World News

GERMANY: Motor and fan manufacturer Ziehl-Abegg is investing an additional €90m in machinery, tooling and production capacity across Europe, North America and Asia.

USA: Sarah E Maston has been installed as president of ASHRAE for 2026–27. 

JAPAN/INDIA: Daikin has announced plans to establish an air conditioning research and development company in India.

The Cooling Post celebrates today’s World Refrigeration Day and its focus on Cool Intelligence – the intelligence that quietly keeps the world running.

USA: HVAC contractor organisations have challenged the US EPA’s technology transitions reconsideration rule, claiming that it's legally flawed, economically reckless, and directly at odds with the AIM Act.

BELGIUM: European refrigerant manufacturers, distributors and reclaimers have come together to form a new association to promote circularity, and ensure the effective implementation of, and compliance with, EU regulations.

JAPAN: Carrier is to launch a campaign in Japan to highlight the origins of air conditioning and its value to society to mark Air Conditioning Invention Day on July 17. 

JAPAN: Daikin is one of the companies behind the trial of an air-conditioned bench for urban outdoor public spaces.

ITALY: Enex Technologies, the Treviso-based industrial and commercial cooling equipment manufacturer, has signed a €35.5m ESG-linked refinancing agreement.

BELGIUM: Rainer Grosse-Kracht, chief technology officer at compressor manufacturer Bitzer, has been named as president of the European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE).

GERMANY: The influential German environmental aid association Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) is calling on the German government to end subsidies for electric cars with R1234yf refrigerants in their AC systems.

USA: Daikin has agreed to pay an $8.5m civil penalty for failing to immediately report that one of its US-made Amana packaged terminal air conditioners could overheat.

KOREA: The Korean Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute has announced an initiative to improve the country's HFC refrigerant management.

INDIA: Seven people are reported to have died and over 70 hospitalised following an ammonia gas leak at a seafood factory in Tamil Nadu.

USA: Daikin Applied has broken ground on a new $30m training facility in Plymouth, Minnesota.

USA: Lennox has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Heat Controller, the Michigan-based owner of the Comfort-Aire and Century HVAC brands.

EUROPE: Solstice has signed an agreement enabling the lifecycle refrigerant management company A-Gas to recover and reclaim its R404A/R507 replacement blends.

JAPAN: Daikin is to install outdoor air conditioners at the Tokyo Midtown Yaesu complex with the aim of combating the summer heat and improving the comfort of visitors.

USA: Former Bosch Power Tools CEO Thomas Donato has been appointed president of Climate Solutions Europe to succeed Thomas Heim. 

NEW ZEALAND: The government of New Zealand’s decision to press ahead with a regulated product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants has been described as a key milestone for the environment.

UK: BSRIA reports the building automation and control systems (BACS) market grew by 7.6% in 2025 to reach US$7.75bn.

USA: US shipments of central air conditioners and air-source heat pumps reached 837,098 units in April, an increase of 5.1% compared to April 2025. 

SWEDEN: Family-owned Swedish investment company Melker Schörling AB (MSAB) is to become the largest shareholder, in terms of voting rights, in refrigeration wholesaler Beijer Ref. 

POLAND: Not for the first time, attempts to smuggle refrigerant into Poland in car LPG tanks have been foiled by customs officers in Poland.

GERMANY: Latest figures from Germany suggest that average refrigerant leak rates were down to just 1% in 2025.

BELGIUM: A new report suggests that building on the European F-gas regulation, while further reducing leaks and increasing reclamation, would be the most cost-effective ways to reduce PFAS emissions.

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.