Overview
- Five Awardees of the Peter Ritter von Rittinger Award
- Policy forums highlight the need for action in markets, supply chains and innovation
- Thank You for Being Part of the Journey – See You in 2029
Five Awardees of the Peter Ritter von Rittinger Award
(c) Alexandru Enache
During the conference dinner at the 15th IEA Heat Pump Conference five distinguished professionals were presented with the prestigious Peter Ritter von Rittinger International Heat Pump Award 2026 — the highest international honor in the heat pump, air conditioning, and refrigeration sector.
The 2026 awardees are:
• Prof. Graeme G. Maidment, London South Bank University
• Thomas Nowak, Vice President Government Relations and Public Affairs, Qvantum International
• Prof. Renato Lazzarin, Emeritus Professor at the University of Padua, Italy
• Prof. Björn Palm, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
• Dr. Choyu Watanabe, Executive Office, Zeneral Heatpump Industry Co., Ltd. / Nagoya University
The award recognizes outstanding contributions to international collaboration in research, policy, market development, and applications of energy-efficient heat pumping technologies that strengthen energy resilience and deliver environmental benefits.
Presented every three years in connection with the International IEA Heat Pump Conference, the award was handed over by Stephan Renz, Chair of the Executive Committee of the Technology Collaboration Programme on Heat Pumping Technologies (HPT TCP) under the International Energy Agency (IEA).
"It is my great pleasure to recognize these dignified nominees and honour them with the most prestigious prize in the field of heat pumping technologies," said Mr. Stephan Renz during the ceremony. "Our award winners are undoubtedly some of the most influential individuals in the history of HPT TCP by IEA."
Please find the press release here
Policy forums highlight the need for action in markets, supply chains and innovation
On the second day of the IEA Heat Pump Conference 2026, the focus was on key political and economic framework conditions for the successful market penetration of heat pumps. For the first time, the complex discussions in the policy forums were documented live through graphic recording and translated into clear visual representations. This made key insights into energy markets, supply chains and innovation policy tangible for participants.
The forums were hosted by Sabine Mitter (Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure), Rafael Martinez Gordon (International Energy Agency, IEA) and Paul Kenny (European Heat Pump Association, EHPA), and moderated by Thomas Nowak, Paul Kenny and Cornelia Ertl. Representatives from politics, research, international organisations and industry discussed the challenges and opportunities for the further scaling up of heat pump technologies.
Several key messages emerged from the three policy forums:
- Electricity pricing plays a key role: the price ratio between electricity and fossil fuels significantly influences the competitiveness and market acceptance of heat pumps.
- Supply chains are under increasing pressure: to meet rising demand, coordinated measures, investment and international cooperation are required throughout the entire value chain.
- Subsidies alone are not enough: Long-term policy signals and coherent market design are crucial to creating investment certainty and enabling sustainable market growth.
- System integration and innovation policy are key levers: The successful integration of heat pumps into energy systems, as well as targeted innovation support, are seen as key factors for further scaling up.
The graphical summaries highlighted just how closely the individual challenges are interlinked. At the same time, they made it clear that accelerating the deployment of heat pumps requires coordinated and cross-sectoral action – from energy policy and industry to research and innovation.
The visual documentation of the policy forums was created by Chiara de Eccher, Think Visual.
Thank You for Being Part of the Journey – See You in 2029
Photo: AIT/Alexandru Enache
After four days packed with inspiring presentations, discussions and exchange among moren than 800 attendees the 15th IEA Heat Pump Conference came to an end. The closing session included summarizing the conference in numbers, acknowledgement of people involved, best poster and pitch awards, main takeaways from the policy forums – and announcement of where the next 16th IEA Heat Pump Conference will take place in three years.
Photo: AIT/Alexandru Enache
Thomas Fleckl, the Chair of the National Organising committee started the closing session summarising the conference in numbers:
812 participants
3 policy forums
6 plenary lectures
6 technical site visits
10 workshops
15 exhibitions
Scientific Contributions: 367 total contributions (261 scientific papers, 106 applied research papers)
Peer Reviews: 317 reviewers completed 2,943 reviews
Presentations & Sessions: 367 presentations across 78 chaired sessions
4 awards: Peter Rittinger von Rittinger Award, Best Scientific Paper Award, Best Applied Research Paper Award, Best Pitch Presentation Award
Photo: AIT/Alexandru Enache
Acknowledgements
During the session the participants of the Scientific Committee and the International and the National Organizational Committee were acknowledged for their contributions developing the conference program in such a wide range of applications – from buildings to industry and transport, from component to system level, covering novel technologies to applications in the real world. The proceedings will be openly available in three months. Keep follow HPT TCP for more information.
Paper awards
Three papers had been selected for awards in three different classes through a profound selection, nomination and evaluation process, involving several high-level researchers and experts within the field.
The Best Pitch Presentation Award was given to the authors of the paper Development and validation of micro-CT compatible experimental platform for frost formation studies – Austin Labuschagne, Tingting Zhu, Wilko Rohlfs, University of Twente, RWTH Aachen
The Best Scientific Paper Award was given to the authors of the paper was give to the authors of the paper Methodology to evaluate the uncertainty on the design length calculation of vertical ground heat exchangers – Michel Bernier, Massimo Cimmino, Polytechnique Montréal
The Best Applied Research Paper Award was given to the authors of paper Development of a hydrocarbon high-temperature heat pump for industrial decarbonization – Nils Ahlbrink, Fredrik Dupont Holdt, Jonas Lundsted Poulsen, Benjamin Zuhlsdorf, Dansh Technological Institute.
The 16th IEA Heat Pump Conference in 2029
The closing session ended by presenting the location and host of the next IEA Heat Pump Conference which will take place in three years. Benjamin Zühlsdorf, Dansh Technological Institute, revealed that by coincidence, the conference in 2029 will be organised in the country of the winners of the Best Applied Research Paper Award – Denmark – just as in the Eurovision song contest (which took place in Vienna earlier in May)
He announced that the 16th IEA Heat Pump Conference will take place in Copenhagen, at the Bella Centre, in May/June 2029. Exact date will soon be defined and communicated.
We hope to see you in Copenhagen in 2029!
