HEAT PUMPS SKILLS FOR NZEB CONSTRUCTION

Project Information

HP4All

Grant agreement ID: 891775

DOI

10.3030/891775

Project closed

EC signature date 30 April 2020

Start date 1 September 2020

End date 28 February 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 996 286,25

EU contribution

€ 996 286,25

Coordinated by

Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest
Ireland

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - HP4All (HEAT PUMPS SKILLS FOR NZEB CONSTRUCTION)

Reporting period: 2021-12-01 to 2023-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

HP4All brings together leading experts across Europe to enable capacity and skills development within the Heat Pump sector and to ensure that the energy efficiency gains afforded by heat pumps are realised. HP4All, following a holistic, systemic point of view, will work both with the supply side (manufacturers, SMEs, installers, etc) and demand side (building owners, public sector etc.). This way, the project will enhance, develop, and promote the skills required for high quality, optimised Heat Pump (HP) installations within residential/non-residential buildings bringing Europe to the forefront of the climatisation sector.
The HP market is predicted to double by 2023 across Europe (>2m units to be installed). In Ireland alone, the National Climate Action Plan predicted 600,000 HPs to be installed by 2030 (from a 2019 base of 30,000). The majority of these installations will be designed for and installed in residential or non-residential buildings. While significant efforts have been placed on upskilling within the construction sector there has been limited specific focus on the HPs market and its value chain specifically.
Given that heats pumps will transition to becoming a critical component of low energy and near zero energy buildings in the future, the need to ensure that skills and knowledge on the supply side (manufacturers, designers, installers, commissioners, O&M SMEs) match the needs of the demand side (building owners, facility managers, property developers) is vital. HP4All addresses this need by aiming to analyse the barriers across the HP value chain segments to accurately identify measures, actions, and solutions to up-skill the value chain while also driving demand from end-users. Through the piloting of these approaches in countries with emerging HP markets, with support from technical and HP market expertise the lessons learned can be exploited and spread across Europe.

The HP4All project has set five specific objectives so as to ensure a time- and resource-efficient project implementation, meeting the H4All main aim.
1. Address market inertia by identifying drivers affecting demand and acceptance of HPs within the Construction Sector and HP Value Chain.
2. Design and Pilot a HP Skills Competency & Excellence Framework to support Mutual Recognition of HP Skills.
3. To enable end users/clients to demand high quality solutions delivered by a skilled workforce.
4. To increase the number of skilled workers across the HP design, operation, and maintenance value chain, with a specific focus on the engagement of SME’s.
5. To expand the HP4All at national and EU-level, by developing and implementing a communication and replication strategy.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Throughout the first 15 months of the project, HP4All partners in their respective countries have conducted market research across the HP value chain. The following reports have been created and provide an overview of the drivers and barriers to the HP value chain and have provided a well-informed starting point for regional pilot activities:
1. Public and Market HP Acceptance report
2. Report on findings from HP experts surveys & focus groups
3. Training providers Survey
4. National and European Union HP training frameworks analysis
5. Heat Pump Policy and legislation review
6. Heat Pumps Skills and Competency Framework
7. Dissemination Communication Plan
8. Second Dissemination Communication Plan
The findings from all the reports above have aided in the creation of each pilot regions regional development plan. All documents listed (except for the training providers survey) are publicly available at https://hp4all.eu/documents/.
This market research and follow up conversations with stakeholders has identified key drivers and barriers of the HP value chain affecting the acceptance of HPs in each pilot region. This market research has also provided a clear scope for each pilot region regional development plan. Each regional development plan is designed to successfully implement objectives 2 through to 5. One of the main findings of the market research carried out in objective one and a major influence in delivered high quality HP solutions is increasing end user knowledge, which will help end users demand higher quality installations thus demanding higher quality installers. This will be achieved via the HP4All Knowledge Hub (KH), Benchmarking Tool (BT), webinars and events, and guides. The data was gathered directly from end users, installers, and training providers through the means of structured interviews and surveys. This market research completed by pilot region leaders coupled with the review of training provision, various legislative (both European and National), future frameworks and best practice examples has provided a number of learning points for the HP4ALL project to be used in each regional development plan and pilot activities.

HP4All will look to produce microlearning resources (i.e. online videos, presentations, guides) that will be hosted on the HP4All & partners websites, coordinate training programmes for stakeholder groups (in conjunction with regional training providers) and host live webinars & events to improve the baseline of knowledge throughout the entire HP value chain. After a careful review of the actions implemented during the first period, the exploitation and dissemination strategy is proving to be effective with the exploitation of results from market research, events, and activities being disseminating and communicating to their full potential and to the most relevant stakeholders.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The main expected impacts of HP4All are listed in the following:
• Total Primary Energy Savings triggered by the project within the project duration (30 months) is expected to be 2 GWh. The expected impact up to 2030 is 1,969 GWh as the HP market is predicted to double by 2023 across Europe (>2m units to be installed).
• Renewable production resulting from improved skills is expected to be 1.95 GWh within the projects duration. The expected impact up to 2030 is 1,871 GWh.
• In total a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is expected to be 628 tCO2 by the end of the project and 683,583 tCO2 by the 2030.
From the project the improved workforce of HP value chain and the introduction of a new workforce maintenance through training frameworks will lead to better quality installations and increased energy efficient buildings for homeowners and building owners.
The project will also have focus on larger non-residential installations. The aim is to raise awareness of the viability of large-scale heat pump installations in certain aspects of industry and the public sector through provision of case studies and lessons learned on previous installations.
Another impact of the project will see a more educated demand side of the heat pump value chain that will lead to:
1. Increased demand for higher quality installations;
2. Demand for a skilled workforce;
3. Increased awareness of heat pumps.

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