Characteristics of heat pump suitable for ultra-low energy residences in cold zone

With high thermal insulation and air tightness, the ultra-low energy residence can significantly reduce energy consumption for heating and cooling, which is an important technical routine to realize building energy conservation. The passive technology makes the load characteristics of ultra-low energy residence are different from that of the common house. Therefore, the traditionally designed and sized heat pump cannot make the energy consumption of the active system to be minimized, which is the leak point of energy in ultra-low energy residences. It is very important to develop the heat pump suitable for ultra-low energy residences. Taking Beijing, a typical city in cold zone in China, for example, this paper analyses the characteristics of the heat pump system based on the simulation result of the building load of the ultra-low energy residence. The results indicate that the cooling load of ultra-low energy residence is the main part of the building load. Compared with the conventional residence, the ultra-low energy residence is more likely to use unified heat pump to meet year-round heating and cooling demands. Moreover, the heat exchangers of heat pump should be designed according to the refrigeration condition.