Danfoss event brings HVAC/R heads together

During November's Danfoss EnVisioneering Symposium, more than 40 professionals gathered to discuss climate change, energy efficiency, pending legislation, and other critical issues impacting the industry.

By Consulting Specifying Engineer Staff

Share

On Nov. 14, more than 40 leaders in industry, finance, research, and policy convened in Carlsbad, Calif., during the Danfoss EnVisioneering Symposium . Participants discussed critical HVAC/R, including climate change, energy efficiency, refrigerants, and pending federal legislation.

Kevin Fay, president of Arlington, Va.-based government relation consultants Alcalde & Fay, outlined the current political environment in Washington, with Democrats in control of both houses of Congress and the White House. He projected that energy, energy security, and “green” jobs should be high on the Obama administration’s agenda, and they will likely be part of an economic stimulus bill in early 2009. Further, he projected that climate change legislation would not pass before late 2009 or 2010, but pointed out that 2008 bills in both the Senate and House of Representatives had common approaches that could become the foundation for new legislation in the next Congress.

David McIntosh, who served as Senator Joseph Lieberman's counsel and legislative assistant for energy and the environment from April 2006 through September 2008, pointed out that both the Senate and House committees authored 2008 climate change bills recognized the important role HFC refrigerants play in today’s high-efficiency air conditioning and refrigeration equipment. He projected that future energy legislation could include “mandates on new energy-efficiency standards among manufacturers as well as subsidies and tax incentives for the manufacturers and the purchasers of the equipment,” suggesting the Congress and administration could look to state initiatives as possible models for legislation, as well as previous federal initiatives.