World Refrigeration Day has announced the theme of “Next Generation Cooling: The Future is in our hands” for this year's celebrations on 26th June.

World Refrigeration Day celebrates the people and technologies responsible for creating and maintaining the world we live in, a world dependent upon temperature-controlled environments. Centered around June 26, the event is supported globally by industry, professional groups, scientific and engineering associations, as well as by governments and individuals.  The IOR is a founding member and suppporter.

Titled ‘Next Generation Cooling’, the WRD 23 campaign will focus on the future of cooling technology, the industry, the people working within it, and those that benefit from cooling. Building upon last year’s theme ‘Cooling Matters’, this year’s campaign will look forward with the aim of raising awareness of how the modern cooling industry is adapting and evolving to meet the challenges and opportunities the sector faces providing the increasing demand for low carbon cooling and heating solutions in a warming climate.

Next generation cooling is important because it can help reduce the energy consumption and carbon emissions of cooling systems, which are becoming more widely used as the world gets hotter and more humid. For example, according to the International Energy Agency, air conditioners account for nearly 20% of the total electricity used in buildings around the world today, and their use is set to soar over the next three decades, becoming one of the top drivers of global electricity demand.

Supporting next generation cooling solutions is of course the workforce; the people working within the sector. “As an industry, we need to recruit, train and retain people equipped with the knowledge and skills that a modern, forward-thinking industry requires” explains Stephen Gill FInstR, founder of World Refrigeration Day. “Just as no-one will expect the cooling solutions we supply in the future to be the same as those from the past, no-one should expect the workforce to be the same either. This year’s campaign is an opportunity to showcase what we are doing now to ensure we have the diverse, highly skilled workforce that our future industry needs”.

The future is in our hands. Next Generation Cooling will tell the story of how our wellbeing depends upon sustainable cooling and heating,  and how cooling technology choices and an evolving industry can safeguard the well-being of future generations. 

WRD encourages the whole refrigeration, air-conditioning, and heat-pump industry to join them in celebrating World Refrigeration Day 2023. Join the global community conversation using the hashtags #NextGenCooling and WREFD23.

To learn more about World Refrigeration Day “Next Generation Cooling ,” visit the website here or contact info@worldrefrigerationday.org