Winners of the 2016 HVACR Leadership Awards were formally announced at CCN Live, which was held earlier today at the Royal Randwick Racecourse.

The event, which was well-attended by a cross section of industry, opened with a keynote presentation on the latest trends in HVACR by Lux Research Asia Pacific managing director, Cort Isernhagen and Lux research director, Arij Van Berkel.

Attendees were given a broad overview of the changing HVACR landscape including the latest technologies gaining traction across the globe.

The first category to be announced was the award for 2016 Sustainability Leader. Sponsored by Heatcraft, the winner is Cold Logic technical director, Brad Semmler.

The Industry Rising Star Award, which is sponsored by ABB, went to Intrust Energy Solutions managing director, Michael Guli.

One of the most competitive categories in the awards program was the 2016 Woman of the Year in HVACR Award which was sponsored by Daikin.

The winner is Edefice director, Ania Hampton, the first woman to be appointed president of the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating (AIRAH).

The 2016 Emerging Leader in Energy Savings Award which is sponsored by the Australian Refrigeration Association (ARA) went to Scantec Refrigeration Technologies managing director, Stefan Jensen.

Well known as a pioneer of ammonia systems in Australia, Jensen is an accomplished engineer that has written extensively on energy efficiency benchmarking.

The next category was Innovator of the Year, an award sponsored by Temperzone.

With three finalists it was another competitive category that went to Heuch Refrigeration managing director, Steve Oakley.

The company has just commercialised the world’s first 100 per cent solar powered refrigeration containers.

The final award was the HVACR Leader of the Year Award which recognises excellence in leadership.  Sponsored by Daikin, the award goes to a professional with a well established HVACR career, a professional that has contributed to the development of the industry.

The winner is the national refrigeration manager at Coles Supermarket, Stuart Saville.

We all know Saville from his work on the retailer’s Gas Loss Mitigation and Retrofit Program and his involvement in the very first installation of a transcritical C02 System at Coles.

CCN Editor, Sandra Van Dijk, thanked all of the nominees for taking part in the awards program as well as guest judge, RACCA president, Kevin O’Shea.