Testing of Commercial Variable Capacity Heat Pump Systems for Small Commercial Office Buildings

This field study is evaluating the potential of variable capacity heat pump (VCHP) systems that have the ability to use smart integrated controls, variable-speed drives, refrigerant piping, and heat recovery. This provides products that can be controlled by a smart thermostat with such attributes as high energy efficiency, flexible operation, ease of installation, low noise, zone control, and comfort using all-electric technology. This project is intended to assess the ability of a building’s installed energy management systems to serve as an available resource for load management. This involves simulating load-shedding events to trigger the VCHP’s built-in DR algorithm.