Heat pumps in energy and cost efficient nearly zero energy buildings in Finland

This report is the final report of development project "HP4NZEB - Heat Pump Concepts for Nearly Zero Energy Buildings", where the main objective was to outline the role of heat pumps in energy- and cost-efficient nearly zero energy building solutions. The project outlined that Finnish nearly zero energy level for buildings can be achieved more cost-efficiently with concepts utilizing heat pumps than district heating. The building types and the studied heat pump concepts were: Building type 1: New detached house, 180 m2: - Concept 1: Ground source heat pump - Concept 2: Air-to-water heat pump - Concept 3: Exhaust air heat pump - Concept 4: Air-to-air heat pump Building type 2: New apartment building: - Concept 1: Ground source heat pump - Concept 2: Air-to-water heat pump - Concept 3: District heating (for reference) Building type 3: Renovation concept of 1960s apartment building: - Concept 1: District heating (for reference) - Concept 2: Exhaust air heat pump - Concept 3: Ground source heat pump - Concept 4: Air-to-water heat pump When comparing the E-value and life cycle costs of concepts utilizing heat pumps with district heating, all studied heat pump concepts were more cost efficient in both larger apartment buildings and in smaller detached houses and all studied concepts achieved the Finnish "nearly zero" level. In addition to lower life cycle costs heat pumps can also cool the building and no extra investment for cooling is needed. HP4NZEB project - coordinated by Green Net Finland and with project partners Aalto University, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd and Finnish Heat Pump Association SULPU - was the Finnish national project participating IEA Heat Pump Programme's Annex 40.