Opening

Opening
Professor Wu Yuanwei of the China Academy of Building Research (CABR) and Mr John Ryan of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), chairman of the National and International Organising Committee respectively, opened the conference. Secretary General Mr Shi Dinghuan of the China Ministry of Science and Technology and Mr Chen Yiuing of the China Ministry of Construction welcomed the more than 330 participants.
The IEA representative at the conference, Mr Hanns-Joachim Neef, underlined the IEA members’ primary goals: energy security, economic growth and environmental protection for a sustainable (energy consuming) society. He recalled China’s challenging goal of ongoing zero growth in energy consumption by 2040, with energy
efficiency being one of the main building blocks in China’s energy policy. High-efficiency heat pumps can play an important role in achieving this goal.
ASHRAE president Mr Bill Coad used a lesson in thermodynamic history to underline his statement that ‘There is no turning back’ and that ‘Change is a fact of life that has resulted in a higher quality of life for mankind’. The greatest challenge to the human race will be to maintain and advance its quality of life in the face of dwindling energy reserves and an environment that is continually being degraded. It is the engineering community that faces the challenge of designing equipment and systems that use less energy to accomplish the same goals. There is also considerable scope for reduction of consumption. The opportunities for a sustainable future are there, and heat pumps can play a

Even though ground-source

Even though ground-source technology is reliable and cost-effective, continued research is needed to further lower the variable cost and broaden the applicability of ground-source heat pump systems. Research areas include: • computationally efficient simulation methods for ground loop heat exchangers, especially horizontal designs with above ground interaction; • more cost-effective vertical heat exchangers; •lower cost methods for estimating soil thermal properties; • design methodologies that incorporate system simulation, allowing interactions between the building system and the heat rejecter/exchanger system; • optimised fluid pumping system configurations and controls for reduced variable costs.
Several organisations have been active in transferring the technology to the market, which has significantly improved awareness by architects and engineers. However, more is needed to make ground-source heat pump systems a widely accepted technology.