WESTPORT, Conn. — According to a recent ASHRAE and AHR Expo survey sent to more than 1,000 HVACR manufacturers worldwide, there is growing optimism for improving economic prospects in 2015. Based on survey results, 87 percent of respondents said prospects for business were either “excellent” (26 percent) or “good” (61 percent) for the coming year. 
Thirteen percent of the respondents felt prospects were “fair.”
These results reflect a significant 8 percent jump over last year’s survey that found 79 percent of respondents expected the economy would be better in 2014 than 2013. It also represents a sizable 17 percent increase in optimism over the previous year’s survey when 70 percent of the respondents thought 2013 would be better than 2012.
In keeping with this positive outlook for next year, 96 percent of the HVACR manufacturers believe 2015 sales will continue to increase, with 47 percent expecting sales increases of between 5 percent and 10 percent. Twenty-nine percent of respondents forecast sales increases more than 10 percent, and 20 percent expect increases of less than 5 percent. Only 3 percent expected sales to remain the same. This represents a 6 percent jump over last year’s forecast and an impressive 16 percent increase over the 2013 survey.
When asked which market segments would be the most promising in the New Year, hospitals/healthcare ranked first in the “excellent” and “good” categories, followed closely by light commercial. heavy commercial, data/telecom centers, manufacturing/industrial and office buildings also ranked highly. Heavy commercial, light commercial and data/telecom showed the biggest increases over last year’s survey with double digit increases.
Regarding the industry categories where HVACR manufacturers see the best prospects for business, new construction was mentioned by 40 percent of respondents and climbed to number one, gaining 11 percentage points from the 2014 forecast. Maintenance/replacement was second (32 percent), followed closely by retrofit/renovation (28 percent). Last year, all three were rated fairly equally with only a couple of percentage points separating them.
“What is especially interesting about this year’s survey is that manufacturers are seeing bigger increases in new construction, light commercial, heavy commercial and data centers,” said Clay Stevens, president of International Exposition Company, which produces and manages the AHR Expo. “In the previous two years’ surveys, they were expecting more growth from Retrofit/Renovation and Maintenance/Replacement areas.”
In response to the question “How important to your customers are the following,” reliability and first costs ranked the highest again this year in 
the “very important” and “important” categories. Energy efficiency and maintenance were close behind and comfort and indoor air quality made impressive gains over last year’s survey to finish in the top five.
In response to this projected economic growth and the need for more energy-efficient solutions, 70 percent of respondents said they plan to introduce new products at the 2015 AHR Expo in Chicago, Illinois, Jan. 26-28. This is up 3 percent from last year. Of these respondents, 53 percent plan to introduce products that improve energy efficiency.
AHR Expo is endorsed by 35 of the leading HVACR industry associations and is co-sponsored by ASHRAE and the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute. The Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Institute of Canada is an honorary sponsor.
For more information, visit www.ahrexpo.com.
