World News

USA: Discount retailer Aldi continues to lead US food retailers’ efforts to transition away from high GWP refrigerants, according to the latest reports from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

FRANCE: Danish manufacturer Danfoss is to invest an additional €10m in its heat pump component factory in Reyrieux, France.

BELGIUM: Marta San Román, director general of the Spanish HVAC manufacturers’ group, AFEC, has been re-elected as vice-chairperson of the Eurovent Commission for an additional term.

USA: New comparative analyses carried out with Torad’s R1234ze spool compressor are said to have demonstrated efficiency gains of up to 10% when compared to scrolls in cooling systems. 

AUSTRIA: Graeme Maidment of London South Bank University and Thomas Nowak of heat pump manufacturer Qvantum International are among the recipients of this year’s Peter Ritter von Rittinger Award.

GREECE: Five members of a criminal organisation have been arrested in Greece on suspicion of illegally importing and trafficking large quantities HFC refrigerant from Albania to Greece.

USA: Swedish refrigeration and air conditioning wholesaler has made a further advance into the US market Beijer Ref with the purchase of Florida-based AM Distributors. 

BELGIUM: Patrick Crombez of Daikin has been elected to continue for a second two-year term as president of the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA).

USA: Modine claims to have entered into a $4bn long-term capacity agreement with an unnamed data centre customer for its Airedale by Modine cooling solutions. 

GERMANY: Equipment manufacturer Walter Roller has invested in a new test cell that enables a wide range of tests under precisely controlled conditions. 

SPAIN: Stepan Stojanov, secretary general of the Czech association for cooling and air conditioning technology (SCHKT) has been elected president of AREA, the European air conditioning and refrigeration contractors’ association.

UK: Market research company BSRIA claims that around 3.5 million hydronic heat pumps were sold globally in 2025 – modest growth of 4% following a difficult 2024.

ITALY: The MCE Mostra Convegno Expocomfort in Milan in March attracted an exceptional turnout of international visitors, according to show figures just released by the organiser.

JAPAN/FRANCE: Paloma Rheem Holdings (PRH) has completed its acquisition of a majority stake in Groupe Atlantic, the French HVAC equipment manufacturer.

THAILAND: Daikin Industries (Thailand) has established a joint venture with Toyota Tsusho Nexty Electronics (Thailand), a subsidiary of the Japanese company specialising in embedded software development for the automotive sector.

SPAIN: Young professionals from France and Germany have been named as winners of AREA’s annual European Rising Stars video competition.

GERMANY: Qurie GmbH, a spin-off from the Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM, is entering the market with a solid-state heat pump based on electrocaloric materials. 

USA: The association representing US HVACR distributors has described the US EPA’s decision to roll-back refrigerant transition deadlines on commercial refrigeration as a costly mistake for the industry.

POLAND: Daikin Europe has officially opened its new Daikin heat pump production facility in Ksawerów, near Łódź, Poland.

USA: HVACR equipment manufacturers and environmental groups have both condemned today’s announcement by the US EPA to roll-back refrigerant transition deadlines on supermarket refrigeration equipment.

BELGIUM: Swegon’s director of future solutions & public affairs Mikael Börjesson has been elected as the new president of Eurovent, the European association of HVACR manufacturers.

DENMARK: Tests using Danfoss’ multi ejector high pressure (HP) technology in a transcritical CO2 booster system are said to have shown 21% energy savings over traditional CO2 booster systems.

IRELAND: Panasonic has partnered with Energised Futures, the research and innovation incubator of British energy and services company Centrica, in an effort to advance intelligent heat pump control. 

USA: Italian heat exchanger product manufacturer Lu-Ve has inaugurated the new 20,000m2 expansion of the production area at its US plant in Jacksonville, Texas.

USA: A new industry study claims that refrigerant emissions from automotive air conditioning systems in Europe could be reduced by around 60% annually by 2050.

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 is now available.

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