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"The bridge"
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"The bridge"
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To James Spears, M.AIRAH, the AIRAH-accredited Professional Diploma in Building Services – HVAC&R (PDBS) was an opportunity to fill gaps in his industry knowledge.
The engineering graduate had already accumulated several years of on-the-job training by the time he signed up for the course. However, most of his skills and knowledge were limited to his experience working as a sustainability consultant. “The PDBS helped me to round out my knowledge in other areas of practice, particularly around how the design and construction processes operate,” he says. “I also picked up skills that have proved useful in my career since, such as how to write better specifications and how to perform heat load estimations. It has also helped me to build up and maintain my CPD requirements to obtain professional registration.” Spears was one of the first to complete the PDBS when it was introduced in 2016. Now based in Canberra as the principal consultant at DeltaQ, he has logged nine years as a sustainability and energy consultant. His background in energy efficiency and HVAC optimisation informs his work, which focuses on improving NABERS performance though energy audits and building tuning. “I would strongly recommend the PDBS course to anyone starting out in the industry, or those looking to broaden their HVAC&R knowledge,” Spears says. “The course contains heaps of industry-specific information that you don't find in other tertiary qualifications.” |
James Spears, M.AIRAH
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Nathan Groenhout, F.AIRAH
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Like Spears, many HVAC&R professionals have benefited from the AIRAH-accredited course. Since its inception, more than 270 individuals have enrolled for the PDBS, which has received positive feedback for its extensive training resource, flexible modular structure – and even demanding curriculum.
Targeting engineering graduates employed in consulting or contracting firms and/or practising trades workers, the program is designed to increase the student’s exposure to the HVAC&R industry. It does through comprehensive and practical training for the built services environment. The course grew out of a training gap that the AIRAH board of directors identified, says Nathan Groenhout, F.AIRAH, who helped develop and establish the PDBS program. “For many years, there had been talk about the gap left in the market when the Trane air conditioning course changed format,” he says. “Many young engineers had previously done this course to help them transition into the industry. As a board we saw an opportunity to fill that gap and utilise AIRAH’s reputation, members’ skills and technical resources to best effect. “I have a passion for education, and felt well placed to champion the project on behalf of the board, with support from many staff along the way." |
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Discussions about the course began mid-2012, resulting in Groenhout and AIRAH’s then professional development manager Carolyn Hughes presenting a business case to the board. The first steering group meeting was held in March of 2013, followed by the formation of a committee, comprising industry practitioners covering all disciplines, including refrigeration.
“The initial framework was developed over a couple of months, and the steering group worked hard to develop a course structure that covered the fundamentals and underlying science, design, applications and other considerations such as teamwork, contracting, pricing and the like,” says Groenhout. “It was certainly ambitious of us, but the steering committee worked hard to ensure we covered what we thought a young engineer might need starting out in the industry. It then took a couple of years to get the content written, the platform developed and piloted, and take our first cohort.” The content is delivered online, with more than 100 hours of topics divided into four key areas: fundamentals; equipment and components; systems; and practice and performance. |
In addition, students are required to design an HVAC system over 12 assignments.
With feedback from experienced engineers, they receive practical training based around a mechanical engineer’s job, including: reviewing a site, presenting design options to a client, calculating heat loads (manually, from basic principles), selecting equipment, designing, compliance assessment, budgeting, energy reporting and pulling together a tendering document. Ongoing support is provided throughout the course via the online classroom, question board, assessment schedules and peer-to-peer discussion. As well as ensuring that the content was broad and balanced, modularity was a key priority, says Groenhout. “The program was always designed to be modular so we could expand or unpack content and repackage it for different formats – short courses, advanced modules and customised in-house programs,” he says. “The course has the flexibility and structure to allow this.” |
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To date, 87 students have graduated from the course, representing about 31 per cent of the total enrolment. About 77 students (28 per cent) have withdrawn, which underlines the high standards set by the original steering committee.
“We really wanted this to be a showcase for AIRAH,” Groenhout says. “It needed to be relevant, it needed to be engaging, it needed to be challenging. We often talked about what we would do if people found it tough to complete, and we were willing to accept students dropping out to ensure the integrity of the program. It needed rigour to ensure employers would invest in the program for their staff.” The course has proved to be popular despite being challenging, or perhaps because of this. The October 2020 intake is now taking registrations and AIRAH’s education and technical services manager Brendan Pejkovic says places are filling fast. Besides occupying a vital professional training role in our industry, Groenhout says that the PDBS is ultimately about providing a well-rounded education for those serious about building a lasting career in HVAC&R. “The main impetus was the recognition that there is no dedicated HVAC&R course available through any university program in Australia,” Groenhout says. “Many engineers entering the industry have the foundation, but our course brings it all together in one place, and ties together the threads into a coherent story. |
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For more on the Professional Diploma in Building Services – HVAC&R, click here. |