World Refrigeration Day’s secretariat welcomes Steve Comstock as its head of special initiatives. Comstock adds more than 40 years of communications and publishing experience to the team that plans the “coolest day of the year.”
“Refrigeration is at the very heart of modern life. We are pleased to have the benefit of Steve Comstock’s experience in drawing attention to the wonderful engineering and science that surrounds us every day,” said Steve Gill, Founder of World Refrigeration Day (WRD) and secretariat head. He made the announcement in conjunction with the 32nd Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol that convened virtually 23 November.
World Refrigeration Day is a global event celebrated by near 1 million engineers, technicians, installers, and companies. It was initiated in 2019 as an international awareness campaign to raise the profile of the refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat-pump sector and focus attention on the significant role that the industry and its technology play in modern life and society. Celebrated on 26 June each year, the WRD secretariat launches an annual initiative with United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) through its OzonAction program to draw attention to a specific public benefit of cooling technology in developing countries.
Comstock has led numerous global publishing, marketing, and communications efforts in the environmental control field. Most recently, he was head of business development for ASHRAE in its Brussels Office and directed its ACR training center in Dubai. He has reported extensively on building and process control technologies, identifying how applications of technology impact everyday life, and he has transitioned traditional publishing and educational resources to digital platforms.
As the world adapts to a warming world, estimates are that the market for refrigeration and air conditioning will grow to US $170 billion by 2030. Creating the cold chain that supplies foods and vaccines, maintaining indoor air quality in buildings, making environments for data centers and for products we consume every day, and reducing CO2 emissions to levels needed to limit climate change all depend upon the engineers, technicians and researchers working in refrigeration.
In 2021, the WRD celebration will be extended to a fortnight (one week either side of June 26) with focus on the individual contributions that men and women make globally in the field and how the industry can better attract young people to pursue one its exciting careers. WRD will continue its partnership with UNEP in designing and launching special relevant campaigns to support refrigeration and air conditioning in developing countries.
