The Premier Industry Show Takes On Las Vegas
The AHR Expo 2026 (International Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigerating Exposition), being held in Las Vegas, on Feb 2-4, 2026, is a fast-paced week to learn, reconnect, peruse, and demo everything new coming to market in HVACR. The 2025 show welcomed over 50,000 attendees to interact with 1,878 exhibitors, including suppliers across the supply chain. It attracts HVAC Industry Professionals, Suppliers, Manufacturers, General Contractors, Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Contractors, Controls, Manufacturers, and Integrators, to name a few. The show is co-sponsored by ASHRAE and AHRI and is held concurrently with ASHRAE’s Winter Conference.
The event continues to deliver high-quality and timely educational industry seminars, the AHR Panel Series, For-Credit sessions, New Product Theaters, and the popular Podcast Pavilion. This year, the event provides attendees with critical information on trending topics impacting the future of HVACR. These key areas of focus are:
AI & Smart Controls:
Presenting new opportunities for enhanced building automation.
AI and smart control innovations have long been integral to building automation, but recent advancements are opening new opportunities to revolutionize the HVACR industry. These technologies improve system efficiency, reduce energy consumption, and enhance user comfort. By leveraging real-time data analysis, intuitive machine learning, IoT integration, and two-way communication between buildings and owners, they enable optimized performance, predictive maintenance, and sustainable, cost-effective solutions.
Plumbing & Mechanical:
Enhancing performance and reducing energy consumption.
Plumbing and mechanical innovations are poised to contribute to growing trends in the HVACR industry as it moves toward greater decarbonization and energy efficiency. The integration of AI and other applied smart technologies is a driving factor for improvements in system efficiency and reliability. Real-time monitoring, along with more precise predictive maintenance capabilities, is also enhancing performance and reducing overall energy consumption.
Refrigerants:
Keeping pace with changing regulations, system design, and safety protocols.
HVACR continues to undergo significant regulation changes. Central to these changes are A2L refrigerants, which are considered mildly flammable, safer, and more environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional, high-GWP options. Global governments move to tighten regulations to phase out these high-GWP refrigerants, and the HVACR industry consistently faces new challenges and opportunities for system design and safety protocol.
Decarbonization:
Reducing energy-related carbon emissions is at the forefront of global HVACR industry efforts.
Almost 40% of global energy-related carbon emissions stem from the built environment, positioning the HVACR industry at the forefront of efforts to confront climate change. The pursuit of ambitious decarbonization goals will continue to impact every facet of our industry, encompassing the design and production of new equipment, the establishment and implementation of evolving regulations and standards, the incorporation of enhanced materials and technologies like refrigerants, building automation systems including AI & Controls, and more. It will involve managing energy sources and consumption, addressing distribution and supply chain challenges, ramping up communication and education industry-wide, assessing the financial viability and sustainability of proposed solutions, and more.
Workforce Development:
Addressing escalating industry workforce shortages and training gaps.
The skilled trades are facing a critical shortage of labor and professional workers. As an aging workforce exits the industry faster than new professionals enter, the gap continues to widen. This challenge is further intensified by rapidly evolving regulations and increasingly complex training requirements, placing greater demands on the existing workforce to uphold industry standards. The industry must work together to promote HVACR career opportunities to the next generation while ensuring ongoing training and development for those already in the field.
Ones to Note
Building Automation and Control (BAC) is addressed in one of the first sessions of the event: “Navigating Complexity. Escalating Opportunity. Today, Tomorrow & The Future” offers a state-of-the-union-style address where the industry has been and where it’s headed. Panelists will reflect on the milestones that shaped building automation and provide forward-looking insights on AI, cloud, interoperability, human-centric design, continuous learning, cybersecurity, and data-driven ecosystems.
Other BAC sessions in this area include Indoor Air Quality, Harnessing AI, The Evolution of Master Systems Integrators, Software Platforms, Next Generation Transmitters, Apps, and Gas Detectors.
Corporate ESG is driving Energy Conservation and Efficiency initiatives. Multiple sessions address innovative ways to increase system performance and save energy and create healthier environments. One ASHRAE training includes “Decarbonization Tactics: Making Buildings Grid-Interactive,” which explores controllable energy-consuming systems that can significantly adjust energy usage patterns with the right communications and controls infrastructure.
Also, “Breathe Better, Save More: DOAS for Healthier, Lower-Load Buildings” explores how dedicated outdoor-air systems (DOAS) enhance indoor environmental quality by delivering fresh, dehumidified air independently of space conditioning. It will explain how DOAS decouples latent and sensible loads, improving ventilation effectiveness, humidity control, and air purity. It will also demonstrate how DOAS reduces overall HVAC heat load by offloading ventilation demand from central systems, enabling smaller, more efficient cooling units.
Speakers from the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association will talk on “SMACNA System Air Leakage & HVAC Duct Systems Inspection.” Their standard addresses leakage testing of any portion of, and up to, the entire forced air system. This in-depth look highlights significant changes for inspection of commercial HVAC duct systems for compliance with SMACNA Standards.
The event will take place at Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV.
www.ahrexpo.com
