Carrier is building a $16 million research & development centre of excellence for heating, air conditioning and domestic water systems in Villasanta, Italy.
The new facility will focus on the development of new innovations to expand Carrier’s sustainable and intelligent solutions, primarily heat pumps, hydrogen boilers and IoT-enabled systems for the residential and light commercial segments in Europe.
The investment leverages Carrier’s expertise in heat pumps and will uniquely position the company to respond to the sustainable transformation outlined in the European Union Green Deal, according to said Francois Audo, vice president and managing director for Carrier Europe .
"This investment allows us to offer an even broader value proposition to our customers in the residential and light commercial sectors in Europe,” he said.
“This investment is also a symbol of our commitment to the region and will allow us to make even stronger collaborations with the region's leading university hubs.”
The project includes the construction of a new facility in Villasanta to house a laboratory and offices and the relocation of the R&D centre staff in Lecco and Pescara by the end of 2023. The centre will bring together engineers with skills focused on heat pump design and digital systems.
EU buildings are responsible for 40 per cent of energy consumption and 36 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe.
Increasing the supply of energy-efficient and sustainable heating solutions such as air-to-water heat pumps or hybrid systems contributes to the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, outlined in the EU’s “Fit for 55” plan.
Alongside the expansion of the heat pump offering, Carrier will continue to invest in the development of hydrogen-ready boilers, sustainable solutions that are using a blend of natural gas with up to 20 per cent hydrogen, with the goal of reaching 100 per cent hydrogen by the end of 2024.
The new centre will also focus on the development of IoT-enabled and Artificial Intelligence technologies that will allow the remote management of heating and cooling systems for increased energy efficiency.