- In 2025, Johnson Controls heat pump solutions saved global customers approximately 32% on annual heating costs and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 55% (total reductions reaching 1.6 million tons), equivalent to eliminating the carbon emissions from approximately 400,000 fuel-powered vehicles on the road for one year.
- Johnson Controls’ heat pump portfolio, with its wide temperature range and efficient waste heat recovery, is suitable for large-scale applications across multiple scenarios, truly helping customers achieve energy savings, emission reductions, and enhanced resilience.
ShanghaiMay 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Johnson Controls, a global enterprise dedicated to thermal management, mission-critical building systems, energy efficiency, and decarbonization, recently announced the application results of its commercial and industrial heat pump portfolio. The data shows that its heat pump portfolio delivers reliable performance in demanding and complex mission-critical operating environments, while helping global customers reduce costs and carbon emissions. In 2025, Johnson Controls’ global customers using heat pump solutions saved approximately 32% on annual heating costs and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by about 55% (total reductions of 1.6 million tons) compared to traditional gas boilers, equivalent to eliminating the carbon emissions from approximately 400,000 fuel-powered vehicles on the road for one year.
Katie McGinty, Vice President and Chief Sustainability & External Relations Officer at Johnson Controls, stated: “Heat pumps are not a promise for the future but a viable solution delivering double-digit competitive advantages today. With their large-scale application across various critical operating scenarios, heat pumps have already helped many customers reduce costs and emissions while improving operational efficiency and minimizing resource waste. This is precisely the outcome that smart climate action aims to achieve.”
Real-World Application Results Across Industries
Johnson Controls’ heat pump products are now widely used in numerous industries with high demands for stability, operational performance, and economic benefits, demonstrating significant application results in commercial settings, industrial projects, and district energy applications.
In the healthcare and manufacturing sectors, many customers have chosen to replace or supplement heating fuels with large-scale heat pumps, achieving considerable energy savings and emission reductions through waste heat recovery and electrification retrofits. Aalborg University Hospital in Denmark, by building a district cooling system that utilizes natural cooling from nearby water sources, combined with Sabroe ChillPAC chillers and Sabroe HeatPAC heat pumps to handle peak loads, successfully reduced electricity costs by 80% and carbon emissions by 80-90%.
Municipal and district energy projects have also widely adopted large-capacity heat pumps. In Vancouver, two high-efficiency YORK CYK centrifugal heat pumps recover thermal energy from sewage, providing clean, low-carbon heating for 47 buildings with a total floor area of approximately 650,000 square meters, including residential, educational, and public buildings. This retrofit project tripled the heating capacity, achieving hot water supply efficiency exceeding 300%, meaning the system produces three times the thermal energy it consumes. Currently, the system provides sustainable heating services to approximately 10,000 local residents and surrounding businesses.
In Gansu Province, China’s first benchmark sewage-source heating project, five Johnson Controls YORK CYK high-temperature centrifugal heat pumps provide clean heating for a residential area of 1.5 million square meters. During the first heating season of Phase I, the project saved approximately 9,330 tons of standard coal and reduced carbon dioxide emissions by about 32,000 tons, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of approximately 20,000 Chinese households.
Rethinking Performance in Cold Environments: The Key is the Heat Source
There is a common misconception that heat pumps cannot operate efficiently in cold climates. In reality, for many commercial settings, industrial projects, and district energy applications, equipment performance depends not only on outdoor air temperature but more critically on the temperature of the heat source supplied to the system. Johnson Controls’ heat pump solutions can adapt to various operating conditions, including cold weather scenarios.
Air-source systems extract heat from outdoor air, while many large-scale applications obtain heat from other stable, higher-temperature processes, such as data center operations or thermal energy generated in critical industry processes like pharmaceuticals, food, and beverages. Recovering this traditionally wasted heat can significantly improve energy efficiency, even in low winter temperatures. For example, in one project, the outdoor air temperature was only 40°F (about 4°C), while the heat source temperature was close to 80°F (about 27°C). Using this high-temperature heat source reduced energy consumption by up to 50%, substantially lowering the compressor load while comprehensively improving system efficiency.
Scalable Heat Pump Solutions to Meet Future Customer Needs
As market demand for efficient, resilient, and low-carbon heating continues to grow, heat pumps are becoming standard configurations for large-scale applications in campuses, districts, and critical facilities. This shift requires heat pump systems to be compatible with existing infrastructure, adaptable to diverse operating scenarios, and capable of providing stable heating and cooling services over the long term. Johnson Controls’ heat pump portfolio features a wide operating range, capable of stable operation in extreme cold as low as -13°F (-25°C) and producing hot water up to approximately 248°F (about 120°C) using waste heat, overcoming previously insurmountable bottlenecks. These technological advancements have significantly broadened the application scenarios for heat pumps, helping customers complete their transitions in a practical and economical way, reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions while fully leveraging the value of existing systems.
This shift is already influencing the development and application of heat pump systems. In New York State’s “Empire Technology Prize” project, which promotes low-carbon heating retrofits for high-rise commercial and multi-family residential buildings, Johnson Controls received recognition for its innovative heat pump solution. This solution uses ultra-low Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants, combined with zero-GWP mechanical vapor recompression technology, enabling both cooling and heating via heat pumps. Compared to traditional separate chiller and boiler systems, this innovative solution can significantly reduce energy and water consumption.
Katie McGinty added: “Customers cannot wait for perfect conditions; they need reliable solutions that work effectively in real-world environments. As application scales continue to expand, heat pumps are delivering tangible cost savings, visible emission reductions, and greater resilience. This is real, dependable progress.”
For more information about Johnson Controls’ heat pump solutions, please visit cn.johnsoncontrols.com.