These are exciting times for anyone involved with HVAC, as the drive for net zero is finally starting to build momentum.
Interest is rising for low-carbon technology of all scales – from domestic air source heat pumps, all the way up to room-sized systems that can heat and cool an office building and bigger still to city-wide district heating schemes.
But as we are finding out, ‘exciting’ doesn’t always translate to ‘straightforward’. Anyone involved in the supply of equipment and services has found that educating customers and potential customers as to the best combination of application and system is an increasingly important part of the job. It doesn’t help that some of our national newspapers seem to delight in rubbishing new technology – taking a small handful of disappointed customers as evidence that the whole heat pump concept is unworkable – never mind that those customers have been poorly advised in the first place.
So we have a battle on our hands to win hearts and minds. I say ‘we’ because I see my role, and those of my fellow journalists here at Installer and elemental, as providing a vital platform for you technology specialists to spread the word that low carbon technology, correctly designed and installed, is going to save the customer money and help to save the planet too.
I’m looking forward in my role as Editor at Large to helping to ‘tell the stories’ of low-carbon HVAC innovation and best practice in all its forms – there are really interesting developments all over the industry, in everything from heat recovery to combined heating and cooling to smart grid applications. Let’s spread the word together!
