IEA International Heat Pump Conference a great success
More than 450 people from 36 countries spent some interesting days in Zurich discussing the latest news in research, development, market and policies related to heat pumping technologies. The successful 9th International Energy Agency Heat Pump Conference, held on May 20 - 22 2008, provided a unique international meeting place for experts in the field.The participants included representatives from governments, utilities, industry, research organizations and other organizations concerned with energy-efficient technologies. The conference program included 71 presentations by plenary, keynote and technical authors in nine sessions covering the theme “Advances and Prospects in Technology, Application and Markets”. In addition there were 150 poster presentations related to the field.
The conference has been held every three years since 1984, and is organized by the IEA Heat Pump Programme Executive Committee to provide a status review of progress in the introduction of heat pumping technologies.
All ongoing international projects within the IEA Heat Pump Programme held workshops with presentations of the latest news related to ground source heat pumps, low-energy buildings, heat pumps for the retrofit market, compact heat exchangers and thermally driven heat pumps.
The Best Poster Award was made for the first time at the conference. The two poster award recipients were “Performance characterisation of a reversible water-to-water heat pump” from Spain, and “System performance of HVAC in a low-energy house in the cold region of Japan” from Japan.
At the conference banquet the second Peter Ritter von Rittinger International Heat Pump Awards were presented to three individuals in recognition of their contributions to international collaboration in advancing heat pump technologies: M. Sc. Gerald C. Groff of the U.S., Professor Eric Granryd of Sweden, and Professor Predrag S. Hrnjak of the U.S.
The Rittinger award is named for Peter Ritter von Rittinger, an Austrian engineer who designed and installed the first known heat pump in 1855 for a salt works in the village of Ebensee in Upper Austria. Rittinger recognized that use of heat pump technology could achieve savings of as much as 80% in comparison with direct firing of wood. The award celebrates the technical skills and entrepreneurial spirit of Rittinger that are shared by the awardees.
The conference partners were:
The International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR)
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
The Swiss Association for the Promotion of Heat Pumps (FWS)
The European Heat Pump Association (EHPA)
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Monica Axell, Manager of the Heat Pump Centre, the information service of the IEA Heat Pump Programme
Tel.: +46 10 516 5519
E-mail: monica.axell@sp.se
Established under the umbrella of the International Energy Agency in 1978, the Heat Pump Programme is a non-profit organisation funded by its member countries. The aim of the Heat Pump Programme is to accelerate the use of heat pumping technologies as practical and reliable systems that can save energy resources while helping to protect the environment. Heat pumping technologies include air conditioning, heat pumps and refrigeration.