A heat pump designed and manufactured by Kelowna-based Vitalis promises a more environmentally friendly solution to heating and cooling buildings through a somewhat unexpected medium: carbon dioxide (CO2).

While it is a major culprit behind climate change, exemplified by how greenhouse gas pollution is often measured in equivalents of CO2, Vitalis sees it as the better alternative to synthetic refrigerants such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that are hundreds or thousands of times stronger at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

The heat pump, called Coolshift, uses CO2 as a natural refrigerant. When leaks inevitably happen, the global warming potential (GWP) is less potent, Carla Berrie, Vitalis’ vice-president of revenue, told Sustainable Biz Canada.

With heat pumps considered a crucial means of helping decarbonize the built environment, a solution like Coolshift can help meet the need for industrial and commercial buildings to lower their emissions, she said.

“If we want to meet our decarbonization goals . . . we need to lower our greenhouse gas emissions," Berrie noted. "Heating and cooling is a major part of what’s contributing to global warming. So by switching over to CO2 or another natural refrigerant that has a low GWP, that’s how you’re going to meet your decarbonization goals.”

Vitalis’ Coolshift

Like any heat pump, Coolshift transfers the heat from a cold source to a building for heating, and vice versa for cooling.

The technology is an electric alternative to natural gas-powered heating. which produces higher levels of greenhouse gases.

Heat pumps have been identified as playing a major role in transitioning buildings away from fossil fuels. A joint report from the Building Decarbonization Alliance, Canadian Climate Institute, Efficiency Canada, and Greenhouse Institute states heat pumps could cut home heating emissions by 19.6 million tonnes by 2035 and cut energy bills by $10.4 billion.

Though they have advantages, heat pumps can also contribute to the problem when refrigerants leak due to age, damage and manufacturing defects. An average of 10 per cent of a heat pump’s refrigerant is estimated to leak every year, Parham Eslami Nejad, a program manager at Vitalis, told Sustainable Biz Canada in an interview.

Berrie said natural refrigerants such as CO2 and propane were historically used, but the industry shied away from such compounds because of danger from flammability and high pressure. Synthetic refrigerants were created as a safer alternative, but came with environmental harms of their own.

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) erode the ozone layer. CFCs were replaced by HFCs due to the Montreal Protocol, which are being phased out by the Kigali Amendment because of their properties as potent greenhouse gases. Hydrofluoroolefins have low GWP, but could face regulations because they are harmful forever chemicals, Berrie explained.

In response, the industry is returning to natural refrigerants as technology has improved their safety, she said. While Coolshift uses CO2, it will have fewer drawbacks compared to synthetic counterparts, Berrie continued.

“They are low GWP, they are non-toxic, non-flammable.”

The main markets for Coolshift are district energy systems and commercial and industrial applications such as supermarkets or factories.

Coolshift in UCBO

Vitalis has secured the University of British Columbia Okanagan (UBCO) campus as a user of Coolshift. The centralized air-source heat pump is projected to cut campus emissions by 815 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year, and slash natural gas use for the low-temperature district energy system (LDES) by over 98 per cent.

It will be the primary heating source for the LDES at the campus, which currently relies on natural gas. Coolshift will displace 430,000 cubic metres of natural gas per year, Vitalis said in a release. 

Installation is scheduled for this fall, with commissioning planned for Q1 2025, Nejad said. B.C.’s clean electric grid ensures it will be a low-emitting technology, he added.

About Vitalis

The heat pump business is an offshoot of Vitalis using CO2 to extract substances from biomass, Berrie said. Founded in 2016, Vitalis started producing industrial equipment that performs tasks like taking the alpha and beta acids out of hops used to make beer, or extracting oils from cannabis.

Attached to that equipment are CO2-based recovery, cleaning and storage systems, and refrigeration. In 2020, the company diversified into those fields. It is seeing the most growth in the heating and cooling sector, Berrie said.

The company has deployed approximately 170 of its systems globally and has an 8,000-square-foot manufacturing operation and a 5,000-square-foot research and development hub in Kelowna.

Berrie said Vitalis expects demand for natural refrigerant heat pumps to continue to rise as government regulations continue to evolve.