December 2, 2024
The 14th annual "ATMOsphere Europe Summit" conference, one of the leading platforms for sustainable refrigeration and air conditioning technologies, took place in Prague in the last week of November 2024.
The “Person of the Year” award recognizes an individual who has made the most significant contribution to advancing the technical introduction of natural refrigerants in HVAC&R systems (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration) across Europe.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Michael Kauffeld, honored with the award at ATMOsphere Europe 2024, is a passionate advocate for the use of natural refrigerants. Since 2002, he has been a professor of refrigeration technology at HKA, where he is also the spokesperson and head of the Institute of Refrigeration, Air-Conditioning, and Environmental Engineering (IKKU). Before joining HKA, Prof. Kauffeld was deeply involved in advancing natural refrigerant technologies as a project manager at the Danish Technological Institute.
“Thank you, Marc and the entire ATMO team, for this wonderful recognition of my nearly four decades of work with and for natural refrigerants,” said Kauffeld during his acceptance speech. “It is truly an honor to receive such a prestigious award today.”
In addition to authoring over 100 scientific papers, the HKA researcher is the co-editor of the book „Natürliche Kältemittel – Anwendungen und Praxiserfahrungen“ (Natural Refrigerants - Applications and Practical Experience), a comprehensive and practical guide to working with natural refrigerants. He is also a key member of the research team that recently demonstrated that the use of R410A refrigerant in a commercial reversible heat pump contains 1% by weight of PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated chemicals) components.
