Interview
30 years of eurammon: a conversation with Rob Vandenboer and Michael Freiherr
On eurammon’s 30th anniversary, Chair Rob Vandenboer and Deputy Chair Michael Freiherr look ahead at the challenges facing refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps, and where the association can make the biggest difference.
Rob Vandenboer, Chair, and Michael Freiherr, Deputy Chair, eurammon e.V.
Cool topics, 36 °C outside: the eurammon members meeting 2026 in Belgium
What challenge is the sector not discussing enough as it looks to the next decade?
Rob Vandenboer: Sustainable cooling and reliable cold chains are becoming strategically important as we experience the impact of global warming. The challenge is to meet these needs while balancing energy and natural resources. Keeping natural refrigerants at the heart of sustainable cooling solutions is a major task for our industry and an opportunity for eurammon.
Michael Freiherr: For me, the biggest challenge is not the refrigerant itself. It is how we provide dramatically more cooling with dramatically fewer resources. We cannot meet that demand simply by installing three times as much of what we install today. Energy matters, but so do water, materials and grid capacity. We need to look at how systems actually perform in the real world, not just at nominal efficiencies. Natural refrigerants are an important part of that answer, but the challenge is much bigger than replacing one refrigerant with another.
When does the shift to natural refrigerants become driven by the market rather than regulation?
Michael Freiherr: Regulation has certainly accelerated the transition. But real market pull starts when customers choose natural refrigerants because they are simply the better technical and economic choice. Investment security, efficiency and avoiding another refrigerant phase-down are strong arguments. Add heat recovery, integrated heating and cooling or industrial heat pumps, and the business case becomes even stronger. For me, that is the real transition: from “we have to change refrigerant” to “this is the better system.”
Rob Vandenboer: It is important to identify natural refrigeration as a differentiator when formulating the environmental pledge of companies and organizations. We already see natural refrigeration appearing in the ESG statements of larger companies and once this pledge is implemented in the company culture, natural refrigeration will be transferred and applied in subsequent structures.
How urgent is the shortage of skilled refrigeration technicians, and what can eurammon do?
Rob Vandenboer: The cooling industry is promptly implementing the European F-gas regulation - it is absolutely urgent. The rapid growth in the use of natural refrigerants is not being matched by a parallel growth in the number of technicians skilled in designing, building and handling these installations.
Michael Freiherr: What we can do is multiply knowledge. We can connect industry, education and institutions, provide practical technical guidance and support the people who train the next generation. There are decades of experience within our membership. Our job should be to make as much of that knowledge accessible as possible.
Which application area would you recommend to a young engineer who wants to make a difference?
Michael Freiherr: Industrial heat pumps, and more broadly, integrated heating and cooling. We still reject enormous amounts of useful energy as waste heat. Turning that into useful heat is a huge opportunity. This connects heat recovery, electrification and industrial decarbonisation. Natural refrigerants, particularly ammonia and CO₂, are very well positioned for many of these applications.
“Natural refrigerants are not a European solution to a European problem. The physics is global, and so are the challenges we are trying to solve.”
Michael Freiherr, Deputy Chair
How can eurammon help bring European experience with natural refrigerants to other regions?
Rob Vandenboer: eurammon takes part in international events and seeks cooperation with similar organisations to share positive experiences with natural refrigerants. Our extensive database of case studies and success stories is a good example of practical knowledge that attracts interest from organisations around the world.
Michael Freiherr: Europe has become a proving ground for natural refrigerants at scale. I don’t think our job is to export European regulation. We should export what we have learned: what works, what is safe, what is efficient and what makes economic sense. Natural refrigerants are not a European solution to a European problem. The physics is global, and so are the challenges we are trying to solve.
Where should eurammon make its voice heard more strongly to advance natural refrigerants?
Rob Vandenboer: We should reach out to end users, particularly those operating larger refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat-pump systems. We need to explain the economic and environmental advantages while putting the challenges into perspective. Europe is leading the global implementation of natural refrigerants, and we should communicate its successes and progress more confidently.
In five years, what would you like to say eurammon helped make happen?
Michael Freiherr: I would like natural refrigerants to have lost the label “alternative”. They should simply be one of the first options considered when a new system is designed, because of performance, efficiency and lifecycle economics.
Rob Vandenboer: Let’s start by encouraging the younger generation to pursue careers in our industry and continue informing users about the positive environmental impact of cooling, heating and refrigeration with natural refrigerants. We are on the right path.
What would you like to say to members on the occasion of the anniversary?
Rob Vandenboer: Thank you for your years of courage and dedication to advancing natural refrigerants. eurammon members helped create a can-do mindset and contributed to the legislative framework. An important part of the mission has been accomplished, but the most important part, implementation, is happening now and must be carried through responsibly. Stay on board: the work is not done! Those of us who carry natural refrigerants in their hearts should carry their expertise to the world.
Michael Freiherr: Thank you! What eurammon has achieved over the past 30 years is the result of people willing to share knowledge, experience and conviction.
Part of our anniversary publication “30 Years of Championing Refrigerants by Nature”.
