Upskilling Professionals to Accelerate Heat Pump Deployment in Multi-Family Building Refurbishments
Retrofitting multi-family buildings with heat pumps at scale is constrained less by nominal device efficiency and more by hydronic, architectural and organisational conditions. We report a mixed-method study in the alpine space combining a practitioner survey (n = 93) with interviews and workshops to characterise obstacles, derive training needs and sketch a lightweight digital/process support. The sample of the survey is highly experienced (˜70% with >10 years) but planner-heavy (84 planners/consultants; 9 installers). Respondents rate an integrated refurbishment process as critical to success (mean 4.14/5). The most frequently cited limiting factors are high upfront cost and subsidy complexity; envelope–system integration where emitter surface or distribution temperatures are restrictive; sizing and control under low supply-temperature limits; domestic hotwater hygiene requirements; acoustic siting and space; and, in some cases, electrical capacity. Toolchains are fragmented: spreadsheets and manufacturer tools dominate routine practice, while dynamic simulation and BIM/CAD appear mainly in technically specialised offices. Satisfaction with available training is modest (planners ˜3/5; installers ˜2/5) and stated priorities map directly to the observed barriers—commissioning discipline and hydronic balancing on the installer side; co-design of envelope and system, sizing and control under temperature constraints, and financial argumentation for planners. Based on these findings we propose a pragmatic “workflow spine” that links requirement capture, variant definition, commissioning checklists and monitoring hooks, designed to be embedded in curricula and day-to-day practice. While results reflect Alpine and near-Alpine contexts and a planner-skewed sample, the evidence converges across methods and indicates that role-specific upskilling, coupled with simple process tools, is a credible near-term lever to improve quality and scale of heat-pump refurbishments in complex residential stocks.