As a young person, what are you looking for? A job that provides you with good wages, interesting work, freedom, and the chance to build a lifetime career?

Tell us if you are, you may have found the right place.

The heating ventilating and air conditioning industry (HVCA) meets all these goals.

What is the HVAC industry, you might ask?

The shopping centre where you hang out is not only "cool", but comfortably cool in temperature. Do you like your bottled water or your milk chilled? That comfortable shopping centre and the chilled drinks exist because of an industry that has some of the hottest jobs and coolest careers: the Heating, Ventilating and Cooling industry.

The equipment that is used to refrigerate products, from foods to semiconductors, and to provide comfortable environments, from homes to high-rise buildings, is designed by Mechanical Engineers, Computer Aided Draftspersons, and installed and maintained by a range of technical staff cooperating as a team. The engineers are trained at university, the CAD Operators and technical staff at TAFE.

To ensure that the systems and equipment are installed correctly and safely, trained and experienced personnel are required. Plumbing, sheet metal work, and controls/electrical are some of the skills and knowledge that installers must possess.

Service Technicians use their diverse knowledge of electrical components, motors, controls, airflow, piping design, thermodynamics, and refrigeration systems to troubleshoot and repair equipment and systems. Also, customer relations skills are valued in all these positions.

One particularly hot area of interest in the industry is that of IAQ (Indoor Air Quality). These people are trained to test, evaluate, and correct situations that are harmful to the occupants.

What is the Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning (HVAC) Industry?

The HVAC industry manages indoor environments. The HVAC industry designs, builds, installs, services, maintains, troubleshoots and repairs indoor comfort and cooling systems year-round.
In Australia the HVAC industry is a billion a year business that nationally employs 12,000 people.

The HVAC industry provides solutions to many important environmental issues such as indoor air quality and protecting the ozone layer through proper refrigerant handling.

The refrigeration and air conditioning industry is involved with an ever-increasing technology affecting every aspect of our daily lives. From the comfort of home, to air-conditioned theatres and shopping centres and to the food we purchase and then store, we depend on the air conditioning and refrigeration industry to provide safety and convenience. Airplanes, cars, computers, wineries, medical pharmaceuticals, science and manufacturing-- all rely on air conditioning and refrigeration to provide the best products and most suitable environment. Much of today's equipment demands a higher degree of technology for optimum efficiency. It all requires skilled and qualified people to operate and maintain the systems to peak performance.

What type of work do people do in the HVAC industry?

Contractors/Business owners:

Combine technical and entrepreneurial skills to communicate and assess customer needs and appropriate technical solutions.

Service Technicians (Refrigeration Mechanics):

Install, maintain, service and repair HVAC equipment that provides indoor comfort and essential cooling processes both in the home, industry and the workplace.

Draftsperson:

Use sophisticated computer aided design (CAD) techniques and technical knowledge to design and maintain HVAC systems.

Plumbers:

Install and repair pipes that carry water, waste, drainage, and natural gas in buildings. They cut, bend, and join pipes; and they install fixtures and appliances, they work on large industrial piping systems that carry steam, gases, and chemicals that supply power, heating, or refrigeration. They work from blueprints and drawings that show them where to put the pipes and fixtures.

Engineers:

Ensure that HVAC products are built to and perform to specification before, during and after they are built and installed.

Sales and Marketing:

Experts rely on creativity to sell and market HVAC systems to businesses and industry.

Manufacturing, Research and Development:

Professionals work on constantly improving our heating and cooling equipment, as well as rating and testing new models.

Why is HVAC Important?

Homes, office buildings, industrial plants, airplanes, cars and computer technology all rely on complex HVAC systems to create and maintain safe, healthy and comfortable living and working environments.

Many industrial, medical, technical and commercial processes also depend on sophisticated heating, cooling air quality and ventilation systems. HVAC people are problem solvers - experts who contribute to making equipment work better, more efficiently, quicker and less expensively.

Why should I be interested in a career in the HVAC industry?

HVAC is a necessity today for personal comfort, medical health, food preservation, water supply and work productivity. In fact, all human activities rely on HVAC in one way or another. This industry will produce thousands of new jobs in the next decades as market for these products expand.

The HVAC industry also offers variety, job security, respect, upward mobility, great salary, life long employment, and opportunity. HVAC professionals can use their skills just about anywhere in the world. HVAC is a high technology industry with constant innovations that contribute to making the equipment work better, more efficiently, quicker and less expensively.

Where do people in the HVAC industry work?

In every place imaginable.

• Sporting grounds like Telstra Dome and Stadium Australia
• Shopping centres
• Theatres
• Office and apartment buildings
• Private homes
• Factories
• Industrial plants
• Hospitals

To get started in the HVACR field, you should think about taking subjects that deal with the following areas:

• Computer applications
  
• CAD - Computer-Aided Design
• Business
• Maths - algebra and geometry
• Sheetmetal fabrication
• Electrical and electronics
• Mechanical drawing
  

How bright is the future in the HVAC industry?

Very bright!

Technical jobs are the fastest growing segment of the economy! A secure future awaits you if you are interested and you apply yourself.

Jobs in the billion-a-year HVAC industry will increase as demand grows for industrial, commercial, and residential climate control systems. To maintain or replace older comfort systems, additional new jobs will be created.

The HVAC industry offers well-paying jobs. The growing demand for CAD (computer-aided design) specialists is creating even more opportunities for young people.

Career Paths