Enerin in Empire Technology Prize final for New York clean heat
Enerin is pleased to announce that its HoegTemp heat pump is in the final for the Empire Technology Prize to decarbonise heat and steam for tall commercial and multi-family buildings in New York State. The news was released by the New York Governor, Kathy Hochul, in a press release, 17 July, 2024.
Enerin COO, Trond-Atle Asphjell, accepting the award from Wells Fargo Managing Director of Sustainable Finance and Advisory, Kelly Souza. Wells Fargo is one of the sponsors of the prize. Photo: Tamara Staples.
Hochul announced seven finalists in the $10 million Empire Technology Prize, a competitive opportunity for global solution providers launched in October 2023 to advance building technologies for low carbon heating system retrofits in buildings that account for 70 per cent of New York’s emissions.
In New York, 93 million square metres of residential and commercial buildings are steam heated, which is why heat pumps were proposed as solutions to decarbonise city buildings.
The finalist seven heat pump companies in the running for the prize are Ambient, AtmosZero, Clean Heat Technologies, Enerin, Hydronic Shell, Johnston Controls and Miller Proctor Nickolas (MPN) Boilers. The prize has emphasised the importance of heat pump solutions being minimally disruptive to existing tenants.
“New York is advancing the latest technology and innovations to reduce emissions and build cleaner, greener buildings. The partnership and leadership of real estate owners is key to advancing resilient buildings and I commend their commitment to piloting solutions as we work to reduce harmful emissions and combat climate change.”
The Clean Fight, a climate tech accelerator, which administers the initiative on behalf of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), will help match the finalist companies with leading New York real estate portfolio owners interested in discussing pilot and demonstration opportunities for the proposed solutions in New York.
The real estate partners and authorities include Empire State Realty Trust, the New York Housing Authority, Vornado Realty Trust, L&M Development Partners, Columbia University, CBRE Investment Management, Fairstead, Rudin and Tishman Speyer.
The solutions include steam and high temperature hot water heat pumps leveraging both air and water heat sources, a variety of future-proof low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants, and a distribution solution that enables the adoption of existing low temperature heat pumps.
The award aims to promote net-zero energy solutions in alignment with a recent law, due to come into force at the end of 2025, passed in New York prohibiting the use of fossil fuel equipment in new buildings. The fossil fuel ban for larger buildings is planned for 2029.
The Solution
Asphjell in the panel discussion with fellow competitors. Photo: Tamara Staples.
Enerin COO, Trond-Atle Asphjell, attended the announcement ceremony at Vornado’s PENN 2 office building in Manhattan. He was joined by the Norwegian Consulate General, Signe Engli, the Managing Director of Innovation Norway USA, Hege Vibeke Barnes, Innovation Norway Senior Advisor US Market for Clean Tech, Antonio Raposo, as well as corporate and commercial tech lawyer, Anne Wolfson.
“For us at ENERIN AS it is a great recognition and reward for many years of hard and patient work to be part of New York’s effort to decarbonise energy use in heating tall buildings. We also hope to help the local industry with the same benefits and technology. We are facing a truly exciting time.”
Asphjell attended the Decarb New York Summer event on the following day where he discussed Enerin's leading high-temperature heat pump journey. He spoke to stakeholders about the company’s long-term experience with heat pump technologies and heat collection systems which ranks the company’s innovation knowledge and IP on a competitive scale.
“In Norway, there is a high proportion of electrically generated steam, but it is anticipated that over the next two decades industry would need twice as much electric power than what is currently available. ”
Heat pumps offer one of the best solutions to replace fossil fuel energy consumption across many industrial sectors, and buildings, by utilising waste and thermal energy from cold and hot energy storage and by upgrading it for further use.
Bespoke solutions are needed for many of New York’s older buildings which are protected, which makes them harder to convert. This highlights the need for novel approaches and solutions to use waste heat, yet unexplored.
Enerin’s HoegTemp, due to its size, ease-of-implementation and boiler-like flexibility, is ideal for cities that lack space to implement net-zero solutions.
Enerin engineers believe they have the best solution for a fossil fuel boiler/furnace replacement that can shave off two-thirds of the cost of energy bills.
Enerin is one of three companies in its finalist category that will have the chance to pitch its HoegTemp heat pump pilot demonstration to supply steam and high-temperature hot water solutions in a downtown New York building. Enerin will compete in the same category as Johnson Controls and Miller Proctor Nickolas.
The Clean Fight on target as global GHG emissions are at all time high
Managing Director of The Clean Fight, Kate Frucher, at the award announcement. Photo: Tamara Staples.
Managing Director of The Clean Fight, Kate Frucher, spoke about the work of The Clean Fight in identifying the right global technology partners and companies for the Empire Technology Prize.
She previously said that by bringing these companies to New York, The Clean Fight helps them develop at the right speed by putting them in the hands of customers who can really bring them to scale fast.
The New York decarbonisation effort for buildings is timely because global greenhouse gas emissions reached an all time high last year.
The 2023 Statistical Review of World Energy released by the Energy Institute and consultancies KPMG and Kearney reported that global temperature increases averaging close to 1.5°C made 2023 the warmest year since records began. Severe impacts of climate change were felt across all continents.
The review stated that the demand for oil remained robust with record oil consumption at just over 100 million barrels a day (which includes liquid fuels such as biofuels and gas), accounting for strong growth in developing countries, although oil is peaking in advanced economies. A two per cent rise in greenhouse gas emissions over the previous year was recorded which, for the first time ever, exceeded 40 gigatonnes of CO2.
“The positive news was that energy production from renewable sources jumped 13 per cent, excluding hydropower, with the growth seen especially in the wind and solar sectors.”
Electrification is here to stay
Trond Atle Asphjell said that the atmosphere on the award day was electric because of the passion and momentum behind the initiative. Photo: Tamara Staples.
With electrification as a way to decarbonise industrial and building heating and cooling, heat pump technologies are becoming more attractive and cost-effective as the availability of renewable energy increases.
In some countries and regions, with plentiful renewable electricity supplies, sourcing electricity from the grid at optimal times can be cheaper than using gas.
Companies and homes can benefit from negative electricity prices by intensively operating heat pumps during the cheapest times of day, with a surplus of electricity, while storing excess energy as heat for later use.
The full press release from the Governor’s office can be seen HERE.
Read about the finalists and the next steps of the prize HERE.
The Empire Technology Prize is supported by NYSERDA and Wells Fargo, and administered by The Clean Fight and RMI.
Photo: Tamara Staples.