Spotlight on the 2026 MCE and AiCARR Congress
Every two years, the HVACR industry turns its attention to one of its most influential gatherings: Mostra Convegno Expocomfort 2026. More than just a trade show, MCE has become a global meeting point for innovation, collaboration and forward-thinking in comfort technologies, bringing together the people and solutions shaping the future of buildings, energy and indoor environments. The whole Eurovent family was in attendance, with the team from Eurovent Certification, Eurovent Association, Eurovent Market Intelligence and ProdBIM available on the stand in Hall 11, Booth E12. Eurovent Certification also took part in presentations at the 54th AiCARR International Congress, which ran alongside the MCE event.
About the show
Held from 24th–27th March at Fiera Milano Rho, MCE 2026 once again delivered on its reputation as one of Europe’s leading exhibitions for HVAC, refrigeration, renewable energy and smart building technologies. The biennial event welcomed over 90,000 visitors and more than 1,500 exhibitors from across 50+ countries, creating a truly international platform for business, networking and knowledge exchange.
The audience spanned the full value chain, from manufacturers and system designers to engineers, installers and building professionals, reflecting the event’s role as a hub for decision-makers in both residential and commercial sectors. Key themes for 2026 focused on energy efficiency, digitalisation, renewable integration and the evolution of smart, connected buildings.
54th AiCARR International Congress
Running alongside MCE, the 54th AiCARR International Congress brought an added layer of technical depth and thought leadership to the event. Organised by AiCARR, Italy’s leading HVAC association, the congress gathered experts, researchers and industry professionals to explore the latest developments in energy efficiency, system design and sustainable building technologies - bridging the gap between academic insight and real-world application.
Event highlights
Scientific workshop
Away from the exhibition hall, Eurovent Certification played a key role in AiCARR’s congress programme, with a workshop entitled “Bridging High Temperature Cooling, Verified Refrigeration Performance, and EU Sustainability Compliance: A Cross Sector Scientific Workshop on Data Centres and Cold Chain Systems.”
Taking place on 25th March at 11am, the workshop brought together chiller, IT cooling, and refrigeration experts to present three technically grounded case studies. The workshop was opened by Sylvain Courtey, who gave a brief introduction to certification and the importance of research and development.
Then it was into the case studies. Case Study 1 by Francesco Di Giovanni from Daikin Applied Europe explored the transition to warm water cooling in next generation data centres and demonstrated how certified Very High Temperature (VHT) chillers and certified IT Cooling Units (ITCU) maintain system level performance and energy efficiency under elevated coolant temperatures.
Case Study 2 examined the results of Eurovent Certification’s heat exchanger simulation and testing campaign, which revealed performance gaps of up to 30% in non-certified market units. Using a real supermarket refrigeration profile, Dario Demurtas from LUVE explored the long-term consequences of inaccurate declared performance, including energy penalties exceeding 650,000 kWh over 15 years, additional CO₂ emissions, and significant cost impacts under volatile energy pricing.
Eurovent Certification’s Sustainability Director, Alejandro Fernandez De Mera took to the stage for Case Study 3, taking the opportunity to introduce Eurovent Certification’s new Sustainability Department – which officially launched at MCE. The case study focused on data centre compliance aligned with EPBD, EED, and CSRD requirements and explored how certified performance data, harmonised digital product records, and embodied-carbon tools reduce reporting complexity, improve regulatory readiness, and support heat reuse and efficiency strategies.
The workshop closed with a panel discussion featuring all the expert speakers, moderated by Francesco Scuderi of the Eurovent Association. The discussion rounded off the workshop by linking technical verification, climate adaptive test conditions, and EU sustainability reporting into a coherent vision for the future of cooling under scientific, regulatory, and environmental constraints.
Presentation
The very same afternoon, Research Engineer, Zohreh Kiani, gave a compelling presentation on "Decarbonising Our Future: Energy, Economic and Social Aspects of Smarter and Digitalised Buildings and Cities." She shared insights into her work on the IAQ-energy trade-off of window operation in residential buildings, comparing Single-Flow and Balanced Ventilation systems across three European climates.
A duo of standout events
Mostra Convegno Expocomfort 2026 and the 54th AiCARR International Congress once again proved to be exceptional events and at the cornerstone of the Italian HVACR industry.
For Eurovent Certification, the events offered a golden opportunity to launch its new sustainability services, as well as connect with specifiers, manufacturers and end users, to highlight the paramount importance of using trusted, certified performance data to support sustainable HVACR decisions.
Empower Your Sustainable HVAC&R Strategy
A big thank you to all speakers and attendees of both the workshop and presentation, and of course to all those who dropped by the stand in hall 11. Thanks also to the MCE organisers and AiCARR for hosting two outstanding events – we’ll be back next time!
You can find out more about both events at www.mcexpocomfort.it and www.aicarr.org.
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