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NEWS
For the latest in News from Haden please read articles below:
June 20th 2010
Haden’s top 18 apprentices from around Australia took part in the inaugural Haden / MIGAS Apprentice Challenge in Rockhampton. The Challenge pitched 2nd, 3rd and 4th year apprentices against each other in a test of theoretical and practical expertise.
The challenge, involving local air conditioning company Haden Engineering, MIGAS Apprentices and Trainees, Rockhampton TAFE and The Rockhampton Grammar School, is the latest example of what Haden has been achieving for youth in regional areas by working closely with educational institutions.
Chris Lovell, Rockhampton branch manager and developer of the Challenge, is a long time supporter of promoting apprenticeships to regional youth as a great career option and developing his apprentices into first class technicians. He has nurtured close links with industry and training bodies to ensure his apprentices develop the technical skills and problem solving abilities they will need on the job.
“As a company, we need to support our young apprentices and show them that we value their commitment to working, and studying, hard,” explains Chris. “This challenge tested not only the capabilities of the individual technicians, but also the training and development that is provided through the branches and their local TAFE colleges”.
Haden and MIGAS were instrumental in lobbying for Rockhampton TAFE to introduce the Refrigeration skills course. Prior to this, Haden technicians had to spend hours on the road travelling to the nearest TAFE that offered the course.
“MIGAS work hard on developing relationships with the local industry and training bodies” explained Stuart MacDonald of MIGAS. “Our aim is to support the youth of Australia’s regional areas with employment and training opportunities.”
“Apprentices are our future and we need to ensure their skill levels are high and they stay with our company,” Chris explained, “but being a local branch staffed with local people, we think it is equally important to work with the community to develop educational pathways”. Haden Engineering hosts an increasing number of school based apprentices from The Rockhampton Grammar School each year and invited a number of students to attend the Challenge to see how exciting an apprenticeship can really be.
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Contact
David Andrews
General Manager Business Development
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 438147135
Aus: 0438147135
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April 14th 2010
With the growth of energy efficiency legislation and soaring costs in power and resources worldwide, how does a company continually increase its efficiency and reduce its overheads? This issue is critical as governments and regulatory bodies globally are legislating to ensure business complies with these tough new levels of statutory emissions control.
The changes are occurring so quickly that the most compliant company this week may not be next week.
This is why it is fundamental that providers of building management systems partner with technological leaders whose products are evolving in line with the kinds of dynamic, ‘under continuous development’ standards in their industry.
For example, the BACnet data communication protocol for building automation and control networks has transformed the industry. The protocol was developed under the auspices of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and meets the ISO global standard.
The protocol is so dynamic it opens up exciting new opportunities for creating innovative products and solutions in building automation.
Both Haden and our New Zealand based sister company Climatech are approved system integrators with Cylon Controls, one of the largest and fastest growing independent manufacturers of building control systems in Europe.
Cylon is extremely responsive to developing its systems in line with BACnet changes and new formats. It supports, for example, both BACnet/IP, a communication protocol at the building level, and BACnet MS/TP, a communication protocol at the controller level.
We work closely with Cylon consultants on emerging protocols and compliance issues. For example, one of Cylon’s new products, the UC32.16H (a package unit controller), has been designed specifically for Haden to meet the Australian packaged unit market. Its flexible output selection suits multiple fan, heating and cooling applications including economy cycle.
To assist clients, Haden and Climatech has developed a system for identifying how Cylon Control products can be of maximum assistance and constantly working to provide the latest innovations.
We gather information on client needs, look at existing BMS and control systems, identify the interface required to the existing front-end, establish a points list and whether remote access is required, and, taking into account the client’s budget, discuss this directly with Cylon’s local consultants.
While most competitors offer off-the-shelf solutions, Haden and Climatech work directly with Cylon to provide a tailored solution that offers continually updating technology to ensure clients remain at the forefront of technology.
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Contact
David Andrews
General Manager Business Development
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 438147135
Aus: 0438147135
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February 10th 2010
Matt Shorten, Managing Director of Balance Carbon, has a message for business: establish and implement an emissions management strategy now or pay spiralling costs in the decades to come. In short, he says, businesses can no longer afford to hesitate in creating changes to meet the increasing pressures associated with an imminent carbon price across the Australian economy.
In addition, Australia’s export markets are increasingly focussing on emissions and are already applying pressure to make our exporters accountable for the emissions resulting from the production and transport of their products.
In essence, Mr Shorten said the emissions market is coming at Australian business in two directions – from domestic and foreign customers of our goods and services imposing their carbon reduction commitments and from the Federal Government’s commitment to a carbon price in our economy through an ETS scheme or similar.
No matter where the pressure comes from Mr Shorten predicts carbon costs will likely spiral dramatically upwards.
“If you consider that the current debated cost per tonne of CO2 under the first year of an Australian ETS is $10, you can expect that will double and potentially triple by even 2015."
“It’s these kinds of figures that start to drive a company toward energy and resource efficiency.”
Mr Shorten’s powerful take on the industry of carbon emissions management will be presented today in a series of symposiums in Brisbane on the energy industry being conducted by the Norfolk Group of engineering companies. Norfolk includes engineering brands such as O’Donnell Griffin and Haden. Senator Santo Santoro will be hosting the event on behalf of the Norfolk Group, his industry knowledge and exposure unparalleled in the Queensland sector.
The symposiums are rolling out nationally, in June in Melbourne, in July in Adelaide and will be presented at a number of important conferences. This includes its staging during Sydney’s ARBS Conference from 12-14 April in an adjacent venue so delegates are able to be attend.
As Mr Shorten points out, a whole range of companies, those producing 125 kilo tonnes CO2 within a fixed financial year, already face mandatory reporting and disclosure, under the Federal Government’s 2007 NGER Act. In the financial year of 2009-2010, that legislation’s threshold (above which a company must disclose its emissions) falls to 87.5 tonnes, the following year of 2010-2011 to 50 tonnes.
But the good business of managers creating systems to measure, manage and reduce greenhouse gas emissions is not just about direct financial cost per tonne nor about avoiding legislative penalties: “In many industries, where other countries have emission reduction commitments already in place, to maintain market access, an Australian company can simply no longer ignore it.”
“Overseas competitors are finding it a useful way to block imports, so Australian businesses and industries in that position of needing to keep their way in, simply have to have an emissions figure and various management commitments sorted out.” Mr Shorten, whose company BalanceCarbon, provides carbon management consultancy to business, cites the agribusiness sector including wine, fishery and even textile industries as prime candidates in this arena.
“We have one client who has been approached by Armani and Marks & Spencer who want the top quality Australian wool but will only purchase it with an emissions offset price that covers the raising of the sheep, the shearing, super washing, spinning, dyeing, and freighting. Supply chains are now asking companies to supply that offset figure.”
“And in terms of carbon labelling, the UK company Tesco, for example, is beginning to require product suppliers to label their products, so a packet of chips for example will tell you how many grams CO2 there are per gram of product. This gives consumers the opportunity to make an informed decision.”
In tomorrow’s symposium, key speakers include O’Donnell Griffin QLD State Manager, Mr Greg Skyring, O’Donnell Griffin HSEC Manager Mr Michael Wright, speaking on the need to prepare for this change within the engineering sector, and a presentation by eminent energy conservation speaker, Mr Kim Finnimore, of the Energy Conservation Systems company.
“The symposiums will run regularly throughout 2010,” says Mr Frank Halman, convenor of the series and O’Donnell Griffin’s National Service Business Development Manager.
“As Matt quotes in his presentation, a manager doesn’t have the luxury any more of querying the reality of climate change. The market has already decided it’s real and companies must adapt.”
“A big part of the process is understanding what the market drivers are,” said Mr Shorten. “Yes, there are some pretty big risks but there’s also some pretty significant opportunities in a carbon-constrained environment.”
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Contact
David Andrews
General Manager Business Development
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 438147135
Aus: 0438147135
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January 30th 2010
From January 2010 building owners must incorporate the phase-out of the refrigerant R22 into the cost and scope of their building system plans.
In line with Federal Government legislation, only recycled or saved stocks of the refrigerant R22 can now be used as it will no longer be manufactured.
R22 is one of the hydro chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) which has enabled the phase-out of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), being more energy-efficient and low in toxicity that CFCs in comparison. But HCFCs still carry some ozone depletion potential (ODP) and so their phase-out has been occurring since 2002.
This latest stage of the phase-out will have significant impact on any building owner whose systems rely on the refrigerant, and the companies which service them, says Mr Mark Dredge, Building Energy Management Control Systems (BEMCS) Manager, Haden. The systems mainly affected are split systems, up to larger central plants.
Under the phase-out regulations (Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989), no more virgin R22 can be used in existing systems and are banned from 2015 even for existing systems.
The issues presented by the R22 phase-out for building owners include:
- Supply of parts and service support for R22 equipment
- Limited availability and rising price of R22 to support installed equipment
- Requirement for R22 equipment conversions to alternative refrigerants
- Replacing R22-based equipment.
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Contact
David Andrews
General Manager Business Development
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 438147135
Aus: 0438147135
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January 30th 2010
As the complexity of mechanical engineering projects and environmental regulations continues to increase, the need for an engineering department who can respond to the challenges of the industry intensifies.
Haden Engineering has recently appointed internationally experienced Howard Nguyen to the role of National Engineering Manager. Howard’s aim is to continue to expand on the depth of engineering talent and framework built over the past 40 years in Australia to ensure Haden continues to be at the leading edge of mechanical engineering.
“Haden already has an engineering team with a depth of experience developed on past and current projects. Four of our most senior engineers each have over 30 years experience in the industry and our more junior engineers have developed skills beyond their years by working as part of a team on complex and challenging projects”, explains Howard. “The complexity of some of the larger projects on the board and the high degree of innovative or ground breaking technology being used means that we need to continue building our capabilities to cater for this.”
No-one is better placed than Howard to lead the charge. Having developed his career outside Australia, part of this with one of the largest mechanical engineering consultancies in the world, he has worked on difficult and complex projects, directing teams whose members were spread across the globe. The Abu Dhabi Plaza project of 600,000 m2 in Kazakhstan, the Zaradye Project of 530,000m2 in Russia were some of the largest projects Howard directed.
Howard and his team have put in place measures to ensure Haden has the right skills in the right place, at the right time, as demanded by each project. This ranges from mechanical engineering, commissioning and project management. Haden’s Engineering Centre of Excellence has a centralised core which supports engineering activity throughout branches across the country
“If we take on a large project in a regional area, we will centralise the management of the design, and engineering to support the branch to develop the skills they can use in future,” explains Howard. “We believe when it comes to complicated and large projects we need a pool of experienced engineers that we can draw on while building up the local expertise. This opens up a world of opportunities for employees as we really encourage team work on projects. Younger engineers work side-by-side with experienced engineers to gain firsthand experience. Employees who are keen to move interstate or overseas can also consider these opportunities.
Haden’s Personal Development Program focuses on providing the tools and training opportunities to develop according to their own personal interests as well as company needs. All our engineers complete Greenstar and/or NABERS accreditation schemes to make sure they are abreast of potential issues but are also encouraged to become members of their local industry associations.
The outlook for Haden’s engineering professionals in Australia looks great, according to Howard. “Engineering will be as big as the business opportunities that we actively chase. Haden will continue to grow on its name, its great people oriented culture, and its engineering capability.”
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Contact
David Andrews
General Manager Business Development
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 438147135
Aus: 0438147135
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December 15th 2009
Adelaide zoo’s latest arrivals, four year old Wang Wang and his three year old female companion Funi, are enjoying the comfort of their new enclosure complete with refrigerated rocks designed and installed by the Adelaide branch of Haden Engineering.
The second oldest zoo in Australia, Adelaide Zoo houses almost 300 native and exotic species and has a successful breeding program. The Panda enclosure incorporates a panda holding area with a bamboo room complete with bamboo specially delivered from Sichuan province. It also houses day rooms, keeper’s corridors, kitchen areas and plant room on the north western side.
“The South Australian climate is much hotter than the pandas’ natural environment, so great effort has gone into ensuring they will not suffer from the hot, dry conditions”, explains Mark Stevenson of Haden’s Adelaide installation team. “To accommodate this, the enclosure is cooled in two ways: an air handling unit services the day rooms while the actual enclosure is cooled using six large, chilled rocks spread around the periphery of the area.”
The chilled ‘rocks’ are molded from glass reinforced concrete to resemble rock formations. Inside is a copper coil supplied with water chilled to 6 degrees and a temperature sensor which is used to maintain the temperature to around 10 degrees. This will provide a constant source of cooling even in the outside environment and will allow the pandas to move freely from the air-conditioned enclosed space of the day rooms to the outdoors enclosure in relative comfort.
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Contact
David Andrews
General Manager Business Development
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 438147135
Aus: 0438147135
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November 23rd 2009
The massive dust clouds that hit Sydney and Brisbane over the last few weeks resulted in the majority of open recirculating cooling water systems receiving considerable airborne contamination. Haden advised Climate Control News on the importance of remediating air conditioning systems after severe weather, fire and flooding events.
While proactive maintenance regimes are essential for maintaining the health and efficiency of air conditioning systems, freak storm, flood or fire activity causes havoc that no one can prepare for.
With the frequency of dust storms and severe weather occurrences, Haden’s service manager for Broken Hill, Matthew Mann, has had to cope with the remediation of HVAC units on a large scale, with as many as five severe dust storms pass through in five weeks. “It is pointless to be proactive and give everything a once-off clean, as these storms are unpredictable. We have to deal with it as best we can and identify any problem areas and rectify prior to breakdowns occurring.”
Standard fresh air and supply air filters have been choked with the fine dust particles, and in some cases, the particles have passed through the filters and contaminated the whole conditioned space, not to mention leaving a residue throughout the
internal ductwork and components.”
But it is much more than that, he says. “Switchboards have been contaminated and condenser coils have been affected. The true
effects will not be known until we have our first hot summer days, when systems will begin shutting down due to high head pressures from the blocked condenser coils.”
The sheer amount of dust settling in Broken Hill means that no system is immune. “Evaporative coolers have been similarly
affected. The dust has settled in the cooling pads, and once the cooler is turned on, a blast of dust enters the room, then as the water passes over the filter pads, the sump accumulates mud, which is then circulated back through the system.”
Click here to read the full article as it appeared in the December issue of Climate Control News.
(Parts of this interview reprinted with permission of Climate Control News.)
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Contact
David Andrews
General Manager Business Development
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 438147135
Aus: 0438147135
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October 27th 2009
The Cairns airport project involved the redevelopment of the two level domestic terminal and new departures area with ticketing and baggage handling facilities and the Qantas lounge. It has been developed in three stages. The scope of Mechanical Services for the Domestic Terminal Redevelopment includes the additional plant upgrading in the Central Services Building as well as chilled water air conditioning systems located in three separate plant rooms; mechanical ventilation systems; smoke spill systems; air conditioning and ventilation to the “fixed links” to the aeroplanes; and, interface with the Building Management System. All of the equipment used in this job was selected for its ability to improve energy efficiency.
The tropical weather of far north Queensland presented a challenge for Haden as the channels and ground works for installing the 150m of underground mains to pipe the chilled water to the domestic terminal kept filling up with water and delaying progress. However, the Haden team continued to meet their targets.
An added challenge presented to Haden was the security issues of working “airside” and the safety of people movement. Working in conjunction with Hansen Yuncken many tasks were undertaken over night with the terminal re-established to pristine condition for trading the following day.
Providing air conditioning in the tropics is of major importance and Haden had to ensure that the new air conditioning system was completed to the extent that comfortable conditions were maintained within the terminal, so the existing air conditioning could be made redundant to make way for further works.
Having worked on a number of projects with Hansen Yuncken over the years, including the Prince of Wales Hospital and Sydney Domestic Terminal 2, Haden’s aligned values and commitment to quality and safe work practices have helped them to develop a great rapport with each project team.
Click here to view our latest feature in Australian National Construction Review Magazine
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Contact
David Andrews
General Manager Business Development
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 438147135
Aus: 0438147135
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October 21st 2009
Using new technology, effective building management systems and plain old common sense is all it takes to reduce the energy use and cost of air conditioning a building.
It is becoming more important for building owners than ever before to check the efficiency of air conditioning systems as increased government regulations, the proposed Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme, and the legislated phase out of R22 refrigerants used in older systems come into force.
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Contact
David Andrews
General Manager Business Development
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 438147135
Aus: 0438147135
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July 2009
Richard Smith, formerly General Manager within the Fire and Property Service Division of Norfolk, has been appointed to the role of Chief Executive of Haden Engineering. Richard has previously held strategic planning and development roles with Barclay Mowlem and Transfield. He is joined by: David Andrews in the role of General Manager, Business Development; Alan Dunn moves into the position of General Manager Haden Service; and George Komorowski as General Manager Haden Construction. Haden are currently working on Macquarie University Library, William McCormack Building Cairns and Port Hedland Hospital.
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Contact
David Andrews
General Manager Business Development
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 438147135
Aus: 0438147135
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June 14th 2009
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The challenge facing hotels to monitor and manage their energy use goes beyond simple cost management measures, explains Mark Dredge of Haden in the latest issue of Hotel Engineer.
In today’s world, the installation of a quality BMS is critical to reducing the carbon footprint of a hotel as desired in the 2020 initiative and to satisfy the desire of corporate travellers to demonstrate their green credentials through the accommodation they select.
Hotels are currently dealing with the competing demands of a clientele with increasingly sophisticated, high energy demands (eg temperature controlled rooms with individual setpoints, plasma TVs in standard rooms etc) and regulators requiring a reduction of energy use within all commercial buildings.
Energy costs are second only to staff costs in most hotels, so it is imperative to know where your energy is being used in order to better manage your systems. With mechanical services as one of the key consumers of energy (typically 50-60% of all energy consumed for a modern office) and water in many hotels during operation, this is the ideal place to start when looking at managing your hotel’s running costs.
Click here to read more.
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Contact
David Andrews
General Manager Business Development
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 438147135
Aus: 0438147135
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7th May2009
An apprenticeship programme dedicated to developing excellence in a new generation of HVAC&R technicians has picked up another two awards. Haden’s Cairns branch was honoured at the recent Skill360 Australia Annual Awards 2009 winning the Host Employer Award. This is the second major apprenticeship programme award Haden has been awarded in the past 12 months, receiving the Coolworld Award for Best Apprenticeship Programme last year.
“Investing in our apprentices is the only way we can guarantee that we will have a stable of professional, experienced tradespeople in years to come. It also allows us to give back to the community that we work in by providing meaningful employment opportunities to local and regional youth,” explained Martyn Wittebol, North Queensland Regional Manager. “In times like these, it is more important than ever that we ensure we are in a position to meet the demand when the economy picks up again with a reliable workforce,” Martyn continued.
Congratulations also go to Darren Mackedie, a 4th year apprentice with Haden’s Cairns branch who was selected from a field of 23 candidates as the Engineering Apprentice of the year. Haden apprentices Nick Webber, Mark Bender and Gary Blackman were also nominated for their dedication to excellence and commitment to their apprenticeship and studies.
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Contact
Kelly Borskjaer
Marketing and Communications Manager
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 432139530
Aus: 0432139530
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5th April 2009
Haden has commenced work on the William McCormack Place Stage 2 development, an eight storey Government office building in Cairns QLD. Utilising energy efficient technologies, the building has been designed to achieve 5 star Greenstar ratings for Office Design v2, Office As-built v2 and Office interiors v1.1.
The mechanical services component includes chilled water AHU / VAV airconditioning systems and associated ventilation. Inclusive of the mechanical system is an air cooled chilled water plant and associated equipment incorporating a stratified chilled water thermal energy storage tank (TES). A rotary sorption (Hygroscopic) enthalpy heat exchanger will provide outside air pre-conditioning to meeting rooms and on-floor AHU’s and there will also be standby diesel power generator and associated equipment installed.
To assist in the management of energy use within the building, the scope includes a central BMS control system integrating all mechanical, electrical, lift, security and access systems.
Full commissioning including building pressurisation and leakage testing will be completed prior to the project's scheduled completion date of mid 2010.
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Contact
Kelly Borskjaer
Marketing and Communications Manager
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 432139530
Aus: 0432139530
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12th March 2009
Haden is due to complete the construction phase of its latest Health industry project in NSW, the Mater Hospital Newcastle.
Haden’s engineering team took a collaborative approach to the design phase of this PPP project, actively working with the design consultants at each stage to maximise the energy and cost efficiency of the installation. This included using a central energy plant, variable speed high efficiency chillers, cooling towers, fans and pumps, all selected for their ability to improve energy efficiency.
Hospitals always provide challenges to HVAC systems because of the important role the systems play in ventilating and minimising exposure hazards for patients, workers and visitors. This includes minimising the airborne transmission of viruses, bacteria, fungal spores and bio-aerosols, as well as the environmental impact of the building and its systems.
Haden’s work on the Mater Hospital is the latest in a growing number of projects involving the development of energy efficient health industry facilities.
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Contact
Richard Nicholson
Divisional Sales Manager
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 417 231 551
Aus: 0417 231 551
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18th February 2009
Service branches throughout the southern states have been inundated with calls and letters of praise from customers for their quick response to service calls during heatwave conditions. Technicians arrived to a standing ovation when they rushed to one customer site in Adelaide.
With the recent heatwaves in Victoria and South Australia where for more than 10 days straight the mercury hit 40˚C plus, the performance of the technicians and staff across both states was more than
outstanding.
In SA, the highest day temperature hit 47˚C in the shade, which translates to around 60˚C to 70˚C on a roof!
“All the technical team pitched in, with Account Managers and the Regional Manager attending calls, and office staff working overtime to make sure we delivered the service to the customers,” explained Paul Reynolds, Haden Regional Manager, SA & Northern Territory.
“All technicians made themselves available and assisted those rostered on after hours calls, with most averaging 60 hours for the week and some even more!”
Techs in SA arrived at a customer site to a standing ovation while a customer in Gippsland wrote a glowing account of the extraordinary efforts that Haden went to in order to ensure operations continued
at the local power plant.
From the floods in Queensland to the heatwave conditions and devastating fires in Victoria, Haden staff around the country have been displaying an extraordinary level of customer commitment over this peak period.
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Contact
Richard Nicholson
Divisional Sales Manager
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 417 231 551
Aus: 0417 231 551
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16th January 2009
For children and staff at Tamworth High, working in a library with faulty air conditioning has been a regular part of school life. Despite many attempts at repairs by other air conditioning companies, it remained a problem until Haden’s Dion Madams and Mick Crough took up the challenge.
Tamworth High has a gas furnace/evaporative cooler twin system installed in the library. According to the Librarian, this system has never worked properly and has been subject to constant breakdowns over the past 25 years. Nobody has been able to fix this and over the course of its life, many components have been disconnected and many wiring changes have been made.
Michael and Dion have spent 5 days working on repairing this system, reconnecting components, re wiring and bringing this system back up to its original designed condition. Although labour intensive, under the contract Haden have to repair or replace the system. A replacement system could cost upwards of 60K due to the location.
In a letter of thanks from the Librarian, Elizabeth Adams, and the Principal of Tamworth High, Wayne Chaffey, they explain how Dion and Mick “left no stone unturned to get to the root of the problem and rise to the challenge of restoring it to a serviceable level. We very much appreciated their perseverance and expertise. They were thorough gentlemen and a credit to your company.”
Matt Mann, Area Supervisor-Building Services for Tamworth, Armidale and Moree Districts, passes on “a big thank you to Michael and Dion for their professionalism in both tradesmanship and customer service”.
For more information about Haden's involvement in schools, colleges, TAFE and universities, please click here.
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Contact
Richard Nicholson
Divisional Sales Manager
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Haden Engineering Pty Limited
Int: 61 417 231 551
Aus: 0417 231 551
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