ProHeatPump is an Intelligent Energy Europe project with the main objective to promote information and success stories about Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP), thereby contributing to the reduction in the use of fossil fuels for heating purposes. The project focuses on systems for the residential sector and SMEs, i.e. small to medium size heat pumps and in particular on refurbishment where the needs for promotion is higher then for new buildings. On September 22nd it will be co-hosting a one-day event for the promotion of Ground Source Heat Pumps in Scotland.

Roger Nordman is working in SP, Technical Research Institute of Sweden. His main activities include R&D of heat pumps and heat pumping systems, District heating and cooling, and industrial energy systems. Roger is also a member of IEA Heat Pump Centre, where he is the editor of the HPC newsletter. He is responsible for the ProHeatPump project website.

1- The ProHeatPump website is online since November 2007. What kind of feedback has it received from its target audience so far?

Proheatpump is an European project (Intelligent Energy Europe). We have had a number of inquiries about the project, and we see an increasing interest in GSHP technology in many European countries. We also see in this project that the conditions for installing GSHP differ between different countries in Europe.

2- How are you dealing with these differences?

Each market must be analysed under its conditions, e.g. climate, building types, need for heating (and cooling), as well as indoor distribution system and financial conditions (grant schemes, subsidies). We deal with the differences by describing them in detail, and then making recommendations suited for each region.

3- Which resources does ProHeatPump offer its users?

We are making detailed studies on how the market for GSHP's could increase in specified markets in Europe. We link knowledge from experienced installers with new markets. 

4- What kind of combined solutions (heat pumps and renewables) have been promoted so far in which regions?

HP's and renewables, such as solar or bio in Germany and France, GSHP with combined exhaust air reloading in Sweden. Not all have been promoted, but work is under way. More things will also come later.

5- Can you tell us something more about these coming solutions?

Some of the new combinations are already commercially available, for example combined solar and GSHP, and exhaust air/ GSHP. These solutions have however a very low market penetration, and more demonstration and follow-up measurements should be done in order to show their true potential.

6- What are the expected results for this project?

To increase the number of heat pump installations during the project time on selected target areas, to create suitable and practical information material for each target group (installers, end users and policy makers) on the possibilities and the advantages of heating by the means of heat pumps and to improve marketing strategies to promote heat pumps in European countries with low market penetration but high potential for heat pumps.

7- How would you analyse the evolution of the heating market worldwide?

Promising. In europe for GSHP, many markets have market developments of around 35% per year. This is from a small market share, but we see no trend that this should stop. Since GSHP’s use a large portion of renewable energy, current EU directives on increased share of renewables support GSHP. It is however important to distinguish between good and bad products when buying a GSHP: the EU flower is one label that together with numerous national labelling schemes will show this difference. Also, it is important that the installation is made by a trained professional, for example with the EHPA certification (EU-cert-HP). One market barrier at the moment could be that there are not enough trained professionals in the business.