Market-leading Adoption of Scalable Low GWP Refrigerant Heat Pump in a Retrofit Application

Project Innovation

The Recipient will develop holistic and scalable solutions for transitioning conventional central plants to heat recovery chiller systems that use low GWP refrigerants. The solution package will include design tools for cost-effective integrations; screening methods for assessing eligibility of electrification retrofits; and new technologies for lowering hot water temperature. The design tools will provide a series of cost estimates (for both capital and operating costs) across various design parameters to help identify the most cost-effective hot water temperature, heat recovery chiller size and configuration, and control sequences for typical central plants. The goal of the solution package is to significantly reduce engineering efforts while providing a customized retrofit pathway for each site, thereby reducing upfront costs and facilitating plant transitions throughout California.