Daikin’s Graham Wright wins RAC Gold

UK: Graham Wright, Daikin UK’s legislation and compliance manager, has won the RAC Gold Award for his outstanding contribution to the air conditioning and refrigeration industry.

In the final presentation at tonight’s Cooling Awards in London, Graham Wright received overdue acknowledgement for his efforts on behalf of the UK industry, which in the past has seen him take lead roles, including stints as chairman of FETA, president of HEVAC and HPA president. He is also currently vice-president of the Sustainable Energy Association and a board member of ACRIB.

In other notable personal awards, the Fred Jamieson Award for industry achievement was split this year between Peter Dinnage, technical director of Climalife and Rob Lamb, group sales and marketing director of Star Refrigeration.

Individual Achievement of the Year was won by James Bailey of Wave Refrigeration and Ian Fisher of Mattair Maintenance. 

Toshiba was a major winner again this year in the products and initiatives categories. This year it was the company’s SMMS-u VRF air conditioner, introduced at the end of last year, that stole the show. This latest product repeated its success at last night’s NACR&HP Awards and the ACR News Awards earlier this year, by winning the Air Conditioning Product of the Year – System or Standalone. In addition, Toshiba’s triple-rotary compressor, which is a key component in the new VRF, picked up the Air Conditioning Innovation of the Year award.

Another big winner was Mirai Intex, the pioneering and innovative manufacturer from Brno, Czechia. The company’s Cold 10 T – an air cycle refrigeration machine designed to provide and maintain ultra-low temperatures from – won the Refrigeration Innovation of the Year category. In addition, its ultra low temperature storage equipment won Refrigeration Product of the Year – System or Standalone. 

The full list of winners were:

Air Conditioning Innovation of the Year
Toshiba, Triple Rotary Compressor

Air Conditioning Product of the Year: Components or Peripherals
Endo Enterprises,  EndoCool – Energy Saving & Carbon Reduction Additive

Air Conditioning Product of the Year: System or Standalone
Toshiba, SMMS-u VRF

Building Energy Project of the Year
Finn Geotherm,  West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village, Suffolk

Cooling Manufacturer of the Year
Usystems

Covid Frontline Achievement Award
Refcom, BESA Rises to the Challenge

Customer Initiative of the Year- New
Mitsubishi Electric, Online training for HVAC engineers

Diversity Impact Award
Stemazing & World Refrigeration Day, Stemazing Inspiration Academy

Environmental Collaboration of the Year
Abbey Design Associates powered by LoweConex, Co-op Technical Services Bureau –  Energy Reduction Project

Individual Achievement of the Year
James Bailey, Wave Refrigeration
Ian Fisher, Mattair Maintenance 

RAC Contractor of the Year
3D Facilities Support

Refrigeration Innovation of the Year
MIRAI Intex, Cold 10 T

Refrigeration Product of the Year – Component or Peripheral
Bio Products Group,  The BioPipe Drainage System

Refrigeration Product of the Year – System or Standalone
MIRAI Intex, Cold Refrigeration Machines for Ultra Low Temperatures (ULT) storage

Retail Project of the Year
Emerson Climate Technologies, Copeland Program

Small Company Achievement of the Year
Wave Refrigeration

Fred Jamieson Award
Peter Dinnage – Climalife
Rob Lamb – Star Refrigeration

Student of the Year
Phil Davis – 3D Facilities

RAC Gold Award
Graham Wright – Daikin UK