World News

USA: Daikin Applied is to build a new 71,000ft2 (6,600m2) extension to its R&D test lab in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to support the wider development of data centre cooling solutions.

SWITZERLAND/UK: Multinational electrical engineering corporation ABB has taken a minority stake in UK-based data centre cooling software company OctaiPipe.

NEW ZEALAND: Swedish wholesaling group Beijer Ref has signed an agreement to acquire New Zealand HVACR wholesaler Refspecs Refrigeration Specialties Ltd.

JAPAN: Mitsubishi Electric has developed what it claims is the world’s first technology to generate mm-scale flow within a channel, potentially eliminating the need for external pumps.

CANADA: Authorities in Canada have discovered counterfeit cylinders of R410A refrigerant containing potentially lethal methyl chloride.

USA: Trane Technologies has entered into a definitive agreement with Stellar Energy International Ltd to acquire its Stellar Energy Digital liquid-to-chip data centre cooling business.

USA: Swedish air treatment and climate solutions company Munters Munters has received an US$82m chiller order for a data centre colocation provider in the USA.

GERMANY: A recent German study has concluded that heat pumps provide efficient and climate-friendly heating even in older existing buildings.

GERMANY: Copeland has repeated warnings of counterfeit product on the market and the emergence of uncontrolled remanufactured compressors. 

BELGIUM: European countries that tax electricity more than gas see slower adoption of heat pumps and are more dependent on fossil fuels, according to a new report.

GREECE: Greek authorities claim to have dismantled a large-scale criminal organisation illegally importing refrigerants from Albania.

SAUDI ARABIA: Daikin is to open a new chiller and hydronic heat pump manufacturing facility in Jeddah.

USA: A multi-state coalition of 19 attorney generals are amongst those supporting a comment letter opposing the US EPA’s proposals to weaken rules to phase down the use of HFCs.

GERMANY: A-Heat Allied Heat Exchange Technology AG, holding company of German heat exchanger manufacturer Güntner, has announced the sudden and unexpected death of CEO Christian Weiser.

IRELAND: Trane Technologies has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 49% stake in Kieback&Peter Group (K&P), a German company involved in building automation software and solutions.

SINGAPORE: Refrigerant supplier and lifecycle management company A-Gas has signed a deal to process recovered refrigerants from Singaporean supermarkets serviced by commercial refrigeration company Epta. 

BELGIUM: Eurovent has released a new recommendation on applying European safety and environmental laws to commercial refrigeration. 

HONG KONG: Authorities in Hong Kong have seized 1,300 cylinders of suspected smuggled refrigerant with an estimated market value of HK$6.4m (US$822,000, €713,000).

USA: Asokdas Damodaran, MD of Systemair India, has been elected president of the Air Movement and Control Association International (AMCA).

USA: With the US considering cancelling the Aim Act’s deadline to eliminate R410A from ducted AC systems, contractors have called for the repeal to be extended to VRF systems.

NETHERLANDS: Yanmar, the Japanese manufacturer of gas engine heat pumps, has completed the acquisition of Dutch football club Almere City FC.

USA: One worker has died and another hospitalised after being accidentally exposed to hydrofluoric acid (HF) at Koura's Mexichem Fluor refrigerant plant in St Gabriel,…

USA: A new report claims that the US has nearly completed its transition to lower-global warming potential refrigerants in central ducted air conditioning systems. 

GERMANY: Industry organisations in Germany have described certain proposed changes to the country’s forthcoming Chemicals Act as “absurd and unlawful” in the fight against illegal refrigerants.

USA: Modine has opened a new factory in Franklin, Wisconsin, as part of an expansion of its data centre cooling manufacturing capacity.

SWEDEN/USA: Swedish wholesaler Beijer Ref has acquired the US HVACR distributors Key Refrigeration Supply and Dennis Supply Company. 

ITALY: Refrigeration and heating controls manufacturer Carel has reported double-digit growth in Q3.