Report: New, existing building projects for HVAC systems in the U.S.

While total construction market in the United States has grown at a modest CAGR of 2.4% from 2012 to 2014, IHS found in its recent report "World Market for HVAC Equipment" that 65.2% of total HVAC units sold into nonresidential buildings were retrofit sales.

By Omar Talpur, IHS Technology May 19, 2015

Due to the large install base of equipment in the United States following the 2009 economic collapse, IHS Technology was not entirely surprised by the high retrofit rate of HVAC systems, according to an IHS report "World Market for HVAC Equipment."

Nevertheless, it was interesting to see the broad variations that can occur among end-users within the same country.

For example, using building stock and construction statistics, IHS found that 79% of air handling units (AHUs) sold into the education market in the U.S. went to retrofit projects, which equates to roughly 12,000 schools replacing one AHU. In comparison, only 58% of AHUs sold in the industrial market went into similar retrofit projects, which equates to 10,000 industrial building making one AHU replacement. This shows that while industrial buildings has rebounded, in both new construction and spend, budgets for buildings in the education vertical have been more geared to maintaining existing structures.

Understanding the differences in the retrofit and new build markets has been extremely important for manufacturers over the past five years as economic progress has been slower than expected. As the United States continues its recovery and budgets are refreshed, tracking the retrofit and new build markets will remain an important metric for growth opportunity, especially as energy efficiency recommendations continue to evolve.


Omar Talpur is an analyst for IHS Technology. IHS Technology is a CFE Media content partner. See original article here.