Climate management of ITD workshops
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 131 No 2, 2 April 2026, page no 12.
While most teaching spaces should now be air-conditioned as a result of the previous state government’s 2020 commitment, at the time, the department felt that industrial technology and design (ITD) workshops would need “different solutions”. Unfortunately, the matter continues to drag on.
In March 2020, the Queensland Teachers’ Journal reported: “In the case of ITD workshops, the department has provided the following explanation for specific treatment of the cooling needs of these spaces: ‘A number of technical and workshop spaces in secondary schools may require different solutions. The presence of dust and the use of heavy specialist equipment may require different cooling approaches to meet the safety requirements and optimise the use of these spaces. For example, a number of workshop spaces (e.g. welding bays) are required to be open to the outside air for safety and ventilation purposes. We will work with individual schools to identify the best local solutions.’”
Six years later, the department is still working on the solutions, and the QTU and its members continue to raise the issue.
In August 2024, Infrastructure Services Division (ISD) informed the QTU that a small air conditioning trial in ITD workshops had raised significant concerns around initial costs and then maintenance.
As the design of many ITD buildings allows for natural ventilation and airflow, the cost to retrofit the buildings was considered excessive, and in some cases, unachievable.
The cost of installation was approximately $500,000 per trial site, with the addition of ongoing service maintenance costs annually.
The dust load on air conditioning filters was also extreme, with school staff being required to clean filters out more than twice per week.
At that time, the QTU was informed that QBuild’s technical team would provide a formal report in October 2024, after the units have been monitored for functionality for a longer period to provide the most accurate performance feedback of the units. The intention was for ISD to develop a position on how to cool ITD workshops. However, no position was put to the QTU.
The QTU again pursued the issue in January 2025 and was informed that the report on the trial had arrived, and the department was working through the matters. The Union was informed that the department was still examining ways of mitigating the risks by exploring different controls. It was intimated that there may be other controls aside from air-conditioning. The QTU was informed the department would hopefully have a position on how to cool ITD workshops by the end of 2025.
And again, the QTU has followed up. ISD informed the Union that the QBuild-led report has been received by the department and is currently under department review. Further investigations into possible solutions to the challenges are ongoing at a range of school sites. ISD indicated that this series of investigations aims to understand more fully the demands on existing air conditioning systems in ITD workshop spaces.
The QTU has been informed that once the above investigation is completed, the department will be able to provide the QTU with an update and the proposed recommendations. This is planned for mid-June.