ASHRAE Journal - September 2022 - 6

INDUSTRY NEWS
Air Conditioning Study Shows
Growth in the Market
BRACKNELL, BERKSHIRE, U.K.-The BSRIA Worldwide Market Intelligence
air conditioning study in 31 countries shows the
global market growing 8% in volume in 2021, compared to
2020, despite challenging trading conditions.
The European HVAC market is going through a transformation
with electrification of the heating systems and
tackling an increase in average ambient temperatures.
Higher shares of buildings are requiring cooling and less
so heating. The overall cooling market has recorded 13%
growth compared to years ago, with chillers and split
air-conditioning units recording the highest growth of
17% and 15%, respectively, in units of sale. The incentives
driving the markets at a regional level include the EU
Renovation Wave, which aims to renovate the EU building
stock to improve energy efficiency while driving the
clean energy transition, as well as many local incentives
schemes encouraging end users to replace their old systems
with a newer technology, such as reversible cooling/
heating technologies and inverters, in both residential
and commercial sectors.
The total Americas region has performed well, with 9%
growth overall in 2021, and Canada and Mexico performing
the strongest with 32% and 26% growth, respectively.
The U.S., which accounts for around 70% of the total region's
sales, has recorded 8% growth, despite a generalized
supply chain crisis causing product shortages and longer
lead times combined with the demand surge generating
an inflationary pressure and price increase in all product
categories.
The key driver behind this growth is a combination of
markets opening up from the pandemic and high savings
of the households combined with hot weather in
some regions. In addition, the incentives in the West and
Northeast, together with building codes and regulatory
frameworks, accelerate the shift away from fossil fuel and
toward the electrification for heating and cooling. The
phase out of HFC refrigerant over stringent time lines is
among the regional policies of the most progressive states.
Electrification and refrigerant regulation in regional
pockets of the country is spurring competitors to develop
new lines for addressing heating and cooling and preparing
for HFC phase out.
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ASHRAE JOURNAL ashrae.o rg S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2
FIGURE 1 Hydronic heat pump sales 2020 - 2030.
Overall, Asia and Oceania grew by 8%, with chillers performing
better than the splits market as increasing numbers
of gas and oil boilers are being replaced with scroll
reversible chillers. India, Bangladesh, Philippines and
China performed particularly well, increasing by 45%,
32%, 18% and 10%, respectively, while Australia, Japan,
Thailand and Vietnam all contracted in 2021. Some of the
large increases are due to a bounce back after a devastating
drop in 2020 sales. The residential markets performed
particularly well, driven by continuous work-from-home
of tens of millions of people throughout the region. Further
to buying additional units for home offices, households
were also experiencing replacement requirements
of old units due to heavy workloads.
The Middle East and Africa region has not seen the
strong growth of other regions as of 2021, with only 2%
growth in total AC sales. The key markets, such as UAE
and Saudi Arabia, rely heavily on mega projects as well as
replacement of existing systems. The economic conditions
surrounding the pandemic and a lack of tourism
had its toll in air-conditioning sales, especially in large
commercial units such as chillers.
The market growth is expected to settle down in all
regions in the next few years, with more modest growth
rates forecasted due to the many challenges surrounding
energy prices, the shortage of components and rising material
prices. The countries where there is a firm backing
towards decarbonizing building stock will see the highest
increase in newer and more efficient cooling/heating
technologies.
- Contributed by BSRIA Worldwide Market Intelligence
https://ashrae.org/
ASHRAE Journal - September 2022

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