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.
