Electrification of Heat: How to produce building heat with low, to no carbon!
Decarbonization and the path to Net zero buildings is a defining doorway we need to step through as we act to bend the curve of climate change.
A critical key to this door is the electrification of heating. Today, building heating is normally supplied by high greenhouse gas emitting fossil fuels. With the greening of electrical grids around the world, comes the opportunity to remove fossil fuels and CO2 production at the building level.
In commercial applications heating can be supplied with new highly efficient large electric heat pump units to replace hot water boilers and gas fired packaged units. By extracting heat from the outside air and supplying it into the building as comfort heating or domestic hot water, efficiencies as much as 5x that of fossil fuel equipment can be achieved. Efficiencies can be further increased by matching large heat pumps with geothermal, wastewater energy transfer, or deep lake water heat exchange. During summer months, the same heat pump equipment can be used for high efficiency building cooling, thus reducing project capital, maintenance and operational costs.
When looking at the next generation of building heating, we need to consider energy efficiency, carbon emissions, resiliency, maintenance, capital cost, and operational cost. The presentation will review these constraints through case studies and examples of highly efficient Heating electrification (HEHE) for comfort heating and domestic hot water applications.
Speaker Bio
Lukas is an account executive with the Trane Toronto team, holds a Bachelor of Applied Science with specialization in Environmental Engineering from Queen’s University, and is an active member of ASHRAE. Lukas works closely with clients to achieve their sustainability and energy goals by leveraging their BAS and upgrading equipment or optimizing HVAC performance. Specializing in electrification of heating and building environment optimization with smart building automation solutions, Lukas supports clients to create and design HVAC solutions and follows them through manufacturing, installation, and optimal operation. Lukas actively empowers others to take a step back and consider the holistic picture in every project. Lukas supports clients in Canada to achieve their sustainability goals with lasting results.