IEA HPT Annex 60: Retrofitting Heat Pump Systems in Large Non-domestic Buildings

The project investigated heat pump solutions for large non-domestic buildings and developed practical decision-support tools for early retrofit planning. Based on EPC data, expert interviews and real case studies, building-type-specific requirements and suitable system solutions were derived. The results support decarbonisation of existing buildings and were transferred into guidelines, training formats and international Annex outputs.

Short Description

The Austrian contribution to IEA HPT Annex 60 examined the technical, economic and organisational conditions under which heat pump systems can be successfully applied in large non-domestic buildings. The aim was to provide a practice-oriented basis for decision-making in retrofit projects and to support the decarbonisation of complex existing building stocks.

The national project focused on industrial and commercial buildings, hospitals, educational buildings, shopping centres and museums. Several methodological approaches were combined: a qualitative evaluation of more than 5,600 energy performance certificates from Salzburg, expert interviews with planners, manufacturers and building operators, and the structured collection of national case studies on realised heat pump applications.

A key part of the Austrian work was the identification of building-type-specific requirements regarding heating, cooling, domestic hot water, temperature levels and heat emission systems. On this basis, typical system solutions and decision criteria for early project phases were developed. One major output is a decision tree that enables building owners, operators and planners to carry out a low-threshold first assessment of the suitability of heat pump systems.

Another important contribution was the collection and analysis of real use cases. In total, 57 potential case studies were identified and contacted. Due to the heterogeneous availability and quality of data, 7 case studies with sufficient depth of information were selected for detailed analysis. These cases cover different building types, retrofit depths and system configurations and show that heat pumps can be successfully implemented even in complex non-domestic buildings. In 6 of the 7 analysed projects, heat pumps served as the primary heat generator; in the same number of cases, combined heating and cooling solutions were implemented.

The results were incorporated into the guideline "IEA HPT ANNEX 60 LEITFADEN - Potenzialanalyse für Wärmepumpensysteme in Nichtwohngebäuden und Erhebung geeigneter Wärmepumpenlösungen", integrated into national training and further education activities, and contributed to the international Annex work. The Austrian project therefore provides an important contribution to practical decision support and to the wider dissemination of heat pump solutions in the non-domestic building sector.

Project Partners

Project leader

Thomas Natiesta
AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH
Giefinggasse 2, 1210 Vienna
E-Mail: thomas.natiesta@ait.ac.at

Project partners

Michaela Penn
Österreichisch Energieagentur
Mariahilfer Straße 136, 1150 Wien
E-Mail: michaela.penn@energyagency.at

Siegfried Thurner
Wärmepumpe Austria
Bockgasse 2a, 4020 Linz
E-Mail: thurner@waermepumpe-austria.at

Participants

Austria, Canada, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom (Operating Agent)