HPT Magazine no 2/2020: Heat pumps for the retrofit and renovation market

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HPT Magazine no 2/2020: Heat pumps for the retrofit and renovation market

The fight against the Corona virus and its effects continues globally. We should now expect restrictions to continue throughout the entire 2020, with variations between nations and over time. As an effect, the 13th IEA heat pump conference in Jeju, South Korea, is once more postponed and will be held in April 2021.

The fight against global warming and energy-related pollution also continues. The HPT contribution to this fight is, of course, to support wider market deployment of heat pumps. In this issue of the HPT Magazine, the focus lies on “Heat pumps for the retrofit and renovation market”. This is a market of great potential, considering the amount of already existing buildings world-wide with need for an improved heating or cooling system. The two topical articles give examples on this from the Netherlands and Finland.

Below is a list of articles included in the Magazine. The articles in bold can also be found further down, in versions shortened by the HPC.

Foreword: The renovation challenge, by Onno Kleefkens
Column: Increasing Heat Pump Market Adoption in Canada, by Martin Kegel, Stephanie Breton, Solange Prud’homme and Justin Tamasauskas
Heat Pumping Technologies News
Ongoing Annexes in HPT TCP
Market Report: Heat Pump Market Development in Switzerland, by Stephan Renz
Topical Article: Deep renovation of residential buildings owned by housing corporations, by Bas Roestenberg
Topical Article: Renovation of heating systems in multifamily buildings in Finland, by Jussi Hirvonen and Onno Kleefkens

Read the full HPT Magazine here.

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Foreword: The renovation challenge

For increased sustainability in the built environment, deep renovation is often needed. But this offers a great challenge, according to work carried out in HPT Annex 46.

A hindering factor seems to be the ownership structure, where a majority of the dwellings in Europe are privately owned. When this is the case, decisions on renovations, including the energy system, are often taken without consulting expertise such as architects, engineers or planners. Also, low-carbon approaches tend not to be used. When deep renovation does occur, the owner is almost always a housing corporation, commercial landlord or local municipality.

Column: Increasing Heat Pump Market Adoption in Canada

Heat pumps are important in the Canadian path towards an energy-efficient building sector. A Market Transformation Roadmap on decarbonization of the built environment has been developed, identifying heat pumps as a key element. The roadmap supports the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, in which Canada has committed to reducing its emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) by 30% over 2005 levels by 2030.

Market Report: Switzerland

Heat pumps have a long history in Switzerland. Already in the 1870s a vapor recompression salt plant was put into operation, marking the start of both product and market development in the country. Since then, Switzerland has continued to contribute to the development of e.g. borehole heat exchangers, sewage heat recovery, oil free piston compressors and turbo compressors.

Initially, there was mainly a market for larger industrial chillers. This changed in the 1930s, when heat pumps were installed also for space heating and for low temperature heating purposes such as domestic hot water and water in public swimming pools. The driver behind this market increase was a coal supply shortage which caused a need for other solutions. One of these solutions was hydroelectric power plants. And that electricity could be used for heat pumps. Another factor behind Switzerland becoming a heat pump pioneer is the advanced mechanical and thermal engineering skills available in the country.

Deep renovation of residential buildings owned by housing corporations

In the Netherlands, a main target of the energy policy is to disconnect 1.5 million houses from the gas grid to 2030. A part of this is the concept “Zero on the meter”, referring to net-zero energy use. This often includes both deep renovation and exchange of the energy system and may be carried out in several ways. Below are three examples, representing different challenges and solutions.

Renovation of heating systems in multifamily buildings in Finland

Changing from district heating to a heat pump solution in multi-family buildings is increasingly common in Finland and other Scandinavian countries. This is mainly driven by lower costs. But also decreased GHG emissions due to improved overall efficiency, reduced distribution losses and possibilities for a less carbon intensive energy source is an important factor. This article presents three Finnish examples of this trend.

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