HPC Newsletter

In this issue

Ground-source heat pump systems are gaining increasing interest all over the world. In Sweden, this type of heat pump is the dominating type for heating of single-family houses, but interest is now also increasing in central Europe, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Activities are also ongoing in Japan, the US and in Europe for using ground-source heat pump systems in large commercial buildings, where they can provide both heating and cooling. This issue of the Newsletter features articles dealing with both small and large systems in Europe, Japan and North America.

Finally, the Heat Pump Centre staff would like to wish all HPC Newsletter readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Heat Pump News

Promotion of efficient electric motor systems
A SAVE project has developed a support tool for the design of electric motor systems. The aim is to help end users to explore the possibility of energy savings in motor systems of industrial or other installations. (p. 10.)

Overviews of the Turkish, Russian and Italian air conditioning markets
The Russian and Turkish markets are increasing whereas there is a concern for the Italian manufac-turers on the Italian market.
(p. 10 - 11.)

Second reading of the F-gas regulation
After the second reading of the proposed F-gas regulation, the European Parliament again voted for containment measures to be imposed on the global warming F-gases in refrigeration and air-conditioning. Parliament did not, in other words, follow the call from its environment committee that wanted to impose bans on the use of F-gases. (p. 11.)

Topical Articles

The advance of geothermal heat pumps – world-wide
Geothermal (ground-source) heat pumps (GHP) are one of the fastest growing applications of renewable energy in the world, now in 31 countries, with annual increases of 10 % over the past ten years. GHPs are based on a ubiquitous and largely unexploited energy resource: the heat content of the ground right beneath our feet. The world-wide increase of geothermal direct use is mainly due to the advance of GHPs. (p. 13.)

Ground-source heat pump activity and its future
Increasing energy costs and the almost one million installed ground source heat pump systems (GSHP) in the US are indications of a strong future for the growth of this highly efficient technology. (p. 19.)

Very efficient school with ground source heat pump system in a cold climate
In 2003, one of the largest School Boards located on the south shore of Montreal, in collaboration with a well known consulting engineering firm and Hydro-Quebec’s Energy Utilization Service and LTE Laboratory, constructed a new all-electric school with the intent of

becoming a “green” and very energy-efficient building in the context of a cold climate. (p. 22.)

Direct-expansion ground-coupled heat pumps

Direct expansion systems – where the evaporator of the heat pump is buried in the ground or installed in a borehole – are a speciality of the Austrian heat pump market. One reason is the structure of the manufacturers: small companies that have looked for market niches in which they can be competitive, and who have developed this technology into highly efficient and reliable systems. (p. 30)

Investigation of a ground source heat pump system for use in large and dense city areas in Japan

If ground-source heat pump systems are to be used in Japanese cities, three problem areas need to be considered: 1) reduction of the initial construction cost, (2) improvement of the performance of water source heat pumps, and (3) development of simulation methods for heat transfer in the ground. Since 2003, the authors have working on these areas, and this article describes the results of two years' work. (p.33)