World News

USA/CANADA: Canadian data centre liquid cooling company, CoolIT, has been acquired by Ecolab, a US water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions provider, for $4.75bn.

USA: Amazon and Walmart have received penalties totalling over $1.1m in the USA for illegally selling R134a to the general public.

IRELAND: Grafton Group, the Dublin-based construction product distributor, has acquired Spanish air conditioning distributor Mercaluz.

JAPAN: Daikin claims to have achieved an annual energy saving of approximately 25% in a commercial zero-energy office building using a so-called “switchless” air conditioning system.

BELGIUM: Eurovent has published a new Recommendation providing guidance on complementary product category rules (cPCR) for heat pump and air conditioning equipment.

ITALY: Heat exchanger product manufacturer Lu-Ve returned to growth in 2025, with turnover up 2.8% to €605.4m and returning a record EBITDA of €88.7m.

SWEDEN: HVAC manufacturer Swegon has appointed Eva Karlsson as CEO of the group, following the departure of Andreas Örje Wellstam.

BELGIUM: Nearly 14 tonnes of confiscated R134a refrigerant is expected to raise over €62,000 in an auction being organised by the Belgian government finance agency. 

FRANCE/IRELAND: The Dublin-based Quinn Downes Group (ODG) has become part of Syclef, the rapidly expanding network of industrial and commercial refrigeration and HVAC companies.

USA: Carrier reports that its 15-ton rooftop heat pump unit has passed testing in the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Commercial Building HVAC Technology Challenge.

NETHERLANDS: A 12-month worldwide operation targeting organised crime networks involved in waste and pollution crime has uncovered 398 tonnes of fluorinated greenhouse gases.

ITALY: Carel, the HVACR controls manufacturer, has reported consolidated revenues in 2025 of €629m, an increase of 8.7% compared to 2024.

Mark Kuntz (left) is set to retire, being replaced by Andrew Kelso (right) USA: Mark Kuntz, the CEO of the Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US…

BELGIUM: The European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) has applauded the European Commission’s recommendation for member states to reduce electricity taxation. The Citizens’ Energy Package unveiled by…

USA: Sales by US HVAC distributors were down 5.9% in January, compared to last year.

EUROPE: Refrigerant prices in Europe remained relatively stable or even decreased slightly in the fourth quarter of 2025, while the price of reclaimed R404A rose again compared to Q3.

NETHERLANDS: Chemours faces a further penalty payment of nearly €20m after claims by Dutch authorities that the company once again placed more HFCs on the European market than permitted.

BELGIUM: The World Customs Organisation (WCO) has reported 134 seizures of ODS and HFC commodities in 2024, totalling 437,609.6kg of illegal gas and equipment.

USA: A group of leading global companies has announced a $100m initiative to accelerate the reduction of super pollutants including refrigerants. The Superpollutant Action Initiative…

DENMARK: Danfoss total sales reached €9,430m in 2025, down slightly on 2024, but representing organic growth of 3%. Net profit was €446m, an increase of 21% on 2024.

USA: Trane Technologies has completed the acquisition of liquid cooling technology company LiquidStack in a deal first announced last month.

BELGIUM: Over 80% of heat pumps installed in Europe are assembled in Europe, compares to only around 10% produced in China.

USA: HARDI, the US association of HVACR wholesalers, claims that New York’s ban on the sale of virgin R404A and R507A could significantly disrupt food retail operations.

UK: Airedale by Modine has appointed Gareth Ellams as vice president and general manager of EMEA, succeeding soon to be retiring Adrian Trevelyan.

ITALY: Italy’s ministry of environment and energy security has reported a number of recent fines and seizures for alleged violations of the F-gas regulations.

BELGIUM: Heat pump sales grew by 11% across 16 European countries on average last year, according to preliminary data from the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA). 

ITALY: Heat exchanger product manufacturer Lu-Ve has appointed Michele Ampezzan as chief commercial officer for both its cooling and components product lines.