Italy’s building landscape dominated by retrofit projects

Describing Italy as one of the largest, if not the largest, HVAC markets in Europe, Marco Flavio Calanca, Marketing Manager, Daikin Applied Europe, said that the country has seen an increase in the number of retrofit projects. Most projects are replacement jobs, he said, largely the result of the country’s economic situation. Calanca added that since investment in new buildings is not so common, greater importance is being placed on replacing parts.

“The challenges for retrofitting are very interesting,” he said. “You have very tight installations, very stringent requirements.” He cited the issue of noise emissions and regulations as a few of the challenges.

“Italy is a huge market for splits but also for applied products, he said. “It is the second largest after Germany. So, it’s still one of the most important for water systems, like chillers.” Italy, he said, is showing a preference for medium- and small-capacity chillers. Most of the market for chillers in Italy, he added, is below 200 KW. “It’s for what we call ‘medium-small applications’ more than ‘medium-large applications’,” Calanca said. “There is a big market for chillers but small installations and small capacity.”