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

Ductless AC training expanded

USA: Johnson Controls-Hitachi has transformed its US headquarters with a 10,400ft2 product showroom and training facility. 

The new Customer Experience Center, which opened on April 20 at the site in Irving, Texas, features commercial, light commercial and residential ductless HVAC equipment in two showrooms along with fully operational equipment in an interactive, state-of-the-art training lab. 

The grand opening featured a ribbon cutting ceremony and town hall session hosted by Shoji Akiyama, vice president and general manager of Johnson Controls-Hitachi.

“As our workplace model evolved during the pandemic to a remote-friendly format, our headquarter building was underutilised,” said Akiyama. “We took this opportunity to reconsider how we could better serve our partners and customers, and developing the new Customer Experience Center was the clear solution.”

The two showrooms will be used to showcase the full product offering for both Hitachi and York ductless products. The innovative training lab will offer hands-on training to contractors, technicians and installers on live Hitachi and York equipment with training courses available on installation and commissioning for up to 20 students at a time. 

The Dallas location is the second Hitachi training lab to open in North America, and it’s part of a nationwide initiative by Johnson Controls to train the next generation of the HVAC workforce.

Training sessions are now available for enrolment and mark the return of in-person courses since moving to an online format in March 2020.

Latest News

3rd May 2026

Skills gap: the answer’s already on the van

Will Overton, director of Vectis Refrigeration and founder of the Wisdom Group FM, argues that the skills gap in refrigeration and HVAC is not a training problem: it is a…
3rd May 2026

Qvantum’s R290 water-source heat pump

UK: Qvantum has launched a new R290 water-to-water heat pump for communal ground-source systems and individual ground source projects.
3rd May 2026

IOR briefs on heat recovery

UK: The Institute of Refrigeration has published the first in a new series of Technology Briefs on the topic of heat recovery. 
2nd May 2026

Kroger to spend $100m to fix refrigerant leaks

USA: Leading US retailer Kroger will pay a $2.5m civil penalty and spend an estimated $100m over the next three years to reduce refrigerant leaks from its refrigerators and other…
2nd May 2026

Data centre boost for Carrier

USA: The growing importance of cooling to the burgeoning data centre market is reflected in claims by Carrier of data centre orders being up over 500% in Q1.
30th April 2026

A-Gas extends reclaim rewards to Australia

AUSTRALIA: A-Gas, the refrigerant supplier and lifecycle management company, has created a reclamation rewards scheme in collaboration with Australian HVACR wholesalers Actrol and Airefrig.