Climate change has made institutions more and more sensitive to the impact that we, as humans, have on the world in which we live. The need to preserve and protect the environment has produced a set of rules, programs, and actions that have been implemented over the years. One of these is the European Green Deal – a set of policies by the European Commission which aims to make the European Union (EU) climate neutral by 2050.
Carbon neutrality is a topic that touches many different sectors, including the building sector.
As reported by the European Union, the building sector is responsible for approximately 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions in the EU.
That is why the European Union decided in 2021 to align the rules for the energy performance of buildings with the European Green Deal and decarbonize the EU’s building stock by 2050.
The challenge for the HVAC sector
Within this context, space conditioning (cooling and heating) has been identified as a major contributor to the energy consumption (80%) of buildings and global warming.
This scenario is a big challenge for the entire HVAC sector: how to offer more advanced alternatives to traditional space conditioning technologies to help achieving sustainability targets.
To ensure this happens, the HVAC sector needs to develop cooling and heating solutions that still meet the needs of demanding HVAC projects while:
- consuming very low amounts of energy,
- drastically reducing CO2 emissions, and
- using refrigerants that have the least impact on the environment.
Since 40% of European energy consumption comes from the European building stock and 80% of a building’s energy consumption is generated from air-conditioning and heating systems, it is necessary to develop these systems to reduce their energy consumption and the resulting environmental impact. This can only be achieved by replacing traditional cooling and heating system with more efficient solutions that reduce their environmental impact by reducing their energy consumption, as well as both direct and indirect emissions.
Daikin’s efforts
Daikin offers reliable and high-quality products. The brand is also well known within the sector for developing advanced technology that aims to minimize the impact of air-conditioning on the environment.
Since the company was established, it has focused on developing technology that can help solve social and community problems while growing the business. The group strives to meet expectations and maintain trust worldwide as a global company that supports human health and comfort while creating new value for the environment and reducing human impact. That’s why Daikin pays special attention to developing sustainable and highly efficient technologies, as well as working constantly to reduce the environmental impact of the production process.
As part of the Daikin group, Daikin Applied Europe approaches sustainability by ensuring that its factories have reduced their energy consumption and only uses certified green energy, generated from renewable sources. This helps to ensure that the environmental impact of the production process is minimized.
Additionally, Daikin products for the Applied sector, just like those for the residential sector, are designed to provide the best performance in the market in terms of energy efficiency.
This goal is constantly pursued with the development of proprietary technology that also enhances the performance of Daikin chillers and heat pumps.
For example, Daikin’s screw compressor has an optimized screw profile that can work with low GWP (Global Warming Potential) refrigerants to deliver very high energy efficiency levels.
Read more here about Daikin single screw compressor with inverter
Also, the Daikin Inverter technology, which is integrated in many Daikin chillers and heat pumps, reduces consumption by optimizing energy usage and eliminating energy waste.
Read more here about how Daikin provided the technology for a negative CO2 emission data center
All these solutions aim to help reduce the impact of HVAC technology on the environment, offering new generation technologies that are 32% more efficient than traditional technologies and can make heating systems up to 30% more efficient than traditional technologies, such as boilers.
Daikin also extends its circular economy approach to refrigerant reclamation.
In the Loop program by Daikin, refrigerants such as R-410a, R134a, and R-32 are easily recovered, regenerated, and reused, which eliminates the environmental impact of end-of-life refrigerant disposal.
Read more here about the Loop Program by Daikin
