Why: More than 40 leaders in industry, finance, research, and policy convened at La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, Calif., to discuss critical issues and opportunities for the HVAC&R industry, including climate change, energy efficiency, refrigerants and pending federal legislation.
Said Robert Wilkins, president of Danfoss in North America, “Never before has the HVAC&R industry been at the forefront of so many critical global issues as it is at this moment. The economic trends we currently face are influencing collective business decisions today that will shape decades to come.”
The symposium opened with two speakers describing climate change bills that are currently in Congress, and how the legislation, if passed, would significantly impact the HVAC&R industry, increasing energy efficiency demands, and dramatically reducing the use of HFC refrigerants
Kateri Callahan led the discussion on energy efficiency, focusing on opportunities for growth in a new energy-focused economy.
As Callahan stated, energy efficiency has been powering a major portion of the U.S. economy for more than 30 years and must play an even larger role in the nation’s energy future. By capturing the potential energy savings available from existing technologies, global energy demand growth could be cut by half or more in the next 15 years.
The new frontier for this work is in the built environment: according to the Energy Information Administration, the carbon dioxide emissions of the U.S. building sector are almost equal to the total CO2 emissions of India and Japan combined. It is therefore imperative we must make better and more strongly enforced building codes part of the solution to energy independence and climate change.
