now.
Patrick McInerney from the Australian Government Department of the Environment, updates the audience on the state of natural refrigerants in Australia: “HFC bans will be considered if alternatives aren’t being introduced into the Australian market at the expected rate, or if demand for bulk HFCs looks to be outstripping supply.”
He adds: “The phasedown of HFCs in an international treaty provides regulatory certainty and gives business an incentive to invest. The industry is already moving towards lower GWP substances.”
“By and large, equipment manufacturers move quickly to alternatives because the last thing they want is to sell technology that will be difficult to service in future. We are using a gradual phasedown for HFCs because it is a tried-and-tested method that worked well with the HCFC phaseout. It is an approach that works.” Patrick McInerney, Australian Government Department of the Environment.
Marek Zgliczynski, speaking on behalf of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), outlines the pathway to adopting the proposed increase in the propane charge limit for residential and light commercial applications from 150g to 500g by 2019.
“I expect the increase in the propane charge limit for residential and light commercial applications to increase from 150g to 500g by 2019.“
TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP ROUND TABLE
The first session of the 3rd ATMOsphere Australia includes leading companies from the local market to talk about market trends and developments followed by technology leadership round table discussion.
Douglas Herkess, from Heatcraft Australia, #ATMOAustralia’s Platinum sponsor, is starting with an overview of Heatcraft’s view of the natural refrigerant market in Australia.
“I believe one of the largest challenges at this time is creating market demand. We are here because we either believe, want to know more about, or see the opportunity for natural refrigerants.”
“Expanding the audience via education knowledge sharing and technology is an ongoing and important trend moving forward.”
Peter O’Neill summarizing Mayekawa’s view of the main trends and barriers in the industrial refrigeration market in Australia.
He comments: “Current concerns are safety and environmental issues, regarding large amounts of NH3 charge.”
“Training and upskilling of our technicians is a real area of concern.”
Scantec’s Stefan Jensen summarizes what is needed in the Australian market to be ready for the HFC phase down: “What is important here is the massive technology transition that will be triggered by the HFC phase-down.”
“In the future, most of the refrigerants will be flammable. We will need to create some awareness.”
“We need to have much more awareness across the board — end users, industry — otherwise the industry can’t identify its own need.”
Trent Miller from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Air-Conditioners Australia (MHIAA) is speaking about MHIAA’s view of the market for CO2 heat pumps and the barriers holding it back in Australia: “We have pushed the boundaries by going into Cairns, where ambient temperatures are quite warm.”
“We need to do the hardest possible jobs in Australia so that others can realize that it is possible in various climate conditions.”
Mads Holst Nielsen from Danfoss discussing the company’s efforts to provide the very latest technology for natural refrigerant trends globally: “Technology maturing has moved CO2 to smaller applications such as convenience stores. Low charge ammonia is a solution for industrial refrigeration.”
An audience question asks: “How do you manage to convince that all these systems should be integrated HVAC&R and heat recovery?”
Nielsen answers: “Its a challenge but it amounts to educating the end customer to realize that they can save a lot of costs by combining all the elements into one system.”
Ian Tuena, from C.A Group Services speaking on behalf of Advansor in this panel, is discussing the maturity of CO2 technology and its application in Australia and the need for training and upskilling of the industry and its end users.
“We’re moving forward. We are no longer in the learning phase we are in the refinement phase.”
He also asks the audience: How many women are in our industry? Commenting further that it’s visible in this room today that the percentage is not enough. “Our gender expectations here need to change.”
“What we’ve found from our own experience is that when the young kids get a hold of this (the technology education), they take it up with both hands. We should also recognize the women who are in our industry. That’s how our industry will start to think a little bit differently.”
Andrew Reid, Arneg Oceania Pty Ltd., is talking about the evolution of Arneg’s CO2 solutions and discussing the company’s latest developments with waterloop and transcritical CO2 technology.
“Arneg’s four key considerations are based on safety efficiency reliability and cost. We can confidently say we’ve been able to achieve the first requirement of achieving safety.”
Marek Zgliczynski summarized Embraco’s history of hydrocarbon compressor development and the growth of its hydrocarbon business over the last couple of years.
“Today propane is already an important part of the market for small plug ins in the U.S.”
“You can see in Europe, year by year, the percentage of sales for propane products will be accelerating in the next couple years, when HFCs will be phased down. Propane is the best choice for this size of equipment.”
The key point from discussion of the Technology Leadership Panel is clear: How do we get more resources dedicated to changing the thought process of our industry? The answers are: Revolutionizing our approach to education and attracting more women into our industry as well as raising awareness among the industry technicians and end users.
Ian Tuena summarises: “Funds should be used to fund attracting more women in the industry and more education in the industry. I am asking all of you in this room to put that pressure on. Because we need education.”
WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
A full house to kick off the biggest #ATMOAustralia 2018, the 3rd edition of this event is seeing an exciting programme with new and previous speakers to share their knowledge and experience in the local market.
Global Events Manager, Lydia Matthäus-Wiltink welcomes the audience with a warm thanks to all supporting sponsors.
A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!
In memory of Tim Edwards, former president of the Australian Refrigeration Association (#ARA), Ian Tuena, who took over Edward’s role in the ARA and knew him personally, remembers him: “Tim was just passionate about natural solutions. He was passionate about training and he was passionate about producing a better world than what he left.”
His wife Janet adds: “If Tim were here today, I know he would say, continue the fight. Just please, continue the fight.”
shecco would like to thank Tim’s wife and daughter for attending this morning to receive an Accelerate Australia & NZ lifetime achievement award in recognition of his pioneering role in making the business case for natural-refrigerant solutions in this part of the world
FINAL PROGRAM
MONDAY 7 MAY
TRIBUTE TO TIM EDWARDS
In memory of Tim Edwards, shecco remembers a key influencer for natural refrigerants and a wonderful man.
Tim Edwards, former president of the Australian Refrigeration Association (ARA), was well-known in the HVAC&R industry as a passionate advocate of the role that natural refrigerants can play in delivering a more sustainable future, in Australia and beyond.
WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
Global market trends and policy updates by ATMO Australia chairs Alvaro de Oña and Caroline Rham of shecco.
TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP ROUND TABLE
Strategic presentations on market trends followed by a round table discussion.
- Heatcraft Australia
- Mayekawa
- Scantec
- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Air-Conditioners Australia (MHIAA)
- Danfoss
- Advansor
- Arneg
- Embraco
POLICY SESSION
Presentations by government representatives and industry experts on the latest regulatory issues and standards for natural refrigerants at both Australian and international dimensions.
- Australian Government Department of the Environment
- New Zealand Ministry for the Environment
FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY END USER PANEL
Leading end users will share their experiences using different types of natural refrigerant technologies, including benefits, challenges and future plans.
Chair: Jon Dee, Sky News Business Channel
- Nestlé
- Costco
- Aldi Stores
- IGA Wentworth Point
- Drakes Supermarkets
- Coles Supermarkets
- Woolworths
- Countdown
TRAINING SESSION
This session will explore how the world is upskilling the RAC trade workforce and to reduce the training gap.
- Australian Refrigeration Association (ARA)
- Australian Refrigeration Mechanics Association (ARMA)
- Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH)
- Australian Refrigeration Council (ARC)
- Danfoss
HEAT PUMP WORKSHOP
Round table group discussions and brainstorming sessions to create an action plan to increase industry support for water-heating heat pumps using natural refrigerants, plus a few selected presentions from key industry experts.
- Co-chair: Jonathan Jutsen, Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity (A2EP)
- Mayekawa
- MHIAA
- Johnson Controls
TECHNOLOGY CASE STUDIES
- Heatcraft
- Scantec
- Arneg
- Embraco
- SCM Frigo
- CAREL
- AJ Baker Refrigeration
- Commercial Refrigeration Services (CRS)
- Natural Refrigerants Company
- KAV Consulting
