AIRAH have formed a new Special Technical Group (STG) which will focus on resilience.
According to their media release, the Resilience STG aims to: increase awareness of resilience as a design principle, gather knowledge of resilient design approaches, generate resilient design tools and strategies, and fill in resilience knowledge gaps specific to the HVAC&R industry.
Their media release states that resilience is defined by the Resilient Design Institute as “the capacity to adapt to changing conditions and to maintain or regain functionality and vitality in the face of stress or disturbance.” AIRAH CEO, Tony Gleeson referred to the definition in the context of bouncing back from extreme weather events, such as bushfires and floods.
According to its official website, the Resilience STG is also aiming to develop information graphics to communicate issues and opportunities, to publicise resilient designs of HVAC&R and the built environment, as well as working on research on future climate data. The website also states that the STG is aiming to generate resilient design tools and strategies across four industry segments: building/system design, installation and related construction, Facility O&M and equipment engineering.
Their media release also stated that the Resilience STG kicked off with a workshop earlier this year which focused on pinpointing challenges, knowledge gaps and technical shortcomings.
This is the fifth STG that AIRAH have established, the other four focus on backflow prevention, environmentally sustainable design, natural refrigerants and solar cooling.