Zonal Heat Pump for Whole-Home Panelized Retrofits

Lead Performer: National Renewable Energy Laboratory – Golden, CO
Partners:
-- Mitsubishi Electric, U.S. Inc. – Cypress, CA
-- cocoon construction co – Syracuse, NY
DOE Total Funding: $500,000
Cost Share: $125,000
Project Term: July 1, 2020 –  December 31, 2021
Funding Type: FOA Award

Project Objective

The Zonal Heat Pump for Whole-Home Panelized Retrofits technology is a distributed, compact, vapor compression system integrated into whole-building retrofit façade panels, installed at the factory. It replaces any existing HVAC systems in the home (central ducted furnace and AC, radiators, baseboard heaters, window unit ACs, etc.) without interior mechanical work. The fully factory-sealed, compact system requires no on-site HVAC installation work, drastically reducing first costs and enabling rapid delivery and scalability. This system offers a solution for building owners and occupants, provides zonal comfort control, and is widely applicable to many building types and climate zones.

To achieve its goals, the project team will:

• Determine the target performance levels and features of the heat pump system and integration with the retrofit panel.
• Develop an approach to integrate the heat pump with the retrofit panel and with the existing wall assembly, accounting for air, thermal, and moisture control layers.
• Construct a prototype indoor unit and air distribution components to deliver conditioned air to the room.
• Construct a modified retrofit panel and integrate the prototype heat pump system for laboratory evaluation.
• Conduct laboratory characterization to verify that the target design specifications have been achieved, including air, thermal, and moisture performance.
• Conduct laboratory performance experiments to determine appropriate building energy model inputs.
• Estimate national energy impacts using NREL building stock modeling capability (ResStock).

Project Impact

The goal of the project is to develop and validate a prototype heat pump system integrated with a retrofit panel. This is a two-for-one retrofit solution that delivers fast and scalable high-performance envelope and HVAC system upgrades in a single integrated product, achieving significant energy savings while making retrofits faster to complete, as well as more convenient, affordable, and desirable.

Contacts

DOE Technology Manager: Antonio Bouza
Lead Performer: Lena Burkett, National Renewable Energy Laboratory