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August 2025

JATL underwent a regular surveillance audit by the Japan Accreditation Board (JAB) on July 24, 2025, to maintain its ISO 17025 certification. JATL originally acquired ISO 17025 certification in October 2004, and this was the twelfth surveillance audit. The audit was completed with no nonconformities or findings against the requirements of ISO 17025.

Since JATL acquired its license in 2004, air conditioning equipment on the market has become more energy-efficient and higher in capacity. Today, residential air conditioners (RACs) offer cooling capacities of up to 9kW (approximately 10kW in heating capacity). However, JATL’s certified testing range for cooling capacity was still up to 7.1kW, so it needed to be expanded to 10kW.

To address this, JATL requested several manufacturers to conduct proficiency tests by comparing results from their laboratories. These tests have been completed, and the results were approved by JAB. As a result, the expanded testing range up to 10kW has been officially certified.

May 2025

JATL held the annual business plan meeting on May 9th. President Mr. Kishimoto attended this meeting, and the director, general managers of planning department, operations and planning department and testing department made their presentation about the achievement of 2024 and planning of 2025 to all the members.

At the end of the meeting, Mr. Kishimoto gave some comments on our presentation. He told our documents were well-summarized, and the point is what we have to do for the plan. He asked what the technique of performance test was, and what the difference from the testing skill was. And he told it could lead to success on the job when we are able to perceive something unusual. Then, we were given his advice that it is important to consider something from a different aspect.

April 2025

Sri Lanka is tackling the transfer to low GWP refrigerants and the spread of high energy efficiency air conditioners for their environmental sustainability. The Overseas Environmental Cooperation Center, Japan (OECC) planned the visit to Japan from Sri Lanka to research Japan’s policy regarding hydrofluorocarbon (HFCs) emissions, and the certification system of air conditioners of the Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association (JRAIA). They consider they should implement the energy labeling system and Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) in Sri Lanka. Thirteen members in total visited the Japan Air conditioning and Refrigeration Testing Laboratory (JATL) to research our test facility on 22th April 2025.

We introduced about JATL’s history and test facility first, and then explained the certification system of JRAIA. After that, we took the party on a laboratory tour. We had a Q & A session, and there were a lot of questions about the evaluation of energy efficiency of air conditioners and the testing facility from the party. We thought we were able to share our experience.

March 2025

The internal seminar was held at JATL on 25th March 2025, which was instead of the technical meeting so far. Mr. Shimotani, Senior Manager in charge of the Operations Department, served as the instructor for this year's seminar, entitled “Air Conditioning Basics,” which covered a wide range of topics, including heating and cooling loads and the need for air conditioning, the refrigeration circuit, and the structure and roles of the main components that make up the refrigeration circuit.

Although we test air conditioners on a daily basis and have sufficient knowledge of how to handle the testing equipment, our knowledge of the refrigeration circuit varies from person to person, and we hardly disassemble air conditioners to check the inside, so this seminar was very useful for us to match our level of knowledge.

Air conditioners vary from residential to commercial use, his explanations were easy to understand and centered on illustrations of features and how they work, so JATL's members were able to acquire knowledge that will be useful in the performance test.

January 2025

Mr. Katsuyuki Sawai, Chairman of the Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association (JRAIA), visited the Japan Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Testing Laboratory (JATL) on January 27 to inspect the testing facilities. He was accompanied by Mr. Koyama, Chairman of the Policy Council, Mr. Okada, Executive Director, and Mr. Kimura, General Manager of the General Affairs Department from JRAIA, and they were welcomed by Mr. Kishimoto, President of JATL and other members of JATL.

On the day of the visiting, JATL introduced the background of its establishment and the status of its business for FY2024, and shared information with the participants. At the end of the visiting, we had a chance to have a discussion with Chairman Sawai, where each member of JATL introduced their work and Chairman Sawai asked questions about the content of them, making the discussion very meaningful for JATL.