AIR-CONDITIONING manufacturer Carrier Corp, is throwing a party to celebrate the birth of its Italian subsidiary, one hundred years ago.
The Sistine chapel and the shrine of the Turin shroud are among the many Italian buildings to benefit from Carrier technology and Italy's Carrier subsidiary Carrier S.p.A, is to be honoured with a party at its Villasanta plant near Milan.

In 1908, six years after Willis Carrier invented modern air conditioning, two engineers in Milan, A. Chieregatti and A. Donesana founded Dell'Orto, a ventilating and heating systems and services company. In 1945, the company built its production facilities in Villasanta and won projects including La Scala in Milan and La Fenice Theater in Venice. Carrier acquired the firm in 1983 and renamed it Carrier S.p.A in 1996.

Today, Carrier S.p.A's distribution network in Italy provides heating and air-conditioning solutions for residential, commercial and industrial applications.

The factory in Villasanta, one of Carrier's leading global factories, produced more than 300,000 units in 2007. It is also Carrier's global lead design centre for commercial products focusing on duct-free splits, indoor units, small chillers and heat pumps.

Carrier products from Villasanta are installed in many Italian buildings including the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the shrine of the Turin Shroud, the Monza Formula 1 racetrack and the Olympics Games Village in Athens.

'Thanks to all our customers and collaborators, we can say that we have helped improve the standards of living during the last century,' said Roberto Stevenin, chairman of the board and managing director of Carrier S.p.A. For the next 100 years, we are committed to achieving even more'.

Carrier is one of many HVACR firms exhibiting its products in Milan's Mostra Convegno Expocomfort event from March 11-15.