In Europe, 36 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions and 40 per cent of energy consumption are caused by buildings, where 80 per cent of requirements are related to the production of climatic comfort and domestic hot water (source: TEHA and Enel Foundation dossier, 2024.). To implement the European Union's Green Deal, the transition of the built environment is therefore among the most important challenges in the HVAC world. In this context, heat pumps represent a key technology for improving the efficiency of comfort and DHW production and the exploitation of renewable sources. But the building impact (economic and social) of an energy upgrading intervention risks limiting the application of this solution on a large scale. Identifying and designing new retrofit models for heat pumps has, for some years now, been the guiding objective of Olimpia Splendid's product development process which, at ISH 2025, will present the latest innovations on this front.
‘The most recent studies highlight that 75% of buildings in Europe need to be energy upgraded’ - explains Marco Saccone, CEO of Olimpia Splendid - ’That's why our presence in Frankfurt will focus on the topic of retrofit: we will bring different models of energy transition, through technological and application innovations that improve comfort, contribute to the increase of the efficiency classes of buildings and integrate perfectly with the architecture.’
In addition to the already well-known hydronic system by Olimpia Splendid - which suggests energy requalification with air-water heat pumps combined with fan coils - at ISH 2025 space will be given to new retrofit models, based on the use of air-to-air heat pumps without external units. Whether we are talking about integration or complete replacement of the gas generator, these solutions offer numerous advantages, first and foremost their low architectural impact. Air-to-air heat pumps without an outdoor unit allow electrifying and efficient comfort without major masonry work, without the need to occupy space on balconies or terraces, and without the need to work on all rooms at the same time. Secondly, the quality of comfort: operating in both heating and cooling mode, they allow the climate to be managed in every season and, where foreseen, also the change of air with heat recovery.
To encourage even partial system retrofits with air-to-air heat pumps without an outdoor unit, Olimpia Splendid will show in Frankfurt the technological integration between a traditional radiator and the new generation of Unico®. Thanks to a new intelligent thermostatic valve, it is in fact possible to connect an existing terminal to the OS Home control system (accessible via app, from iOS and Android devices) and programme scenarios that activate either the radiator or the heat pump, depending on external weather conditions. This is a first example of energy requalification, which allows for improved efficiency in the production of home comfort, quickly and easily.
Where a complete retrofit of the system is possible, Olimpia Splendid proposes the latest evolution of the Unico® range: an air-to-air heat pump without external unit with a maximum power of 3.2 kW in heating and 3.5 kW in cooling, with vertical development, available in four variants. There are two peculiarities that make Unico® Vertical a simple but complete generator for upgrading comfort in the built environment. The first is the mechanical ventilation unit with cross-flow entaplane exchanger, countercurrent, which can be integrated with the heat pump to allow air exchange with heat recovery. The second is the integrated 2kW electric heater, which guarantees heating capacity even in particularly cold weather conditions. On the basis of the external threshold temperature set during the installation phase, Unico® Vertical can in fact automatically activate the electric resistance, as an alternative to the cooling circuit.