CCN previews some of the highlights of the ARBS 2020 Speaker Series which is in the final stage of development.
The Speaker Series runs in conjunction with the main exhibition and each session provides attendees with invaluable learning opportunities as well as the opportunity to accrue Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Points.
RMIT University project director, Melbourne Metro Rail Project and Sustainable Urban Precincts Program, Murray Walls, will deliver a presentation that will definately be of interest to HVACR companies and building services contractors.
Entitled ‘Infrastructure without tears: How to transition from commercial to industrial contracts without losing your shirt’, the presentation features, Sharpe & Abel lawyer, Melissa Kirby.
It includes case studies showcasing the good, the bad, and why these projects can turn sour.
Topics include the differences between commercial and infrastructure contracts and explores the patchwork of contracts, legislation and relationships that mechanical, refrigeration and commercial building services contractors need to navigate to find long-term success.
A case study likely to attract a lot of interest is a presentation by Scantec Refrigeration managing director, Stefan Jensen.
He will detail the decommissioning of several existing HFC based, air cooled refrigeration plants servicing a refrigerated warehouse which is replaced with a central, low charge, dry expansion NH3 based refrigeration plant.
The session will draw on comparisons between the recorded energy performance of the new DX, NH3 system and those of the previous HFC based systems.
The analysis will review the supply authority records of the electrical energy consumed by the HFC plant and the consumption records generated using the SCADA system of the new ammonia plant, as well as an economic comparison between NH3 DX and an equivalent transcritical CO2 system.
Air movement
European markets such as the Nordic region and Germany have pioneered the use of higher efficiency air movement systems and driven down the usage of electricity in housing and building stock. However, HVAC continues to use the most energy in commercial buildings and this is the area where energy reductions benefit the bottom line the most.
This seminar will outline the new technologies and improvements that have been made on the European stage, sharing tips and lessons learnt to enable Australasian designers to improve their systems.
Presented by Suzanne Lohmann and Thomas Heine of ebm-papst, the speakers will present examples of building upgrades on a typical high-rise in Melbourne.
It will also explore options for fan upgrades in commercial buildings as stand alone or in combination with upgrades of other HVAC systems such as chillers, cooling towers, VAV systems and controls.
NABERS technical projects manager, Corine Mulet, will deliver a special presentation on the future of the NABERS energy program.
Over the last 20 years, NABERS has achieved world leading results – including a 40% drop in energy use for buildings that have participated in the program over 10 years.
Today, the future of NABERS Energy project is looking at how NABERS will adapt to achieve the same results over the next 20 years. This informative seminar will discuss emerging sector-wide trends that are being considered which include the rise of net-zero carbon building design.
Not only are net zero carbon buildings highly energy efficient they are fully powered from renewable energy. This project considers how NABERS can recognise and reward buildings using zero emissions energy sources.
Another trend that will be covered in this session is decarbonising the grid.
Mulet will examine what amendments NABERS should make across all its energy rating tools, over what timeframe, to ensure rating results remain relevant over the next decade and beyond.
In this session, NABERS will speak about the findings of this project to date, proposed solutions, impacts to ratings, future plans and how participants can provide input.
Expert Group researchers Michael McCann and Peter Brodribb will update attendees on the latest Cold Hard Facts data.
An update to Cold Hard Facts will be revealed in this much anticipated session which will review the annual updates with a focus on changes to the bank of refrigerants in Australia.
This review is expected to provide the annual rates of change in adoption of new technology and new refrigerants, data and trends that will enable improved forecasting of demand for HFCs against Australia’s commitments to phase down HFCs under the terms of the Montreal Protocol.
As the market increasingly introduces and employs non-HFC refrigerants that are not required to be reported at the point of importation, capturing data on imports of pre-charged equipment and on consumption of bulk gas, will require active industry participation.
Cold Hard Facts is widely recognised as the most comprehensive inventory available of the Australian HVAC&R sector making it a session not to be missed.
Another session that is important for anyone working in building services is a presentation by Eurofast client development manager, Jordan Bartlett.
This technical session will deal with Part B1 Structural Provisions of the National Construction Code, specifically AS1170.4 including Section 8 Parts and Components which can apply to the restraint of Building Services.
Bartlett will explain why restraints are required and who can design them, when section 8 applies to a building and what exemptions apply.
The content will help participants improve tendering, ensure an audit trail and implement an integrated approach.
Hybrid energy
With distributed energy use in buildings becoming increasingly common, systems now need to meet building energy needs.
Historically commercial buildings have utilised chilled water storage and the building thermal mass as storage to avoid electricity peak demand charges. However future outlooks envisage building HVAC systems to employ a combination of storages systems, energy sources and chillers to optimally meet building energy needs.
This session will outline an artificial intelligence-supported model predictive controller (AI-MPC) framework using a high-level model to generate predictions of system load and resources to minimise operation costs.
AI methods will be applied to continuously learn and update the system models based on feedback from measurements and to generate predictions and define optimal trajectories.
The AI-MPC will focus on addressing challenges existing in the framework including reliable and efficient estimation of future status as required for multiple factors in the system and joint optimization of the entire system.
This session will be presented by Chirayu Shah of Conserve IT, Subbu Sethuvenkatraman of the CSIRO and Mark Hooper of Echuca Regional Health.
ARBS is Australia’s premiere event for HVACR and building services professionals. It will be held from May 19-21, 2020 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
To register visit www.arbs.com.au