Evaluation of a Variable Refrigerant Flow Air-source Heat Pump Retrofit in the ICI Sector
TRCA’s Black Creek Pioneer Village (BCPV) Visitor Centre is a 50,000 ft2 industrial commercial institutional (ICI) building that is located at 1000 Murray Ross Pkwy in North York, ON. The main space heating system consisted of distributed water-to-air heat pumps connected to a central boiler and cooling tower and it was near end-of-life in 2017/18. A variable refrigerant flow (VRF), also known as variable refrigerant volume (VRV), air-source heat pump (ASHP) system was identified as an option with a better business case and lower carbon emissions than a like-for-like replacement of the existing system. TRCA undertook a retrofit of a VRF ASHP between 2018 and 2020. Concurrent with the VRF retrofit, the boiler used for perimeter heating and ventilation air was also upgraded to a higher efficiency model. The system received a third-party commissioning review in Spring/Summer 2020. Measurement & Verification (M & V) was performed to assess the utility savings of the full retrofit and detailed monitoring was performed on part of the ASHP system to characterize as-installed performance.