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Excellence in HVAC&R Research
BREATH – University of Melbourne
In this research project, three different ventilation systems were evaluated in a vacant CBD
building over three months: displacement ventilation air conditioning; in-ceiling air filters;
and natural airflow through open windows.
The project team found that the displacement ventilation was the most effective and
energy-efficient system tested, reducing COVID-19 transmission by 83 per cent, while also
reducing energy consumption by 20 per cent.
Open Source Multiplatform – University of Sydney
The Sydney University team has developed several research tools that are widely used by
researchers, practitioners, educators, policy-makers, and facility managers worldwide.
The CBE Thermal Comfort Tool is a web application for thermal comfort calculations and
visualisations with 70,000 users a year and 201 citations. Pythermal comfort is the only Python
package for thermal comfort calculation. It is used in the back end of other web applications
and has 51 citations. Cozie for Apple and Fitbit is an application for non-intrusive data
collection. And the CBE Clima Tool is a website to analyse climate data.
Western Sydney University, Aurecon, Victoria University, and Archsciences
In this research, a new index called the Climatic Potential of Extended Natural Ventilation
(CPENV) was developed. This index identifies to what extent elevated airspeed can be exploited
for each climate based on the adaptive thermal comfort model. It allows HVAC engineers and
architects to assess the suitability of various climates for strategies and systems (e.g.,
ceiling fan-integrated air conditioning), which rely on enhanced air movement. Before CPENV, no
indices were available to assess the potential benefits of climate for ceiling fan-assisted air
conditioning systems.