World News

FRANCE: Lennox EMEA is to expand its HVAC and refrigeration business in the Middle East and African markets.

GERMANY: Researchers from Goethe University Frankfurt have put a measuring device into operation on a mountain near Frankfurt to measure atmospheric F-gases.

TAIWAN: A college student has been killed by an air conditioner that fell from the 17th floor of a high-rise apartment in Banqiao, New Taipei City.

SWEDEN: Wholesaler Beijer Ref has recorded its best ever quarter for sales, profit and operating margin.

EUROPE: The third trilogue meeting today on the revision of the F-gas regulation (517/2014) has failed to reach an agreement.

GERMANY/USA: Viessmann Refrigeration Solutions has announced its acquisition of a majority stake in BMIL Technologies, a North-Carolina-based refrigerated warehouses and cold storage company.

AUSTRALIA: Enel X Australia has been awarded AUS$3.7m (US$2.5m) grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to support flexible demand solutions in the small commercial and industrial refrigeration sectors.

Italian manufacturer Epta is to create a commercial refrigeration joint venture with German company Viessmann Refrigeration Solutions (VRS).

USA: Johnson Controls has acquired FM:Systems, a leading digital workplace management and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions provider headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.

ITALY: Maurizio Marchesini, MD of chiller manufacturer Rhoss, has been named as the new chairman of Assoclima, the Italian association of air conditioning manufacturers.

GREECE: Fines of over €200,000 are said to have been levied on Greek companies accused of trading in “illegal” and “counterfeit” HFC refrigerants.

USA: Lennox has marked the completion of renovations to its Marshalltown facility, five years after it was destroyed by a tornado.

JAPAN: A survey by Daikin has revealed that most Japanese consumers are unaware of how to use air conditioners efficiently, so avoided turning them on during recent hot weather.

USA: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a final rule of a 40% cut in the production and consumption of HFC refrigerants from 2024. 

GEORGIA: Georgia has become the 151st country to officially adopt the Kigali Amendment.

NORTH MACEDONIA: The customs authority in North Macedonia says it has seized a shipment of over 13.5 tonnes of HFC refrigerant in illegal disposable cylinders coming in from Greece.

GERMANY: Electric motor and fan manufacturer Ziehl-Abegg, is to open a new 14,000m2 €25m production facility in Vietnam.

SPAIN: Record-breaking temperatures in Europe last summer are said to have led to more than 61,000 premature deaths.

USA: AirReps, the Washington-based subsidiary of Daikin Comfort Technologies North America has acquired Seattle based companies Integrated Systems and Controls LLC and InControl. 

GERMANY: A leading German research body that, without exemptions, any future PFAS regulation could jeopardise the safe and effective uninterrupted operation of refrigeration and heat pump systems.

ROMANIA: The customs authority in Romania is looking in to a mysterious case of smuggling involving a shipment declared as refrigerant that was actually found to be something else.

SWEDEN: The Swedish Competition Authority has issued a fine of SEK7m (€590,000) after two temperature-controlled transport suppliers breached competition laws by dividing customers between themselves.

USA: Modine has acquired Texas-based acquired chiller, condensing unit and heat pump manufacturer Napps Technology. 

BELGIUM: Daikin has opened new Experience Centers in Thialf, Heerenveen in the Netherlands and an interactive and immersive AereXperience in Barcelona, Spain.

BANGKOK: The Refrigerant Driving Licence, a scheme to achieve higher worldwide competence standards in safe refrigerant handling, has finally been launched at this week’s Montreal Protocol meeting in Bangkok.

CZECH REPUBLIC: Panasonic has celebrated the production of its first Aquarea propane air-to-water heat pump with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony at its Plzen factory yesterday.

USA: Industrial heat pump developments are included amongst 40 projects to receive US Department of Energy (DOE) grants.