European Heat Pump Summit 2023 delivers a high-quality programme and record figures for attendance and exhibitors

The international heat pump community enjoyed two great days of conferencing. The European Heat Pump Summit attracted a record attendance of some 570 participants from a total of 42 countries. The high-quality programme of presentations, including numerous specific approaches to solving current problems, impressed the trade professionals in every way. The accompanying exhibition in the foyer boasted twice as many exhibitors (31) as the previous edition, and was a magnet for visitors during breaks.

“The European Heat Pump Summit is one of Europe’s and the world’s most important events for international heat pump experts – as this year’s event proved yet again. Today’s challenges in reducing CO₂ and addressing climate change make this summit even more important. This is where the key approaches for future solutions are presented and discussed by the industry’s leading experts. This year’s event attracted more in-person attendees than ever before – a wonderful community get-together,” said Daniela Heinkel, director for the European Heat Pump Summit and Chillventa at NürnbergMesse.

“We were already fully booked up for on-site attendance even before the event started. We’re very pleased at this tremendous interest, which once again highlights this conference’s significance. The more than 150 digital attendees in particular show that our high-quality content was especially on target. Heat pumps will again be a major theme at Chillventa in October 2024. We look forward to seeing everyone again,” said Elke Harreiss, executive director for the European Heat Pump Summit and Chillventa at NürnbergMesse. “The event space had to be evacuated briefly because of a security alert from the police, but the situation was quickly resolved. There was no danger to participants at any time. And we thank them for their patience and their calm response,” Harreiss added.

High-quality programme of presentations sets new records

The 2023 European Heat Pump Summit was a success all down the line. The new record participation also included a high level of international attendance. Heat pump experts came to Nuremberg from 42 countries to be impressed with the 39 presentations by renowned international speakers. The summit again spanned a broad range of topics, whether developments in market and energy policies, or the latest research results on applications for residential buildings, the home, and industry, or the potential application of IoT and AI.

Dr Rainer Jakobs, content coordinator for the European Heat Pump Summit and Chillventa CONGRESS, summarized the event like this: “The conference once again demonstrates the importance of heat pumps in meeting social challenges like protecting the climate. The 39 first-rate presentations addressed all current issues in the heat pump sector, from science, to developments in industry and technology, to applications. Top-level knowledge transfers and high-intensity networking opportunities were once again a focus of the summit in 2023, and offered true added value for attendees, whether on site or at their computer screens around the world. One of the most intriguing presentations for example was by Thomas Nowak of the EHPA, who concentrated on the heat pump market in Europe. He pointed out that 2022 had been a record year for heat pumps, with three million units sold. That means 20 million heat pumps are installed in Europe alone.

Dr George Bennet, of the UK government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, supplemented the picture with the British government’s road map for how decarbonizing the heating of private homes and office buildings might look. A total of 30 million households and office buildings are to be converted by 2050, and heat pumps will be playing a key role.

Another very interesting presentation came from Marcel Rössler of ebm-papst. He focused on noise ratings for heat pumps and on deriving a psychoacoustic metric for ventilator development. Air to water heat pumps are not entirely noiseless, and the more densely built up an area is, the more the machines’ noise may annoy neighbours. Here the measurable sound pressure level is by no means the only crucial factor – human noise perception is also important, and here psychoacoustics comes into play, together with its investigative methods. A specialised psychoacoustics laboratory for test subjects was set up, where the running noise of heat pumps and their incorporated ventilators could be demonstrated in various configurations. The test subjects’ assessments were analysed using statistical and psychological methods. The results are being incorporated into the company’s own ventilator development, and also provide information about which ventilators are best suited for a given installation situation.

Dr Veronika Wilk, of the Austrian Institute of Technology, reported on case studies and market opportunities for IoT-capable heat pumps. More and more of the time, heat pumps are becoming networked devices capable of being connected to the Internet of Things (IoT). Heat pumps like these, in both home and industry applications, make it possible to optimise operation so as to cut energy consumption, reduce carbon footprint, mine economic advantages, or improve comfort.

Along those same lines, Ran Roth, of Sensibo, reported on how artificial intelligence and data analyses can optimise heat pumps’ energy consumption. He showed how AI algorithms learn through a continuous analysis of ambient data and adapt to users’ individual preferences by fine-tuning heating and cooling processes to achieve a perfect room climate, while at the same time minimizing energy consumption.

The great popularity of the European Heat Pump Summit highlights that heat pumps are on the fast track not just for residential uses but for commerce and industry. Industry in particular is using heat pumps as one of its most important tools for decarbonisation.”

Connecting Experts:

Foyer exhibition and get-together provide networking highlights
The accompanying foyer exhibition, where 31 key players in the industry presented their innovative products and solutions, also demonstrated impressive growth. At twice the floor space, with twice the number of exhibitors compared to 2021, here attendees had first-class opportunities for in-depth, one-to-one shop talk and conversations, and not just during the breaks between presentations. The event’s slogan, “Connecting Experts”, was also fully in action at the get-together on the first evening of the event. Attendees took full advantage of this opportunity to wind up the day in a relaxed setting, and the occasion quickly became a networking highlight.

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