This surge isn’t happening in a vacuum. Rather, it’s due to the demand pull from companies with near-term climate targets, excellent international research efforts and proven deployment successes, policy support to bolster domestic energy supply chains, and mass market education efforts from researchers, advocates, and technology suppliers.

That’s where the Renewable Thermal Collaborative (RTC) comes in. Since 2017, we’ve been convening large industrial end users and thermal energy solutions providers to accelerate deployment of renewable heating and cooling solutions. Early on, companies in the RTC expressed strong interest in learning more about IHPs, and in 2022, we began developing a set of tools to support early project evaluation and decision-making, supplemented by case studies featuring real-world deployments. These educational resources are critical to raising awareness of IHPs to make them as well-known as their residential counterparts.

In 2023, we partnered with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) to launch the Industrial Heat Pump Alliance, a collaborative initiative focused on IHP market transformation in the US. Through the IHP Alliance, we convene more than 75 companies across the IHP market in active working groups, develop policy recommendations for federal and state actors, and provide toolkits and resource guides to increase market transparency and build relationships in the IHP value chain.  

In the IHP Alliance’s first year, we observed a need for industrial end users to dive deeper into the technical detail and discuss strategies to overcome implementation barriers like financing and electrical infrastructure upgrades with their peers, despite their general awareness of and interest in the technology. This year, we launched the IHP Buyers Bootcamp, a day-long training for facility engineers and sustainability officers to do just that, followed by Buyer-Supplier Connect Sessions to allow buyers to take the knowledge gained from Bootcamps into direct conversations with IHP suppliers. Participants have found this deeper dive training and engagement valuable; one participant told us they were “sure [they would] refer to the content and the learnings for many more months to come.”

We also recognize that there is no substitute for seeing an IHP up close. IHPs are a big investment, so it makes sense that potential buyers want a chance to proverbially kick the tires before committing. Site visits are the next frontier for market transformation, and we’re delighted to see some happening already. In August, Piller TSC Blower Corporation hosted a training and site visit to see mechanical vapor recompression (MVR) heat pump technology at the Salt Lake City Airport’s Glycol Reclamation Plant with 40 attendees including large end-users, heat pump suppliers, engineering firms, and more.

“Following the success of a 20-person training and site visit at Allt-A-Bhainne distillery in Scotland, we conducted another training in North America at the Salt Lake City Airport. During a half-day classroom session, we covered everything from steam and Industrial Heat Pump basics to an in-depth P&ID review of an MVR system, before bringing participants to witness the startup of a two-stage MVR system at the Airport’s Glycol Reclamation Plant. There’s nothing like seeing the equipment in person," said Caldwell Reed, VP of Sales & Project Management at Piller TSC Blower Corp.

Trainings like Piller’s are critical. Looking ahead, we hope to see more suppliers facilitating technical trainings and end-users with existing deployments hosting site visits. In the meantime, the IHP Alliance will continue building momentum for IHP market transformation.