HP4all
Innovative tools to deliver nearly zero-energy buildings thanks to heat pumps
| Business | Period | Project Coordinator | Funding Scheme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | September 2020 - February 2023 | Limerick Institute of Technology | H2020 |
Challenge
Nowadays, the need to upskill the construction industry labour force to deliver quality nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB) and deep energy renovations is considered one of the main challenges of the sector.
For this reason, HP4ALL has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 891775 to enable capacity and skills development within the Heat
Pump sector and to ensure that the energy efficiency gains in the building sector afforded by heat pumps are realized.
In particular, the project will develop a set of different tools to be used by the different related stakeholders:
- a Heat-Pump (HP) Competency Framework to facilitate the exchange of existing skills related to the heat pumps field at European level
- a HP Knowledge Hub will be created to provide guidance and support to the end-users and allow them to better understand the technology, from the design to the installation and operation.
- A HP Benchmarking Tool enabling end users to identify, evaluate and select the different options on the market for their buildings based on the HP tecnologies performances and characteristics.
HP4All will validate this package through three pilot regions in Austria, Ireland, and Spain, with the aim of driving market change, provide training activities, influencing end-user decisions and planning for new innovations.
Approach
In the framework of HP4ALL, our main role is to enable future exploitation and support the market uptake of the project results.
Moreover, we collaborate with other project partners to create conditions and supports which drive demand for highly skilled designers, installers and commissioners of HP systems.
Last but not least, we are going to support the Project Consortium to conduct:
- a policy and legislation review in order to assess current status of incentives and practices in public and private procurement (with emphasis in green public procurement) which is relevant to the HP market and in particular to the development of demand for skills;
- a review of current incentives, gathering information about best-practices and success cases relevant to the topic of skills in the HP Market (in Europe but also at international level)
Conclusion
In conclusion, the impact of the project will be maximised through the role of three observer countries (Croatia, Portugal and Romania), which will follow closely the development and validation of the HP4All package, being early adopters even before the project ends.
Other replication activities will include a train-the-trainer workshop, a roadmap and pan-European events for policymakers and public bodies.
