The early 19th century witnessed a sharp increase in the demand for natural ice during the summer months, particularly among breweries producing lager. Thanks to the advent of railways and steam ships, natural ice came onto the market. In order to meet demand, suppliers began looking for alternative ways of producing ice artificially.
Thus, entrepreneurs begin research on the means of producing ice.
Although Oliver Evans was the first to document the cycle, it was Jacob Perkins, an American working in England, who first patented a machine based on the vapour-compression cycle in 1835.
In 1855, the first compression machines that proved to be successful on an industrial scale were developed by James Harrison. Ferdinand Carré invented the absorption device in 1859, then came the model of vapor compression refrigerator.
This absorption machine was later replaced by a much simpler vapour-compression refrigerator, invented by French engineer Charles Tellier in 1885, that is still used today.
In order to support the development of refrigeration technologies and in view of the economic development potential they represented, the IIR was created in several stages:
* October 5–10, 1908 - The rapidly growing, global industry and scientific quest for absolute zero lead to the 1st International Congress of Refrigeration held in Paris, France, at the Paris-Sorbonne University, which welcomed over 5,000 participants.
* January 25, 1909 - From this first Congress, the International Association of Refrigeration was born, formed by delegates from 35 countries. 
* June 21, 1920 - The association was reorganised and officially titled as the International Institute of Refrigeration – IIR (Institut International du Froid – IIF, in French).
The IIR status as an international organisation were defined by an International Agreement signed on December 1, 1954, and General Regulations for the Application of the International Agreements signed on November 20, 1956.
Since then, the IIR has been operating at its headquarters based in Paris and is now an international organisation for expertise on refrigeration. The institute has continued to run the [https://iifiir.org/en/iir-conferences-series International Congress of Refrigeration] every four years since its inauguration and has now expanded its event portfolio to ten conference series covering a vast variety of refrigeration topics. Working alongside governments, today the IIR remains committed to promoting knowledge on refrigeration for sustainable development, and continues to provide key services to disseminate information on associated technologies to all stakeholders (companies, universities, professionals...).