World News

Industry news and insights from Europe and around the World

UK News

Latest news and developments in the United Kingdom

Products

Keep up-to-date with the latest new products and technology

Features

General articles, applications and industry analysis

Buoni elected AREA president

The new AREA board 2018-2020 (l to r): Grzegorz Michalski, Per Jonasson, Marco Buoni, Gerhard Neuhauser and Graeme Fox. The final member Stig Rath is missing from this photo.

AUSTRIA: Marco Buoni, director of Italian training company Centro Studi Galileo, has been elected president of European air conditioning and refrigeration contractors’ group AREA.

Buoni, who steps up after eight years as vice president, was elected at last week’s AREA general assembly spring meeting in Vienna. He takes over from Per Jonasson.

The meeting also saw Grzegorz Michalski (KFCh, Poland) and former president Gerhard Neuhauser (ÖKKV, Austria) joining the AREA board whilst Coen van der Sande (NVKL, Netherlands) and Wolfgang Zaremski (VDKF, Germany), stepped down.

Twenty-two national associations and close to 40 delegates gathered in Vienna for what was the the largest AREA spring general assembly meeting. The event was hosted by the Austrian association ÖKKV.

New president Marco Buoni, who has been an active member of AREA for 14 years, told the meeting that the AREA members were stronger united in the face of its many challenges. These he listed as the safety issues related to new alternative refrigerants, standards, reliability, recovery and recycling, energy efficiency and technical competence achieved through professional training.

Latest News

16th May 2026

UNEP scheme trains first all-female group from Asia

ITALY: A delegation of Asian women have taken part in a UNEP-promoted programme targeting good practices in refrigeration and air conditioning, F-gas management and natural refrigerant safety.
16th May 2026

Update on Ecodesign of fans guide

BELGIUM: A second edition of the guide addressing questions on the interpretation of Ecodesign requirements for fans as set out in EU regulation 2024/1834.
16th May 2026

DEFRA delays GB F-gas phase down

UK: The UK government has announced a delay to its proposed F-gas phase down steps from 1 January 2027, admitting that it requires “further work” following its recent consultation with…
15th May 2026

Haier signs Netherlands distribution deal

NETHERLANDS: Haier HVAC Solutions Europe has signed a distribution deal with Dutch electric heating equipment supplier Masterwatt.
15th May 2026

Klima-Therm adds Fisair air humidity products

UK: Klima-Therm, the UK commercial HVAC supplier, has partnered with Spanish manufacturer Fisair to deliver its range of humidifiers and dehumidifiers to the British market.
15th May 2026

Industry welcomes fair payment bill

UK: The industry has welcomed the small business protection (late payment) bill announced in this week’s King’s speech.