24 September 2025
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Pier Mattia Barina, senior product manager for chillers and heat pumps at HiRef, shares views on how heat recovery commercial processes such as data centers can achieve both environmental and economic benefits.
To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 we must significantly reduce CO2 emissions, particularly in high-impact areas like heating and cooling, both domestically and commercially. Simultaneously, as electricity demand grows faster than renewable energy production, it’s vital to reduce consumption through more efficient systems.
What is heat recovery anyway?
The potential of heat recovery to achieve the benefits of a symbiotic relationship, whereby a heat generator, like a data center operator can sell excess heat to nearby communities. Residents, particularly during winter, benefit from this waste heat, which offers a more affordable alternative to traditional heating methods like gas boilers or air-to-water heat pumps. Altogether, it exemplifies the principles of a circular economy.
Northern European countries, which depend heavily on district heating, are leading efforts to reduce emissions due to their colder winters. With new technologies, they are upgrading systems with modern heat pumps and refrigeration units that have the lowest possible global warming potential (GWP), minimising CO2 emissions from electricity production and consumption.
HiRef, is exploring various applications for heat recovery, whether for district heating, utility providers, or industrial use, with heating needs ranging from 70 to 120°C. Moreover, HiRef R&D department is working on developing a new high-temperature heat pump prototype to reach up to 160°C hot water production, increasing the industrial sectors in which to use heat recovery technology.
Why should I care?
For many, exploring sustainable solutions in heating and cooling can seem daunting. While heat recovery technology exists, its potential is meaningless if people are unaware of it. It is important to raise public awareness about heat recovery as a viable sustainable heating option: In northern European countries, where temperatures fluctuate more dramatically than in southern regions, during winter district heating systems may require up to 80-90 °C, while the ambient air drop as low as -25°C in the winter.
In this symbiotic relationship, communities benefit from lower heating costs as data centers generate residual heat year-round. There is even potential to store heat during the summer, providing increased heating and domestic hot water in the colder months. This recovered heat has broad applications, from heating offices and buildings to warming swimming pools and supporting farming operations.
Beyond the environmental and economic advantages, heat recovery can also play a role in reducing noise pollution. By replacing individual household heat pumps with centralised district heating, the collective noise from residential units is eliminated, offering a quieter urban environment. This presents a valuable opportunity for collaboration between data centre owners and municipalities, particularly in city centres where noise reduction is most impactful.
Energy communities as a concept
Building on the idea of heat recovery, the term “energy community” is becoming increasingly common in sustainability discussions. An energy community is a network of stakeholders – including a process heat producer, such as data centres, together with residents, commercial, institutional and industry owners, and others – who benefit from shared heating resources across various applications. This concept revolves around an “energy loop1,” which facilitates a flexible exchange of energy between utilities using a shared reserve.
In this system, when one utility needs additional heat, it can draw from the network, while another utility focused on cooling can release its excess heat into the loop. This creates a shared energy pool that ensures efficient use and distribution. The future of energy will rely on this model of energy sharing.
By fostering such energy communities, we can maximise the benefits of heat recovery, making sustainable solutions more accessible and effective for local communities. To optimise the use of electricity for producing high-temperature hot water in people’s homes, there are an increasing number of heat pumps capable of producing temperatures to match an old-fashioned gas fired system. New hydrocarbon refrigerants like propane is one option, but there are other low GWP refrigerants available. If there are projects where the low flow and return temperatures prescribed by the new building regulations are causing issue, you simply have to ask your heat pump supplier about the solutions they can offer.
https://hiref.com/products/ heat-pumps/kvw
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