This year marks the 90th annual International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition. Simply known as the AHR Expo, this is an annual event that contractors, engineers, OEMs, and other HVACR professionals look forward to with great anticipation.

Why?

Because #AHRExpo lives up to its claim: The event for everything new in HVACR.

Please join us in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center, February 6-8 for the AHR Expo 2023 where you can find us in Building C, Level 1 – C5323.

In addition to demonstrating our Chillgard® 5000 Refrigerant Monitor, the next generation in refrigerant detection, we’ll also be featuring FieldServer and talking about how we can help you become more energy efficient.

Top HVAC Trends

For now, though, we want to give you some insight into the future of HVAC and energy efficiency. To help, we turned to AHR Expo’s recently published 2023 Trend Report. This report includes some industry-wide themes, as well as reflections from a few of AHR’s endorsing association leaders.

We wanted to offer our own insights into the industry, especially as it relates to automation, connectivity, and cybersecurity. Our goal here is to help HVAC industry professionals like you understand which trends matter most. More importantly, we want to help you seamlessly connect your existing systems with all the new products so you can forge confidently ahead toward a cleaner, more energy-efficient future.

Indoor Air Quality

As technology and tools continue to evolve, HVAC professionals must re-think their approach to everything from building automation to indoor air quality (IAQ). Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the spotlight’s been on IAQ. But even as IAQ quality goes up, energy costs must come down. Small, incremental changes are no longer enough. The HVAC industry must become even more proactive in its IAQ efforts, encouraging commercial building owners and managers to retrofit their facilities with the latest technologies to ensure a safer, more comfortable indoor environment.

TRENDING TOOLS & SOLUTIONS:

• Cloud-enabled HVAC systems
• Smart sensors and detectors
• Continuous, real-time monitoring and remote notifications

Cybersecurity

Digitization has been one of the most remarkable transformations HVAC—and the world—has seen. With it, however, comes an often talked about but little understood danger … cyberattacks. Threats are real and HVAC systems are especially vulnerable entry points for hackers. So, it’s imperative to ensure that you and your HVAC equipment and solutions vendors strengthen cybersecurity.

MUST-HAVE SECURITY MEASURES:

• Third-party penetration and vulnerability testing
• Attestation letters as evidence of security testing
• Proof of industry certifications
• Regularly scheduled security runs based on the latest trends in hacking and security

Decarbonization

Decarbonization and electrification are among the hottest topics for 2023 and beyond. While this is undoubtedly good for the planet in the long term, in the short term, it’s sure to tax an already stressed power grid. That’s because more and more commercial building owners will be replacing their fossil fuel HVAC systems with new, energy-efficient heat pump technologies in an effort to limit their carbon footprint.

QUESTIONS TO ASK:

• Is this heat pump/solution proprietary and will it limit interoperability?
• Does this heat pump technology allow both monitoring and remote control of devices?
• Can this new or retrofitted system receive data that we can use for better management of energy consumption?

Hint: A FieldServer gateway is the solution to any or all of these challenges.

#ahrexpo2023

Of course, there’s much more trending in HVAC right now, but we hope you’ll use these pre-show predictions as a starting point for your discussions with colleagues, presenters, and vendors at the AHR Expo.

Remember that the experts at Bacharach have a wide variety of HVAC tools to safeguard your people and places, while FieldServer can help you connect any of the exciting new products you’ll soon bring into your operations.

We’d be happy to provide more information, support, or a demonstration of any of our solutions, so feel free to connect with us at the show or email us anytime.