EDITORIAL COMMENT
One recalls R J S Caldwell ’ s two articles “ More reminiscences of an old hand – I nearly forgot !” this was in addition to the two he wrote in Nov 1969 and Jan 1970 .
Alan Campbell ’ s “ The early days ” indicating that readers may expect another article “ if they were lucky !” They were not that lucky .
SAIRAC ’ s new logo was introduced at the 2012 FRIGAIR .
SAIRAC ’ s old logo .
SAIRAC ’ s new logo , introduced in 2012 .
The relationship with ASHRAE , IOR , EPHA , AHRI still continues to this day especially as ASHRAE SA has now been established .
Educational books from both ASHRAE and IOR were available for sale through RACA journal as a central point . Sadly , when the rand , euro and dollar started to part ways , and at the expense of South Africa , it became impossible to continue selling the books .
The Dreosti Memorial Lectures continue . This premier event in recognition of the Founder has provided members with international input at the highest level .
FRIGAIR , continued its three-year cycle as decided at a SAIRAC meeting and these will continue . See page 40 for more on FRIGAIR .
Significant to the 2015 and 2018 events , speakers came from ASHRAE which added huge value to the conference side of the exhibition . At the time of writing , the 2021 exhibition and seminar programme has been moved to June 2022 due to the uncertainty that Covid has added to the already declining economic environment South Africa was experiencing . Also at the time of writing , importers are taking huge strain due to currency fluctuations ; steel is in the hands of a monopoly , making local manufacture difficult and costly , and the lockdown and consequences of the virus has impacted on every aspect of the world – and South Africa has not been spared .
This decade has seen many changes but none like the 2020 / 2021 Covid-19 virus cast upon us . History will record the endurance of this industry through these tough times and will also record SAIRAC ’ s durability to continue being there for their members through offering training , advice , and assurance that no matter what the situation – push on !
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