Austria

National team:

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Center for Energy
Verband Wärmepumpe Austria (Austrian Heat Pump Association)

Research work with focus on heat pumps and digitalization:

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology

AIT has extensive experience in heat pump related research for household, commercial and industrial applications. It actively participates in several key IEA HPT Annex projects, either as contributing partner or as Operating Agent resp. Project Manager. Notably, AIT served as the Operating Agent for the preceding HPT Annex 56 project on the digitalization of heat pumps which focused on opportunities and challenges of IoT enabled heat pumps.

AIT runs a comprehensive infrastructure for testing domestic, commercial and industrial heat pumps supporting heat pump suppliers in both further development and mandatory certification processes. This domain is also geared at advancing, amongst others, new digitized methods to better predict the heat pumps’ behavior under dynamic operating conditions and has been recently further extended to support testing of air-source heat pumps up to heating capacities of 100 kW.

AIT’s heat pump research comprises the development and application of enhanced refrigeration circuits with future-proof refrigerants, reducing acoustic and vibration emissions to support user acceptance and roll-out. On a system level, the institute focuses on optimizing the integration of heat pumps into their respective applications and improving their operation, including long-term performance monitoring.

One of AIT’s key projects in the field of digitalization and heat pumps is the PhD programme “Heat Pumps as the driver of Intelligent Energy Systems” (in short: HEAPNOSYS), which is conducted by AIT in close collaboration with Prof. Hatef Madani from KTH Sweden. This programme is based on two pillars: the development of a heat pump system for different boundary conditions in densely populated urban areas and the development of innovative services for building heating & cooling systems. The R&D activities comprise the development and testing of a prototype heat pump system and the development of digital heat pump twins to support installers / service personnel with safe, efficient and error-free installation, operation and maintenance of heat pump systems.

The institute has been working for some time on the creation of predictive, self-learning control algorithms aimed at reducing both energy and maintenance costs. Furthermore, AIT has been developing methods and an app for virtually reducing sound emissions from heat pumps prior to installation, helping to optimize their placement for minimal noise impact on the surrounding environment.

Verband Wärmepumpe Austria

The national industry association for the Austrian heat pump sector represents a network of around 400 companies spanning the entire value chain. This includes heat pump manufacturers and importers, component suppliers, system planners, energy providers, and installation companies. In total, the organisation draws on the expertise of 52 manufacturers/importers, 303 installation partners, and 12 component suppliers.

The association has long been involved in IEA HPT projects, supporting national research partners in gathering sector-specific information and widely disseminating project results and insights within the Austrian heat pump community. Through this work, the organisation contributes to strengthening the competitiveness and innovation capacity of the national sector.

Links to institutes involved in this HPT project, relevant research projects and/or infrastructure:

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology: www.ait.ac.at
Austrian Heat Pump Association: https://www.waermepumpe-austria.at/

IEA HPT Annex 56 Project: Final report, Project website
Residential Area Augmented Reality Acoustics (RAARA project): Final report (in German only)
Joint PhD programme of AIT and KTH called HEAPNOSYS (HEAt Pumps as the driver of iNtelligent energy SYStems)

New AIT lab infrastructure for heat pump testing up to 100 kW heat capacity

Main contacts:

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH
Bernd Windholz, email: bernd.windholz@ait.ac.at

Verband Wärmepumpe Austria
Severin Kaineder, email: kaineder@waermepumpe-austria.at