Research Project Highlights

Key Findings

While a growing number of stakeholders in Wisconsin are familiar with VRF, there is a general lack of understanding and market activity on the newest generation of cold climate VRF systems. Preliminary modeling showed energy savings and payback periods of 10-20 years, which can vary widely depending on specific project parameters. Stakeholders interviewed showed generally positive reception of VRF systems.

VRF systems are viable for use in Wisconsin. They provide building owners with a highly efficient electric heating system that also provides superior comfort (thermal and acoustic) to occupants. These systems historically have had challenges providing sufficient heating capacity in cold climates without the use of supplemental or secondary heat (often gas fired). However, the newest generation of systems are rated to -22°F, making them a viable option for many projects in Wisconsin. Few projects in Wisconsin have adopted the new cold climate VRF technology and as a result, limited field data or independent studies exist to confirm the energy, economic, and comfort performance of these systems in Wisconsin.

The research provided the following conclusions:

• VRF systems can save energy in Wisconsin, compared to both an electric (heat pump) or gas fired system.
• VRF systems in Wisconsin typically have paybacks between eight and 15 years, depending on the building type and baseline system. For certain building types, such as hotels, the baseline system (PTAC) was not an ideal comparison for VRF, as VRF is a higher quality HVAC system. As a result, the simple payback was much longer (50 years).
• While VRF is growing in popularity, there are three key barriers which have hindered the growth.
  1. VRF is frequently not the lowest cost option. As this research has shown through modeling and analysis, VRF currently has paybacks outside of the desired range for most projects, ranging from 10-20 years for most projects. However, pricing is extremely variable, and it is difficult to fully capture all scenarios in an economic analysis. Much of the long payback is currently driven by the expense of electricity as opposed to natural gas.
  2. VRF has advanced rapidly in the past five years resulting in a lack of awareness in the design community of the most recent features. Research found most stakeholders (owners, designers, engineers, and contractors) are familiar with VRF systems, however, this experience is most frequently driven by past projects featuring older generation VRF systems. As a result, many stakeholders are unaware of the latest technology advancements and the current cold climate capabilities of VRF systems.
  3. Little field data exists to verify the energy performance of these systems in cold climates. For many stakeholders, having independent field data to verify the performance and operation of VRF systems in cold climates will provide confidence that these installations will be successful in Wisconsin.

Learn More

Project Reports:
Final Report

Questions?

Contact the Future Focus team at futurefocus@focusonenergy.com