THE acr industry, a significant sector of which has argued against an annual international show, now faces the prospect of two shows within weeks of each other in the same year following a falling out between the VDKF, owners of the IKK show, IKK organiser NurnbergerMesse and a group of influential exhibitors.
On the eve of this year's show, the VDKF has announced that it will be the last IKK in Nuremberg. IKK will in future take place in Stuttgart in alternate years, starting in 2008. The scheduled 2007 event in Hannover has been cancelled and the VDKF has instead reserved an area at the giant ISH/Aircontec show in Frankfurt for IKK Building, a show focusing on building technology. This event, the first of which takes place in March 2007 is expected to continue on a biennial basis.

Meanwhile a group of influential exhibitors, many of whom have in the past been highly critical of IKK's annual frequency, are backing Chillventa Nurnberg 2008, a new exhibition which will be organised by NurnbergMesse. The first such event is scheduled to take place from October 15-17 2008, IKK's traditional slot. The VDKF has yet to confirm a date for the 2008 IKK in Stuttgart but insist that it will be 'during the traditional autumn period', so bringing it into direct conflict with the Chillventa exhibition.
The new Chillventa exhibition, which will focus on refrigeration, air conditioning, heat pumps and ventilation, is currently backed by over 30 companies including Bitzer, Bock, Carrier, Copeland, Daikin, and LG. Others are expected to join.