Belgium

67

National team:

  • KU Leuven
  • EMEA Development Center (EDC), Daikin Europe

Research work on institutional level with focus on heat pumps and digitalization:

KU Leuven boasts a rich tradition of education and research that dates back six centuries and received theEuropean HR Excellence in Research Award based on its current policy and a comprehensive action plan. In the 2025 rankings, KU Leuven has achieved a global rank of 43rd out of a total of 2,092 universities worldwide. Within Belgium, KU Leuven continues to hold its position as the number one university in the country.

In this project, the Flexible Heat Pumps & Cooling System research group (in short: FHP&Cool) will contribute. The group is linked to the KUL Mechanical Engineering Department and Energyville. FHP&Cool has expertise in advanced thermodynamic analysis, optimal design and control of heat pumps and refrigeration systems, energy flexibility exploitation of electric heating and cooling systems. The group main aim is to develop and improve heating and cooling systems to integrate renewable energy sources, support the smart grid implementation and the decarbonization of the energy system.

The research group is involved in several IEA HPT Projects. One of the main relevant projects contributing to Project 67, is about the digitalization of residential heat pumps, where several interfaces and control options have been tested and compared in terms of smart grid readiness. Testing procedures in laboratory have been developed for assessing heat pumps energy flexibility services. Improvements of the communication with energy management system are under development. Furthermore. innovative predictive on-board controls are proposed in new projects with focus on industrial applications.

The EMEA Development Center (in short: EDC) is Daikin Europe’s central hub for research and development of HVAC-R technologies tailored for the European, Middle Eastern, and African (EMEA) markets. EDC operates from its main sites in Ostend and Ghent (Belgium), supported by affiliated R&D locations in Germany, Czech Republic, Turkey, and Italy.

EDC’s core mission is to lead innovation in heating, cooling, ventilation, and refrigeration, developing next‑generation, low‑carbon heat pump and climate-control technologies that meet evolving environmental and regulatory demands.

EDC provides the following main services:

  • Develops products from EMEA for EMEA, including Residential Heat Pumps, VRV systems, Air-Conditioning and Cold‑Chain Solutions.
  • Designs and develops controllers, embedded software, IoT functionalities, and cloud services to support the product ecosystem.
  • Performs advanced research, prototyping, testing, validation, and compliance work to ensure high performance and reliability of Daikin systems across all climates.

State‑of‑the‑art testing labs and high‑tech infrastructure is enabling EDC to:

  • Test energy efficiency, reliability, and real‑life operation of HVAC‑R systems
  • Support Daikin’s commitment to sustainability and CO₂‑neutral technologies
  • Integrate innovative solutions such as R290 refrigerant systems in heat pumps and CO2 refrigerant systems in VRV setups.

EDC spans multiple specialized sites across Europe, each focusing on specific product categories such as residential and commercial heat pumps, refrigeration and cold-chain systems, components manufacturing (compressors, accumulators, etc.) as well as controllers and electronics.

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

KU Leuven, Flexible Heat Pumps & Cooling System, https://iiw.kuleuven.be/onderzoek/fhpcool
EMEA Development Center, Daikin Europe, https://www.daikin.eu/en_us/about/daikin-innovations/emea-development-center.html

Main contacts:

KU Leuven, Flexible Heat Pumps & Cooling System
Alessia Arteconi, email: alessia.arteconi@kuleuven.be
Associate professor at the Faculty of Engineering Technology

EMEA Development Center
Marc Schreurs, email: scheurs.m@daikineurope.com
Research & Innovation Manager at EDC