Speaker
Description
The large-scale deployment of air-to-water heat pumps is a central component of the transition toward low-carbon heating in residential environments. However, their integration into dense urban settings presents practical challenges that extend beyond energy performance, including spatial constraints, system placement, and community acceptance. Addressing these aspects early in the planning phase is essential to accelerate adoption while ensuring compatibility with existing built environments.
This contribution presents an integrated planning framework that supports decision-making for heat pump installations using a combination of geospatial analysis and immersive visualization. A web-based 2D mapping tool enables the rapid assessment of installation scenarios in real urban contexts, allowing planners to position outdoor units and evaluate their interaction with surrounding structures. This is complemented by a 3D augmented reality environment, which facilitates on-site visualization of planned installations, including system placement, façade integration, and potential mitigation measures.
By linking analytical modeling with intuitive visualization, the approach improves communication between stakeholders, including planners, policymakers, and residents. This enhances transparency in the planning process and helps address acceptance-related barriers, which are increasingly recognized as critical for scaling up heat pump deployment.
The presented framework contributes to more informed and socially robust implementation strategies, supporting the broader goal of sustainable energy system transformation in the building sector.