• The European Heat Pump Association has recognised the pilot project led by the technological research and development centre with its prestigious awards for its contribution to sustainable air conditioning.
• This is an innovative and efficient solution for the renovation sector, based on cascade heat pumps, and is currently being applied in a residential building in Pasaia (Gipuzkoa).

Brussels, 26 September 2024. The TECNALIA research and technological development centre has been recognised with the prestigious Heat Pump Award for the innovative solution they have developed to decarbonise the energy system of buildings, which is currently being applied in a residential building in Pasaia (Gipuzkoa). These awards, which have reached their 14th edition this year, are given by the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA), with the aim of recognising the most innovative and energy-efficient heat pump projects and highlighting their contribution to sustainable air conditioning.
The awards ceremony took place last night in Brussels, where Irantzu Urkola, as project coordinator and project manager at TECNALIA, accompanied by Patricia Val, general manager of Alokabide, collected this award in the DecarBuilding Award category. The project coordinator acknowledged that “this is a recognition of work based on collaboration and that pursues a triple objective of energy efficiency, economic savings for residents and improvement of the building’s environmental impact, something key in the communities of the future.”
The solution recognised in Europe is based on cascade heat pumps, which are hybridised with locally produced renewable energy, mainly solar. Thus, the heat for heating and DHW services is generated in two stages or thermal jumps, and a demonstration has been made in a residential building in Pasaia. It is an innovative and efficient solution for the energy system rehabilitation sector of buildings, which manages to maximise their self-sufficiency and energy savings, also reducing the environmental impact. This solution thus responds to the current problem faced by buildings, responsible for 40% of energy demand and 36% of CO2 emissions in Europe, where a large part of this demand is due to heating, cooling and hot water systems.

Pioneering building in Europe

The solution is currently being developed in a multi-family residential building managed by Alokabide, the entity that manages public rentals for the Basque Government,
in coordination with other agents involved in housing policy, where two central heat pumps have been installed that preheat the water stored in a tank. This accumulation allows the central generation to be decoupled from the private consumption of the homes, which makes it possible to concentrate the use of the central heat pumps on the hours of the day when they are most efficient, thus improving the efficiency of the system.
The preheated water is then distributed throughout the building, to each home, at a constant and low temperature of around 20°C, which minimises thermal losses in distribution, which is a great advantage compared to centralised systems where a lot of energy is lost in this part of the installation.
In each home, to finish heating the water to the temperature for use, there is an individual heat pump that takes the heat from the distribution water and raises it to the consumption temperature, adapting perfectly to the particular demands of each user, and with optimal performance due to the constant temperature of the distribution. A solar photovoltaic system has also been installed on the roof together with a battery, which generates a significant part of the electricity consumed in the system and the building in a renewable way. And all this has been accompanied by advanced control that allows the overall performance of the installation to be improved. Thus, with this system, it is possible to maximize the self-sufficiency of the building and the savings on the energy bills of the neighbors, also reducing the environmental impact. This solution allows a considerable share of renewable energy to be achieved. In addition, the solution is complemented by planning, implementation and operation processes close to zero, which ensure a quality installation and reduce the efforts and costs of the renovation project. In addition to TECNALIA, the following have collaborated in the initiative, called HAPPENING: the Accademia Europea di Bolzano (EURAC), Tecnozenith, Innova SRL, AEE – Institut für nachhaltige technologien, GWS, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, RINA Consulting S.p.A., Green Building Council España,