With shifts in temperature, the public demand for heat pumps in BC is soaring and has outpaced the capacity of the workforce to deliver, putting stress on existing contractors, professional associations and technical training institutes.

At the same time, the rapid deployment of heat pump technology is occurring in an uncertain environment, lacking consistent performance standardization, monitoring, and verification. There are promising pilots and strong contributions from key players in this space, such as ZEIC, retrofit accelerators, Vancity, Affine, and Pembina Institute’s Reframe Initiative to name a few. However, the speed of technological development is outpacing quality control and standardization processes.

If there was ever a time to bring all of the players together, to act as a cohesive cluster and build on each other’s work and insights, it is now. 

Urban Climate Leadership (UCL) is pleased to share with you this summary report, synthesizing themes from our first May 14th multi-stakeholder dialogue, Solving Heat Pumps in Low-Rise Multi-Unit Residential Properties (MURBs). 

This report is not a comprehensive report-back on what was said during the session, or a repetition of the information provided in the discussion primer. Rather, it is meant to capture the thrust of the conversation among over 50 expert participants, and set the stage for the next critical step: identifying and moving towards solutions pathways.