Optimizing Heat Pumps in Commercial Buildings - ZEBx Decarb Lunch Mar 4, 2025
Description
Season 5, Episode 5
Recorded on Apr 23, 2025
Overview
With their ability to provide highly efficient electric heating and cooling, heat pumps are our most promising and important building decarbonization technology. Installing a heat pump in a commercial building can be complex and requires careful engineering and attention to detail.
As the first generation of air source heat pumps in BC are coming to the end of their service life, projects to replace them offer valuable opportunities to take advantage of improved technology and optimize these systems. This ZEBx webinar shared real world experiences and lessons learned from retrofitting the HVAC system of the Atrium, an iconic office and retail building in downtown Victoria.
The session covered all aspects of the Atrium project, from planning and procurement to design, construction, and commissioning. This discussion provides valuable insights into how to make heat pumps work for those who own, design, work on, and live/work/play in these buildings.
Thanks to the generous support of BC Hydro, NRCan, and the City of Vancouver, this event was free.
Resources
Slides here
Speakers
Brad White, President, SES Consulting
Jason Finster, Energy Manager, Jawl Properties
Podcast Production
Gordon Patrick Newell, Communications at ZEIC




