NUREMBERG, Germany, 26 October 2023: The European Heat Pump Summit attracted a record attendance of some 570 participants from 42 countries, the organisers revealed in a Press release. The organisers said the presentations, such as specific approaches to solving current problems, impressed the trade professionals in every way, and the accompanying exhibition in the foyer boasted twice as many exhibitors as the previous edition and attracted many visitors during breaks.

Daniela Heinkel, Director – European Heat Pump Summit and Chillventa,  NürnbergMesse, said: “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. Moreover, this is where the key approaches for future solutions are presented and discussed by the industry’s leading experts, and this year’s event attracted more in-person attendees than ever before.”

Elke Harreiss, Executive Director, European Heat Pump Summit and Chillventa, NürnbergMesse, said: “We were already fully booked up for on-site attendance even before the event started, and we are very pleased with 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, and we look forward to seeing everyone again.”

The organisers said high-quality presentations set new records, and the 2023 European Heat Pump Summit was a success all down the line. The new record participation, organisers said, also included a high level of international attendance, and heat pump experts came to Nuremberg from 42 countries, and there were 39 presentations by international speakers. Furthermore, organisers said the summit spanned a broad range of topics from developments in market and energy policies to 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, European Heat Pump Summit and Chillventa Congress, said: “The conference demonstrated the importance of heat pumps in meeting social challenges like protecting the climate. The 39 presentations addressed current issues in the heat pump sector, such as developments in industry, technology and applications. Top-level knowledge transfers and high-intensity networking opportunities were once again a focus of the summit in 2023 and offered added value for attendees, whether on-site or at their computer screens worldwide. One of the most intriguing presentations 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.”

Meanwhile, Dr George Bennet, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Government of United Kingdom, shared an overview of the British government’s road map for how decarbonising the heating of private homes and office buildings might look. He said a total of 30 million households and office buildings are to be converted by 2050, and heat pumps will be playing a key role.

The organisers said another interesting presentation came from Marcel Rössler of ebm-papst. Organisers said  Rössler focused on noise ratings for heat pumps and on deriving a psychoacoustic metric for ventilator development. Rössler said: “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 ventilator development and also provide information about which ventilators are best suited for a given installation situation.”

The organisers said Dr Veronika Wilk, Austrian Institute of Technology, discussed case studies and market opportunities for IoT-capable heat pumps and said that heat pumps are becoming networked devices capable of being connected to the Internet of Things (IoT). Wilk said, “Heat pumps like these, in-home and industry applications, make it possible to optimise operation to cut energy consumption, reduce carbon footprint, mine economic advantages, or improve comfort.”

In addition to Wilk, organisers said, Ran Roth of Sensibo also reported on how artificial intelligence and data analyses can optimise heat pumps’ energy consumption. His presentations pointed out how AI algorithms learn through 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 minimising energy consumption.

The organisers said the 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, the organisers said, is using heat pumps as one of its most important tools for decarbonisation.

Furthermore, the organisers said in the accompanying foyer exhibition, 31 key players in the industry presented their innovative products and solutions and demonstrated impressive growth. At twice the floor space, with twice the number of exhibitors compared to 2021, organisers said, 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 organisers added that the event’s slogan, “Connecting Experts”, was also fully in action at the get-together on the first evening of the event, and attendees took full advantage of this opportunity to wind up the day in a relaxed setting and the occasion quickly became a networking highlight.

The organisers said the next Chillventa,  an exhibition for refrigeration technology, will be held again from October 8 to 10, 2024, at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre. Along with heat pumps, organisers said the event will once again focus on technologies for refrigeration, air conditioning, and ventilation. Furthermore, organisers said the Chillventa Congress will kick off on October 7, and the next European Heat Pump Summit will take place in October 2025.