PAST PRESIDENTS
ASHRAE Presidential visit to SA In 2014 the ASHRAE President , Prof Bill Bahnfleth visited South Africa from the 9 th to 13 th June . His two presentations given in Johannesburg and Cape Town was well received by over 200 members and industry role players .
During his 5 day-visit , the President met with a wide cross section of industry to gain insight to the South African environment . Bill ’ s presentation brought home what can be achieved by a professional Institute with full time employees and strong support from its members .
JOHN ACKERMANN 2012 – 2015
The year 2012 started on a sad note with the passing of President Mike Veldon on 11th May , ahead of the termination of his office in August of that year . As the elected vice president , I stepped in as President until August of 2015 .
During those years , National Council meetings were held at the City Lodge OR Tambo Airport , Johannesburg to allow members to travel to and from Johannesburg on the same day to reduce accommodation costs and to limit the call on the free time of Council members .
With the aim of membership recruitment , SAIRAC invested R214 000 in the production of a video to increase membership and to encourage young people to follow a career in the A / C & R industry . The viewing of the video at SAIRAC events became the norm and shown at schools and tertiary institutions .
Further funding was invested in the development of the SAIRAC website to promote the image of the Institute and to improve the channels of communication with members and industry role players . By then the investment amounted to R38000-00
Dreosti Memorial Lecture The 2013 Dreosti Memorial Lecture presented by Prof Derek Clemens-Croome was the highlight of the year and attracted approximately 320 members and industry role players to the four lectures held in Johannesburg , Durban , Port Elizabeth , and Cape Town . The lecture was certainly topical amidst the increasing focus on green buildings .
Data CD The 3 rd version of the SAIRAC DATA CD was released during 2013 and again was favourably received by the industry . Since first released in 2004 , the CD with refrigerant tables , piping data , design data , weather tables etc generated a nett income of R74,000-00 .
FRIGAIR Exhibition The 2015 FRIGAIR exhibition held at Gallagher Estate was well supported by exhibitors and visitors .
The four ASHRAE workshops held in the FRIGAIR venue was fully subscribed and laid the foundation for many more similar workshops to be held in South Africa . Those that attended the workshops , had the added benefit of being credited with CPD points towards their professional registration .
SAIRAC received a generous contribution of R349,723- 00 from the 2015 FRIGAIR organisers . As with previous such contributions , the funds would be used for SAIRAC educational and promotional programs .
Council started to consider the appointment of a General manager to liaise with Government departments , other professional institutions and key industry role players on all matters pertaining to the wide application of cooling and heating . SAIRAC needed to become the professional voice of the industry and could not rely on the voluntary contribution of Council members to achieve this goal . The debate around the appointment of a General manager continued after 2015 .
At the Annual meeting of August 2015 , national membership was reported as being 1029 with the highest percentage in the category of Member . Although membership growth during 2015 was encouraging , the loss of members annually , due to the non-payment of fees remained a concern .
In 1996 the membership of SAIRAC numbered close to 950 and by 2015 had merely grown to 1029 although during the same time span the number of individuals active in the industry had grown significantly . May the continued endeavours of the SAIRAC leadership mitigate membership growth beyond all expectations .
The 70 th anniversary of SAIRAC is an outstanding milestone and a time for each member to reflect on the happy times among his or her fellow members , the wide network of contacts established and the assimilation of technical information from fellow members , often not easily found in printed form .
CELEBRATING 70 YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE HERVAC INDUSTRY 13