RefriAméricas 2026

Overview

RefriAméricas is an annual international expo and congress dedicated to the HVAC, refrigeration, and building automation industries, serving the Caribbean and Latin American markets. Organised by Latin Press Inc., it is held at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Now in its 21st edition, the event is the primary annual gathering point for the HVACR sector across Latin America and the Caribbean, drawing exhibitors from over 14 nations and attendees from more than 25 countries. Its built environment relevance lies in its coverage of climate control systems, building automation, and refrigeration technology that are integral to architectural building performance in commercial, retail, hospitality, and industrial projects.

Focus

The event focuses on HVAC systems, commercial and industrial refrigeration, building automation and controls, air quality and ventilation technology, and energy efficiency solutions for the built environment. It serves as the principal Latin American platform for the intersection of mechanical building services and building performance technology. The event also addresses refrigeration applications in retail, food processing, and hospitality sectors, where climate systems carry specific technical and regulatory requirements distinct from standard commercial architectural applications. Sustainability and refrigerant transition under global environmental agreements are recurring themes in the congress programme, making the event relevant to professionals navigating energy performance requirements in building design and construction across the region.

The CALA Awards, presented at RefriAméricas in conjunction with ACR Latinoamérica magazine, recognise the Best HVAC Installation and Best Refrigeration Installation across Latin America, providing a rare regional benchmarking point for mechanical system quality in completed building projects.

Program

The two-day programme combines an international exhibition floor with a structured academic congress, technical tours, product awards, and networking events.

International Exhibition Floor

Exhibitors from over 14 countries display HVAC equipment, refrigeration systems, building automation products, ventilation solutions, and related components across a structured floor plan. The floor supports direct B2B sourcing, agency and distribution negotiations, and product comparison for professionals specifying mechanical systems in building projects across Latin America and the Caribbean. A PFP Pavilion provides a dedicated zone for filtration, purification, and fluid power product categories within the wider exhibition.

Academic Congress

A concurrent academic congress accepts peer-reviewed papers and presents research across HVACR technology, energy efficiency, refrigerant alternatives, building automation, and sustainable climate systems. The congress includes a Call for Papers process, giving the event a research dimension that distinguishes it from purely commercial trade exhibitions. Topics engage directly with building energy performance and system integration, which are relevant to architectural research and building services engineering practice.

CALA Awards

Presented in conjunction with ACR Latinoamérica magazine, the CALA Awards recognise the Best HVAC Installation and Best Refrigeration Installation completed in Latin America. Project submissions are evaluated on technical merit and installation quality, providing regional recognition for excellence in mechanical system delivery within built projects.

Technical Tours and Guided Site Visits

Guided technical visits to relevant facilities and installations in the Fort Lauderdale and Miami area are included in the programme, offering participants applied learning in real building and infrastructure contexts beyond the convention centre floor.

Fiesta RefriAméricas

An annual social and networking event held during the expo, supported by industry sponsors, providing an informal engagement format for the regional HVACR and design professional community attending the congress.

Audience

The event targets HVACR engineers, mechanical and building services consultants, contractors, architects, building services specifiers, facility managers, retail and hospitality procurement professionals, refrigeration technicians, importers, distributors, and equipment manufacturers operating across Latin America, the Caribbean, and internationally with regional business interests.

Event Details

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

RefriAméricas occupies a structurally important but technically narrow position within the built environment events landscape for Latin America. The integration of an academic congress with a peer-reviewed Call for Papers is a meaningful distinction from most trade exhibitions in this sector, giving the event a degree of intellectual credibility beyond product display. The CALA Awards add a benchmarking dimension that is valuable in a regional market where consistent standards for mechanical system quality in building projects can be difficult to establish. From an architectural perspective, however, the event’s focus remains squarely on equipment and system performance rather than on the spatial or design integration of mechanical infrastructure within buildings. The gap between HVACR engineering and architectural design thinking is a broader industry issue that events like RefriAméricas do not yet bridge in any substantive way, though the congress format at least opens the conversation toward research and evidence-based practice.

Closing Note

As the leading annual HVACR expo and congress for Latin America and the Caribbean, RefriAméricas holds a well-defined position within the region’s building services and mechanical engineering events calendar, relevant to construction and architectural professionals whose work involves the specification and integration of climate and refrigeration systems in commercial, industrial, and hospitality building projects.