ACR Journal

December 2022 | January 2023 NEWS 04 Volume 9 No.1 WORLD VENTILATION DAY DELIVERS POWERFUL MESSAGE The first World Ventilation Day (#WorldVentil8Day) held on 8 November, has been hailed a huge success by health experts, engineers, scientists, and academics. A total of 21 organisations, including professional bodies, universities, and environmental groups from across UK, Europe, North America, and Australia, backed the campaign to raise public awareness of the vital role played by ventilation in supporting people’s health, wellbeing and productivity. Spearheaded by leading healthy building champion Professor Cath Noakes OBE, professor of environmental engineering for buildings at the University of Leeds, the campaign was driven in the UK by BESA (the Building Engineering Services Association), CIBSE (the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers) and FETA (the Federation of Environmental Trade Associations). The theme of the day was Improving Ventilation for a Healthier World and this was picked up more than five million times on social media networks in 30 countries. The website attracted over 15,000 visitors from 75 di erent countries and print media coverage had a reach of 382 million across 12 countries. “The level of global engagement was astonishing considering the campaign was only launched three weeks before the day itself – and with no budget,” said BESA technical director Graeme Fox, who was interviewed by a range of UK national news outlets and radio stations. “It shows that there is a huge appetite for information about this issue. People are genuinely worried about air pollution, but we were able to explain how they can take control of their indoor air quality (IAQ) by reviewing how their homes, o ces, schools and the public places they visit are ventilated.” Professor Noakes said: “Good ventilation is part of creating a sustainable and low carbon environment, by using technology to balance air quality, energy use and comfort. It is critical to making buildings more resilient to health threats including our regular battles with the transmission of colds and flu around crowded indoor spaces.” The day also recognised the role played by engineers who implement the measures and strategies used to make buildings healthier and safer – highlighting the need for training and recruiting more skilled people to take on this growing global task. worldventil8day.com STAR BACKING DRIVE TO ATTRACT MORE TECHNICIANS Star Refrigeration is backing a new campaign to encourage more young people to consider technical careers. According to recent reports, the UK needs around 800,000 more technicians and apprentices to meet the economy's demand for practical science jobs to boost innovation and economic growth. Star Refrigeration is supporting the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s national campaign, Technicians: We Make the Di erence, to inspire young people to consider technical careers across various industries, including industrial cooling and heating. Star employs over 100 refrigeration and heating technicians across 11 UK locations and provides technical apprenticeships and fast-track opportunities for young people. Two of the company's engineers, Sam Gills, and Tom Woolston, who have previously completed Star’s refrigeration engineering apprenticeship, were selected to tell young people aged 11-16 about their fulfilling and enjoyable careers as refrigeration and heating technicians. Their stories have been featured on Gatsby’s new Technicians: We Make the Di erence website, where they both share their experiences as refrigeration and heating technicians to inspire youngsters to consider technical careers. Refrigeration engineer Sam Gills said: ‘’I am proud to support Gatsby’s campaign. It has been a great experience and I am delighted to have been able to share my experience as a cooling technician and encourage others to consider a career in this rewarding industry. Doing an apprenticeship as a technician is a fantastic opportunity for young people because it allows you to earn a salary while gaining valuable experience and working towards a qualification. "Industrial refrigeration is a great trade to work in. Those interested in making the world a more sustainable place must look no further as the cooling sector underpins the delivery of essential components of many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” Research by Gatsby shows that while parents are becoming more supportive of technical education routes and qualifications, such as T-Levels, many (40%) still do not understand what a technician is. Furthermore, two thirds (66%) say their child has expressed an interest in a future career that they know very little about.