ARBS 2018, Australia’s only international air conditioning, refrigeration and building services trade exhibition, has broken all previous records for attendance.

Held in Sydney for the first time since 2010 at the new International Convention Centre (ICC) in May, the ARBS exhibition was the largest to date with 314 exhibitors over 19,030 square metres, offering the industry unrivalled access to the latest in HVAC&R developments in the southern hemisphere. The four lower level exhibition halls at the ICC hall were packed with cutting-edge technology, hands-on product and equipment displays, and solutions. This year’s edition recorded a total of 9,754 visitors over the three days.

“The 2018 exhibition has once again raised the performance bar and we look forward to returning to Melbourne in 2020. We are confident 2020 will build on the very solid foundations from this and previous exhibitions,” says ARBS Chairman Ian Hopkins.

ARBS 2018 Speaker Series

The popular Speaker Series, which ran alongside the exhibition, saw guest speakers and industry leaders present on a diverse range of topics, updates and future trends for the HVAC&R industry. Hosting 1502 attendees across all sessions compared to 823 attendees in 2016, the program also featured behind-the-scenes tours of Sydney ICC’s central energy plant, as well as a guided tour of Barangaroo South’s recycled water plant and district cooling plants.

A case study presentation by Lend Lease and Norman, Disney & Young explored challenges faced throughout the project and key lessons learnt, and the onsite tour enabled delegates to experience first-hand how the Barangaroo South precinct led the way in sustainable design and performance.

The debate on whether Australia was ready for low GWP refrigerants drew a large audience, which also learnt about policy changes that will affect the Australian HVAC&R industry and discovered what’s in store for Section J (Energy Efficiency) Volume 1 of the NCC for 2019.

IBTech@ARBS

IBTech@ARBS, a new precinct for the 2018 exhibition, was dedicated to intelligent building technologies and solutions. The Insight Series presentation by the Strategic Cloud Engineer from Google, Shyam Govardhan looked at the combination of Cloud Computing, Internet of Things (IOT) and Machine Learning, which presents unique opportunities to the building automation industry by enabling the creation of innovative products to deliver improved occupant comfort, efficient operation of building systems, reduction in energy consumption and operating costs, and improved lifecycle of utilities.

Product Presentation Theatre

Exhibitors at the Product Presentation Theatre presented product and technology information, updates and demonstrations. The presentations ranged from preventative HVAC maintenance to energy efficiency, kitchen grease filters through to chillers and refrigerant phasedown.

ARBS 2018 Industry Awards

The ARBS 2018 Industry Awards gala dinner, held at the ICC Grand Ballroom was very well received with a huge demand for tickets; over 420 attendees watched in anticipation as the 2018 winners were announced.

ARBS Hall of Fame Awards

One of the most prestigious awards was presented to five lifelong contributors to the HVAC&R and building services industry who were inducted into the ARBS Hall of Fame 2018. They included Stephen Gilchrist (nominated by CIBSE ANZ); John Bosci (nominated by AIRAH); Mark Padwick (nominated by AREMA); David Seedsman (nominated by AMCA); and Warren Cole (nominated by RACCA).