Eurovent hosts 2025 Kälte Kolloquium on sustainable food refrigeration

The 2025 Kälte Kolloquium, held on 13–14 May in Munich, focused on sustainable refrigeration systems for food and gathered 87 participants across multiple venues. Organised by Eurovent Certification and Eurovent Association, in cooperation with Gerhard Frei from COOLPLAN and supported by Roland Handschuh and media partners cci Dialog GmbH, KKA, and Klima Journal, the event featured a full technical agenda and site visits.

The first day at the Science Congress Centre in Garching opened with a welcome from Sylvain Courtey, President of Eurovent Certification, who also honoured the late Tim Kroeger. Technical presentations included Prof. Dr.-Ing. Armin Hafner (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) on the ENOUGH Project's strategies for reducing emissions in the food cold chain, and Georg Wartelsteiner (Eckert & Partner Beratende Ingenieure GmbH) on using refrigeration systems for heat supply.

Additional talks covered water loop concepts in food retailing by Markus Kielnhofer (AHT Cooling Systems GmbH), thermal barriers via air curtain systems by Benjamin Meißner (Frico GmbH), and catering refrigeration technology at Allianz Arena presented by Christian Kraus (Dussmann Kälte- und Klimatechnik GmbH - KED). Richard Dogan (Amberger Kühltechnik GmbH) discussed NH3 cooling for HoWe sausage products, and Christoph Mudra (Johnson Controls Systems & Service GmbH) addressed industrial waste heat recovery with large heat pumps. Sylvain Courtey also presented on Eurovent Certification's role in building product performance trust.

The evening programme took place at the ESO Supernova Planetarium, where Julian Janßen (Jinjan – Clima consulting) presented on simulation-based HVAC planning, followed by a planetarium show and networking dinner.

On the second day, delegates toured TÜV SÜD’s laboratory in Olching. Groups visited various testing areas, including plant rooms capable of reaching -50°C (-58°F), transport refrigeration chambers at -8°C (17.6°F), acoustic and vibration test areas, HVAC component testing chambers, and setups for systems using CO2 and other natural refrigerants.