HVAC&R suppliers bullish on 2017

In a recent AHR Expo and ASHRAE Journal survey sent to more than 1,400 HVAC&R manufacturers worldwide, 86% of respondents expect their sales to grow in the coming year.

Of these, 27% believed their business would increase by more than 10%, a 6 percentage-point jump from 2016.

“Combining these positive predictions with the fact that the 2017 AHR Expo will be the largest held in the show’s 88-year history, we are anticipating a stellar year for business activity among exhibitors and attendees,” said Clay Stevens, president of International Exposition Company, which manages the AHR Expo. The AHR Expo will take place January 30-February 1 in Las Vegas.

When asked to rate prospects for business in 2017, 98% of survey participants indicated a positive outlook. Within these responses, 24% answered “excellent,” a nearly a 10 percentage-point increase from 2016. Additionally, 54% responded “good” and 20% responded “fair,” with only 2% rating prospects as “poor” for the coming year.

Thirty-eight percent of survey participants said that maintenance and replacement applications would provide the best prospects for business in 2017. Retrofit and renovation applications were cited by 32% of respondents as providing the best business prospects, while new construction was chosen by 30%.

Overall, the light commercial market was identified as offering the most promising outlook for 2017, with 74% of respondents rating it as excellent or good.

Energy efficiency was deemed “very” and “somewhat” important by 92% of respondents, while sustainability got those designations from 88% of respondents. Higher importance ratings were garnered by reliability (77% saying it was “very important”), maintenance (98% combined “very” and “somewhat” important) and first costs (96% combined).