Report from Italian National Workshop - Heating & Cooling in Italy with Heat Pumps towards 2030
On November 11, in conjunction with the Executive Committee meeting of HPT TCP by IEA, the Italian
National Team hosted an exciting online workshop focusing on the most recent developments inmarket, policy, and research. More than 40 people from the 17 member countries around the world
attended the workshop.
The workshop started with brief introductions from the host Maurizio Pieve, ENEA, delegate for Italyin the TCP Exco and Giorgio Graditi, Director of the Department of Energy. Maurizio emphasized therelevance of the national workshop, stating that it is an opportunity to take a deeper look at heating
and cooling in Italy utilizing heat pumps in order to decarbonize the building stock. Giorgio spoke about
ENEA, a public body aimed at research, technological innovation and the provision of advanced
services to enterprises, public administration and citizens in the sectors of energy, the environmentand sustainable economic development. He stated that ENEA has highly qualified personnel, advancedlaboratories, experimental facilities, and excellent instruments for the implementation of projects,studies, tests, assessments, analyses and training services, all of which contribute to the development
and competitiveness of the national economic system. Its focus sectors are energy technologies(renewable sources, energy storage, smart grids), for which the Agency is also the coordinator of theEnergy National Technology Cluster, nuclear fusion and nuclear safety, energy efficiency (with theNational Agency for Energy Efficiency), technologies for cultural heritage, seismic protection, foodsafety, pollution, life sciences, strategic raw materials, climate change. Georgio highlighted how ENEA
reinforces its efforts by collaborating with numerous national and international research bodies andinstitutions.
Mr Federico Musazzi, Secretary-General of Assoclima, the Italian Association of Heating, Cooling, andVentilation System Manufacturers, gave the following presentation. He spoke about how the European
Commission has begun an internal review of Directive 2018/2001 on the promotion of the use ofrenewable energy sources, with the goal of ensuring that RES contribute cost-effectively andsustainably to at least a 55% reduction in GHG emissions by 2030, in line with the Climate Target Plan,
with a 38% to 40% share in 2030. His presentation emphasized the need of boosting renewable energy
in buildings as a cornerstone to achieving climate neutrality by 2050, as buildings account for 40% of
total energy consumption in Europe. Highly efficient, smart, and renewable-based appliances play a
critical role in reducing building energy use while also lowering CO2 emissions. According to Federico,action to get there should begin right now because Europe can only achieve carbon neutrality in 2050
if it first concentrates on the decade leading up to 2030.
When it comes to energy taxes, putting a price on CO2 emissions is critical for driving the energy
transition since it encourages energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources. Federico
emphasized that any CO2 pricing mechanism must consider both the social and economic aspects, aswell as incentives to encourage the adoption of efficient and renewable-based heating and coolingsolutions that reduce CO2 emissions. He stated that, as Assoclima, they'd give a quick overview on theeffort that they're currently making to promote these aspects, including their view on the national
incentive mechanism for the HVAC technologies. On the other hand, it is critical to align coolingtechnology training and certification in EED, RED II, and EPBD to make them more appealing. Federico
closed his presentation with an essential graph illustrating the need to further develop heat pumptechnology since it is a win-win technology for all stakeholders concerned. It benefits manufacturers,installers, designers, energy companies, consumers, and policymakers.

According to Roberto Nidasio of the Comitato Termotecnico Italiano (CTI), heat pumps "certainly playa vital role in the energy efficiency of buildings". Heat pumps in the context of building energy
performance was the title of his talk. Roberto spoke about the need to accurately assess heat pumps'
energy performance, not only for their energy classification or labelling but also for their use inside thebuilding. As a result, it's critical to analyze the installation's specific setting. Technical standards
attempt to achieve this in the most efficient manner feasible. According to Roberto, there are
essentially two sorts of standards for heat pump energy performance: product standards and systemstandards. It is critical to have the data declared by the manufacturers for the appropriate operationof the system standards, which evaluate the behavior of a heat pump in a specific installation
environment. These data must take into account, on the one hand, the different temperatures (coldsource and hot sink), and on the other hand, the load factor of the machine.
Regarding the load factor, it is necessary to take into account the different behavior of on/off machines
and modulating machines with inverters. It is therefore important to understand when and how themachine works at part load. Roberto wrapped up his presentation by emphasizing the importance of
calculating and simulating a heat pump's energy performance, saying, "We hope that in the future,
there will be a better dialogue between product standards and system standards, in order to moreaccurately evaluate the performances and also to stimulate the market toward more efficient andbetter suited to the specific building".
Marco Buoni, President of the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration European Association, gave thefollowing presentation, which focused on the importance of the servicing industry in heating andcooling (AREA). Mr Buoni emphasized the importance of heat pumps, heating, and cooling in Italy'sand Europe's decarbonization plans, respectively. The demand for refrigeration, air conditioning, andheat pumps is growing. The industry consumes 20 to 25% of total electricity, and several legislation
have been passed to improve energy efficiency, improve maintenance and installation, and avoid
refrigerant leaks.
The servicing sector's role is to install, maintain, and repair systems so that they maintain the highquality for which they were created. During the pandemic this role has been under the spotlight andthe sector has increased visibility. The sector's response has been outstanding, fostering innovationand competitiveness while propelling Italian and European manufacturing to the forefront of the globalmarket.

Marco also discussed the European Commission Report on Split AC; the presentation shows; it istechnically possible to avoid F-gases in new single split AC (below 7kW) by using Refrigerant R-290(propane) unless prohibited by national legislation or codes. At present, it's only available in the UK via
an online DIY; there's no other market in the EU yet (provisions to be also extended to this kind ofsystems). The trend shows that larger split systems are moving from R410A to R32; however, themajority of small systems do contain already R32. According to his presentation, F-gases contained in
split systems accounted for 74% of all F-gases imported into the EU in precharged equipment(measured in CO2 equivalent) in 2019, while small single-splits accounted for 38% of all F-gases
imported into the EU.
He talked about refrigerant leaks and how they affect energy efficiency. Additional costs are incurred
as a result of leakage. He provided the benefits of reducing leakage to business, which include:•Compliance with legislation including the F Gas regulation;•
Improved "green" credentials;•Reduced production downtime / increased sales fixture availability / improved staff
comfort as a result of improved reliability;•Less health and safety risk from refrigeration or air conditioning –directly from refrigerant
emissions and, for food applications, indirectly as a result of improved reliability
His presentation demonstrated that Italy has one of Europe's highest concentrations of F-gas certified
professionals. The proportion of F-gas certified personnel trained on alternatives is shown below.
Ammonia
7%

CO2
6,9%

HC (small)
6,2%

HC (large)
5,3%

HFOs
3,5%

Sergio Bobbo of the CNR-ITC discussed what the Italian participants work with within the IEA-HPT
Annex 54 under the heading of the Italian team's experience. In the lab, they measure a variety ofthermophysical parameters, focusing on HFOs. He presented some of the findings from GEO4CIVHIC–Horizon2020, an EU project he was involved in. The project's main goal was to find the best
replacements for R134a and R410A in geothermal heat pumps. He presented preliminary results of therefrigerants studied as well as operating conditions. Their findings show that in high-pressurerefrigerants, R454B is the most promising substitute for R410A in all cycles studied. Similarly, theirresearch reveals that in low-pressure refrigerants, R516A is the MOST EFFICIENT refrigerant (COP +10% over R134a).
Sergio provided the planned activities, which includes to experimentally compare the performance ofR134a with other HFO (R1234yf, R1234ze, R450A, R513A) in a water-to-water heat pump in a drop inapplication. He spoke about the involvement of the Department of Industrial Engineering (DII)University of Padova in Annex 54 since 2019. Their research is primarily focused on heat transfer
measurements with low-GWP refrigerant mixtures and experimental investigation of a solar-assisted
heat pump (SAHPs) working with CO2 as a refrigerant. Sergio underlined the importance andavailability of reliable tools for heat exchangers design for the project of heat pumps operating withnew low-GWP fluids. He discussed the direct and indirect types of SAHPs; they have developed andinstalled a novel direct expansion SAHP prototype. The prototype is a 4kW heat pump that can produce
hot water. The heat pump can work alternatively with a finned coil evaporator or with a PV-T solarevaporator.
In his presentation, Innovation for Sustainable Heating: A New Generation of High Temperature,
Ferdinando Pozzani of TEON offered a brief history of the company, which develops, manufactures,and markets novel solutions for the heating and cooling of buildings and, more generally, large

volumes. He explained that several years of applied research at Trieste's Science Area Park led to theindustrialization of a family of patented solutions in the environmental and energy domain, which wereawarded the Smart Future Mind Award in 2011 because they produce no emissions into theatmosphere, paving the way for a healthier city. He focused his talks on their TINA high-temperature
heat pumps for commercial and residential applications, which constitute an economically viable
alternative to typical heating systems based on fossil fuel boilers while ensuring zero-emission onsite.
The contribution of GHG in the industrial and transportation sectors has reduced during the last 15years, but not in the building sector. The heating industry is one of Europe's most emission-intensive
sectors (it accounts for 65% of GHG emissions), owing to the fact that the innovation required toservice this type of building has yet to be completely deployed in the market. Biomass provides 75%of the heating and cooling renewable energy sources in Italy. Ferdinando made a comparison between
standard heat pumps and TINA. His discussion also covered the application, results comparing TINArefrigerants to F-Gas, and the importance of high temperatures.

ENEA's Luca Gugliermetti gave the final presentation, which focused on their research work on theSolair-HP project, which involved the development and testing of a novel solar-assisted trans-critical
CO2 heat pump. It was created with the goal of lowering electrical usage through the use of a solar
thermal source. It even has a patented photovoltaic hybrid solar panel connected with a tube heatexchanger that may be utilized as an auxiliary heat source during the winter. According to Luca, using
this technique eliminates the need for an air finned coils exchanger, reducing difficulties such as ice
development on the fins (frosting) and energy expenditure owing to the finned coil's fan. Furthermore,
the usage of CO2, which has a low GWP (Global Warming Potential), along with the ability to generate
power using PVT (PhotoVoltaic and Thermal), makes this solution very eco-friendly, with a minimal
environmental impact and the ability to completely utilize renewable energy from the sun. CO2
emitted by industrial wastes can also be utilized.
Luca explained how the machine could operate in up to six different modes depending on thecustomers' needs and how it can create DHW (Domestic Hot Water) and cold water for climatization
at the same time. The system's overall thermal capacity spans from 7 kW for cooling to 10 kW for
heating, and it was designed to fit inside a semi-detached home. The heat pump requires roughly 10square meters of free area for installation. The heat pump was installed in the open field of ENEA's

Casaccia research center. A dedicated auxiliary system was developed and implemented to test theheat pump in all configurations and at various powers in order to simulate real-world workingconditions. Their presentation demonstrates that the input/output temperatures, as well as the mass
flow rates, may be regulated to achieve a consistent and precise figure in order to meet the regulation
criteria during tests. The functioning modes of the heat pump, as well as its advantages over a
traditional system, are presented in the presentation.
The performance of the heat pump was examined at various fan speeds, compressor frequencies, andlamination valve opening degrees. The ERR (Energy Efficiency Ratio) and cooling power capacity of thedevice are given, along with early results. Furthermore, some outcomes of its capacity for a summer
campaign with over 5000 working points are demonstrated. Mixed-use testing (cold and hot water)
are presently underway and will be completed before the start of the winter season. The moreinteresting winter tests, with the heat pump using the PVT system, will be run during next winter, andthe results will be published further on.
Luca completed his talk by discussing the current project, which involves IPSE-lab at ENEA (ItalianNational Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), theUniversity of Padova, and ENEX as partners (a private corporation, being project leader too). Process
Engineering and Systems for Energy Decarbonization is the focus of the ENEA IPSE laboratory, which ispart of the Department for Energy Technologies and Renewable Energy Sources' Division for Energy
Production, Storage, and Use. The Italian Ministry of Economic Development is a co-founder of theproject, with a total budget of 1.4 M€.