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

Lennox factory “shredded” by tornado

USA: Workers at the Lennox plant in Marshalltown, Iowa, fear for the future of their jobs after the factory was wrecked by a tornado on last week.

In a statement, Lennox International chairman and CEO Todd Bluedorn said the extent of damage to the facility was being assessed but made no comment as to its future.

“Our first priority is ensuring the safety of our employees, and we are pleased that there have been no reported injuries,” said Bluedorn. “Second is our commitment to serving our customers. An advantage of owning our own distribution network across North America is that we have a supply of more than 40 days of equipment in more than 235 distribution centres and stores ready to support our customers in the field. Beyond that, more than 75% of our North America residential equipment units are manufactured at our facilities in Mexico and South Carolina, and those teams stand ready to step up as Marshalltown recovers.”

The 93,000m² Lennox factory was hit when a flurry of tornadoes swept through central Iowa last Thursday.

Marshalltown, around 80km north east of Des Moines, was reported to be hardest hit. There were some injuries from the storms, but no reports of deaths.

The Des Moines Register described the Lennox plant as having been “shredded” by the tornadoes.

Marshalltown is recognised as the birthplace of Lennox, and has been associated with the town for 138 years. The factory manufactures residential air conditioners, heat pumps and heating products and has around 900 employees.

Related stories:

Lennox to rebuild Iowa factory – 25 July 2018
USA: Lennox has indicated its intention to rebuild its Marshalltown, Iowa, factory, which was destroyed by a tornado last week. Read more…

Latest News

16th June 2025

Daikin adds high-temperature heat pump

ITALY: Daikin is to introduce a new high-temperature option for its VZ series of water-to-water heat pumps, capable of supplying hot water at temperatures up to 90°C.
15th June 2025

Hitachi introduces R290 and R32 heat pumps

SPAIN: Hitachi has launched new residential air-to-water heat pumps – an R290 monobloc and R32 split system.
15th June 2025

Fibre membrane could lower data centre cooling costs

USA: Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a new evaporative cooling technology that could improve the energy efficiency of data centres and high-powered electronics.  The idea…
15th June 2025

Armstrong begins work on industrial heat pump plant

BELGIUM: Armstrong International has commenced work on a new high temperature industrial heat pump production facility at its site in Herstal, Belgium.
14th June 2025

Fambri double in REHVA student awards

ITALY: Beniamino Fambri, holder of a laurea magistrale in energy engineering from Italy’s Politecnico di Milano, was a double winner of student awards at this month’s 15th CLIMA World Congress.
13th June 2025

Sanhua VPF valves now for flammable refrigerants

SPAIN: Sanhua has extended TÜV certification for its VPF electronic expansion valves to include larger models (sizes 50 to 400) — enabling their safe use with flammable refrigerants.