World News

UK: Nominations are now open for the J&E Hall Gold Medal, the annual award for the most noteworthy practical contribution to innovation in RACHP technology.

ITALY: Asset management firm Ambienta has continued the expansion of its Frigoveneta commercial and industrial refrigeration platform with the acquisitions of two further Italian companies.

DENMARK: Danfoss claims that the real-world Smart Store at its headquarters site in Nordborg, Denmark, has achieved 60% lower net energy use than benchmark stores.

GERMANY: Vaillant has appointed Dr Armin Frommer as managing director of the company from October 1 amongst changes to the company’s management.

HONG KONG: Scientists claim to have developed what is said to be the world’s first zero-degradation elastocaloric cooling device.

BELGIUM: EPEE has described the EU president’s state of the union address as a “rare moment” for electrification of heating and efficient cooling to be named in the same speech.

SOUTH KOREA: In an update to the report of a refrigerant leak on a Russian ship in Busan, the Russian Consulate has reported that one of the victims has since died.

SOUTH KOREA: Two people were reported to have suffered cardiac arrests in Busan on Tuesday after inhaling leaking refrigerant.

GERMANY: Germany’s first seawater heat pump supplying heat into a district heating network has been officially inaugurated after several months of trials.

USA: Refrigerant reclaimer Hudson Technologies has signed a joint development agreement with US company Icorium for the commercialisation of Icorium’s patented extractive distillation technology.

JAPAN: French refrigerant manufacturer Arkema has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against HighChem Co, a Tokyo-based Japanese hybrid chemical trading house and manufacturer.

ITALY/SWITZERLAND: Daikin Applied Europe and Swiss data centre contractor CTS Group claim to have developed a cooling concept capable of delivering PUE below 1.2 even in the hottest climates.

FRANCE: Cooling was amongst the main topics of today’s state of the union address by Ursula von der Leyen, with the EU president proposing a new European Heatwave Plan.

USA: United Nations secretary-general António Guterres has urged countries to implement the Kigali Amendment and accelerate the shift to sustainable cooling.

NETHERLANDS: Bakker Vakkeuken, a Dutch contractor specialist in commercial kitchen and refrigeration technology, has become part of the Swedish Nordic Climate Group.

USA: The cooling tower at the Yankee Stadium in New York’s South Bronx is one of 10 ordered to be treated following a legionnaires’ disease outbreak in the city.

JAPAN: Mitsubishi Electric claims to have developed a plate heat exchanger for heat pumps with a heat transfer performance triple that of its conventional grooved plate heat exchangers.

ITALY: Production is now underway at a new €24m Clivet heat pump factory in Feltre, northern Italy.

USA: US shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps totalled 916,830 units in July, down 10.43% on the previous month, but an increase of 20.1% on July 2025.

FRANCE: Gazechim has announced the expansion of its refrigerant recovery, purification and regeneration capacity with a second refrigerant distillation unit in France and plans for a similar plant in the UK.

USA: Swedish air treatment and climate solutions company Munters has inaugurated its expanded data centre cooling factory in Daleville, Virginia.

EUROPE: Refrigerant prices in Europe remained relatively stable in the second quarter of 2026, according to latest figures published by the European Commission.

SWEDEN/GREECE: Wholesaler Beijer Ref has signed an agreement to acquire 75% of the shares in FG Europe, with an option to acquire the remaining shares.

USA: Modine is to change its name to Modexus Solutions after completing the spinoff of its Performance Technologies business.

USA: ASHRAE and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have renewed their longstanding memorandum of understanding to advance sustainable refrigeration and air conditioning.

SPAIN: Investigations are centred on local cooling towers following a legionnaires’ disease outbreak which has infected 31 people in the Pamplona/Iruña region.

BELGIUM: Solstice has announced the launch of its R1234yf vehicle air conditioning system retrofit kit, enabling the conversion of existing R134a vehicle systems to the low GWP alternative.