The organizing committee of the 8th China International Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning Expo (CIHE & HVAC 2008) recently announced the 2008 Heat Pump Air Conditioning System Featured Design and Application Seminar, which will take place on March 21st, 2008, at the Beijing Exhibition Center. Supported by the Geothermal Chinese Energy Society (GCES) and the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA), and organized by Beijing B & D Tiger Exhibition Co., Ltd., the seminar aims at promoting a more reasonable application of heat pumps in the different regions of China.

This initiative will be held concurrently with the 3rd China International Geothermal Heat Pump System Technology and Equipment Expo, whose goal is to promote the application of heat pump air conditioning systems in the industry of heating and air-conditioning, strengthen the communication between the government and enterprises, as well as the interaction among enterprises. According to the organizers press release, this seminar aims at joining together such professionals as real estate developers, architects and designers, representatives of administration departments and industrial enterprises (heat pump manufacturers, technology developers, etc.), research and engineering design institutes to discuss the application and promotion of heat pump systems for building and city energy savings.

Professor Lu Canren from the Thermal Energy Research Institute of Tianjin University successfully developed the first national water-cooled heat pump air-conditioner in 1965. At present, several universities, including Tianjin, and other organizations, are carrying out more research on heat pumps, which show a positive market evolution: preliminary statistics shows the market capability of geothermal/water heat pumps is one billion RMB every year, including small units with 700 million Yuan and large units (mainly in the market of north China) with 300 million Yuan.