Energy use in U.S. and European homes is predicted to flatten, for the most part. But it will soar in developing and middle-income countries. The main culprit, according to new research from the University of California, Berkley, is air conditioning. In China, sales of air conditioners have nearly doubled in the last five years, with more than 60 million units sold in 2013 alone. Using data from Mexico, researchers at UC Berkley’s Haas School of Business built a model that took into account the relation between climate, income, and air conditioning. When accounting for increases in incomes and expected higher temperatures, they found the number of homes with air conditionings would rise from 13 percent today to more than 70 percent at the end of the century. “This is mostly good news,” Lucas Davis, lead author of the paper and professor at the Hass School of Business, wrote in a blog post. “Air conditioning will bring relief to the more than three billion people who live in the tropics and subtropics.”

The problem, however, is that meeting the new demand will require intensive investment in electricity grids in places where it is already badly needed, such as India and southeast Asia. In the United States, which uses more air conditioning than the rest of the world combined, most of the grid is sized to meet the few days a year when coolers are cranking at full blast under sweltering temperatures. This has led to a grid that runs inefficiently most of the year. Some technologies have been adopted more widely in recent years to help curb demand when it’s at its highest, such as remotely controlling air conditioner compressors, but those will have to become commonplace in other areas of the world if air conditioning is widely adopted. In India there are three times as many days that are warm enough to warrant air conditioning use as there are in the United States. That brings India’s demand for cooling to 12 times what it is in the United States, according to the researchers.

Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines all have even more such “cooling degree days” than India. Within just a few decades, the model shows “near universal saturation” of air conditioning use, according to the Berkeley team. Grids need enough generation available to power all of these air conditioners. But in India, there is not even adequate generation for the electricity load today. But there is also an opportunity to invest in efficient air conditioners and in generation sources that will best match the growth in air conditioner use. The southeast United States could be somewhat instructive for other countries. It has seen electricity use for cooling jump 43 percent in the past 20 years, and the region’s electricity use is growing as people build bigger homes with central air conditioning. Unlike some other regions of the United States, however, it is relatively devoid of strict state energy efficiency standards that exceed federal efficiency standards or other standards that drive the uptake of more efficient AC units.

In China, efficiency standards for air conditioners have become more strict in the past decade, and could continue to do so. cheap small ac unitsAs a potential supplier to Southeast Asia, the minimum efficiency of Chinese products could be important for efficiency across Asia.hvac air conditioning repair Another concern with the rising use of air conditioning is the issue of matching generation to demand. outside ac unit nameSolar power peaks earlier than cooling use, but it can be close. So precooling homes and businesses while solar output is at its highest could help mitigate how much power an air conditioning unit may need from the grid in the late afternoon. There is also an opportunity for more distributed solutions, such as air conditioners that run at least in part on solar power directly.

Advances in technologies such as these, along with energy efficiency could “reduce the energy consumption impacts substantially,” Davis wrote. But the time is now to make decisions about the cost of energy and what technologies should be available, he added. “We need an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach including aggressive funding for innovation, efficient pricing of energy, and evidence-based environmental policies,” he wrote. “We need efficient markets if we are going to stay cool without heating up the planet.”DUBLIN, Feb. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- /research/hmvrgm/global_heating) has announced the addition of the "Global Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Market - Forecast & Analysis, 2016-2022" report to their offering. The market is expected to generate over $68.93 billion value by 2022 at an estimated CAGR of 4.34% from 2016 to 2022, as per the forecasts of the analysts. Rising population, revival in the housing markets, increases in income levels in emerging markets, development of reliable energy resources and growing industrial units are some of the key drivers pushing towards the growth of global HVAC market.

While robust demand is anticipated to come from the Americas over the forecasted period, Asia-Pacific continues to be the leading revenue generator in the global HVAC market. Split air conditioners are forecasted to remain on high demand for various residential end-use applications. The governments, emerging green/smart building criterions and growing consumer concerns across the world are pushing global HVAC manufacturers, developers and system integrators to build and provide energy efficient, technologically advanced HVAC units for major commercial, residential, institutional and industrial applications, among others. To present an overview and a comprehensive outlook of the global HVAC market, the study has been segmented according to different types of HVAC products including window & portable air conditioners, split air conditioners, single packaged units, chillers and fan coil unit (FCU) & air handling unit (AHU). Further, the global HVAC market is fragmented into different geographies.

Major geographies covered in the report are the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Others (Middle East and Africa, MEA). Besides examining the promising side of global HVAC market, the research investigates various aspects of the market inclusive of its threats that can possibly slow down the market growth and the current growth opportunities that are going to shape the overall HVAC market expansion. The report provides an in depth analysis of the market and an assessment of the factors governing the same by incorporating porter's five forces model, regulatory standards and distribution channel analysis. The following key questions are answered in the Global HVAC Market, 2016-2022 report. - What are major types of HVAC products prevalent in global HVAC market? - Who are the major players in global HVAC market and their respective company profile? - What are the key market developments and strategies of leading players in global HVAC market? - What are major drivers, challenges and opportunities for global HVAC market?

- What is the global market size (value and volume) of window and portable air conditioners? - What is the market size (value and volume) of window and portable air conditioners across different geographies? - What is the global market size (value and volume) of split systems? What is the market size (value and volume) of split systems across different geographies? - What is the global market size (value and volume) of single packed systems? What is the market size (value and volume) of single packaged systems across different geographies? - What is the global market size (value and volume) of chillers? What is the market size (value and volume) of chillers across different geographies? - What is the global market size (value and volume) of air handling unit and fan coil unit? What is the market size (value and volume) of air handling unit and fan coil unit across different geographies? The following points are key executive findings available in the report titled Global Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Market- Forecast & Analysis, 2016 - 2022:

- The figure shows global HVAC market by both volume (Thousand Units) and value ($Million). The total market covers major HVAC product including window & portable air conditioners, split air conditioners, single packaged units, chillers and fan coil unit (FCU) & air handling unit (AHU). - In terms of geographical analysis, global HVAC market covers regions including the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC) and the Middle East and Africa (MEA). - Globally, the demand for HVAC products is mainly driven by factors such by rising population, revival in the housing markets, and increase in consumer income levels in emerging markets, development of reliable energy resources, growing commercial and industrial units, among others. - Asia-Pacific is leading the global HVAC market mainly because of high demand coming from emerging economies like China, India and South East countries like Indonesia and Thailand, among others. The Americas is also expected to show robust demand for HVAC products and equipments over the forecasted period (2016-2022).