Technical Insights June 10, 2025
Large-capacity Subcritical CO₂-based ASHP Product Development
Ecosystem has partnered with RefPlus and their affiliate Ceptek, a Canadian manufacturer of custom refrigeration equipment, to develop a large-capacity subcritical CO₂-based ASHP specifically designed with cold climate operation in mind.
This collaboration is being supported by the government of Quebec via a grant from the INNOV-R PME program at the Consortium for Research and Innovation in Industrial Bioprocesses in Quebec (CRIBIQ) which is funded by MEIE (Ministry of Economy, Innovation, and Energy).
Ecosystem has designed and optimized systems with heat pumps for over thirty years and has valuable experience with what works, what doesn’t, and what challenges must be overcome for a new cold-climate heat pump to be successful.
RefPlus/Ceptek’s extensive experience with CO₂ as a refrigerant, both subcritical and transcritical, makes them well suited to adapt their expertise to the design and manufacture of this new equipment.
Pilot Application
A location has already been selected for the first installation of this large-capacity subcritical CO₂ split-system ASHP specifically designed for cold climate operation. The IUSMQ (Quebec University Institute of Mental Health) is a large institutional building in Quebec City with a total area of 1.8 million square feet. Currently, the building relies on natural gas boilers for space heating and domestic hot water production, consuming approximately 3,500,000 m3 (123,600 mcf) of natural gas annually. This results in annual GHG emissions of approximately 6,770 tonnes of CO₂.
The newly developed ASHP will be integrated into the building’s existing hydronic heating system; installed in cascade with a water-to-water heat pump. This equipment will replace a significant portion of the building’s natural gas consumption. The heating system’s expected coefficient of performance (COP) ranges from 2.5 to 5.0, varying with outside air temperature. This offers far greater efficiency than conventional natural gas boilers, which typically operate at an efficiency of 85% or less. These efficiency gains will translate into significant energy savings and emissions reductions.
For more information on how subcritical CO₂ heat pumps can transform cold-climate electrification, read the article Reinventing Indoor Heating.
