World News

BULGARIA: Authorities in Bulgaria have arrested members of an organised criminal group accused of illegally importing and distributing HFC refrigerants, money laundering and tax crimes.

SWITZERLAND/SOUTH KOREA: ABB and Samsung Electronics have announced a move to integrate building intelligence with enterprise IoT to enable greater access to building data, insights and controls.  

GERMANY/JAPAN: Bosch is to collaborate with Hitachi on advanced connectivity and diagnostic solutions in the commercial HVAC sector. 

BELGIUM/FRANCE: IPCOM, the Belgian group of HVAC equipment and insulation solutions suppliers, is set to acquire a majority stake in French distributor Le Froid Pecomark.

FRANCE: The LFB Group has acquired French air handling unit manufacturer Hydronic from the Eoliance air treatment group.

EUROPE: A new YouGov poll is said to have indicated that European citizens see clean energy independence as a safety issue, not just a climate concern.

SWEDEN: The Swedish HVAC equipment manufacturer Swegon has combined its Zent-Frenger and Barcol-Air Production businesses under the new name Swegon Operations HEP GmbH.

GERMANY: Fans and ventilation equipment manufacturer Ziehl-Abegg is mourning the death of its long-serving former chairman Uwe Ziehl.

JAPAN: Nidec claims to have developed a prototype in-rack CDU with a cooling capacity of up to 300kW.

BELGIUM: A new document from EPEE attempts to provide greater clarity to the practical application of the safety exemptions of the European F-gas regulation (2024/573).

ROMANIA: German fan and motor manufacturer EBM‑Papst has officially opened its new €30m facility in Oradea, Romania.

USA: Stephen Yurek, president and CEO of the US HVACR manufacturers association, the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), has announced his retirement next year.

NEW ZEALAND: The acquisition of Auckland-based HVACR wholesaler Refrigeration Specialities Limited (Refspecs) by Swedish group Beijer Ref has been cleared by the New Zealand Commerce Commission. 

USA: Mitsubishi Electric, Carrier and Samsung are amongst the investors in a $100m Series C funding of California-based two-phase liquid cooling company ZutaCore.

GERMANY: Acquisitive Swedish contractor group Nordic Climate has now entered the German market with the purchase of four companies based in Hamburg and Eastern-Westphalia.

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.