We learned long ago that installing efficient equipment is not the panacea it is often presented as. Our Applied Research and Development function is where we try to solve some of the questions that arise from our building projects. This is where we nurture innovation, perform technology validation and establish best practices for the installation and operation of equipment new to the marketplace. This work informs the industry in ways intended to promote more efficient and impactful outcomes.

New Ecology is building upon our work as innovators over the past 25 years to look ahead to new frontiers in the space. Our current projects include:

Collecting and analyzing operational data from existing fossil fuel domestic hot water systems to accurately size electric replacement equipment and update decades-old engineering guidance on system sizing.
Implementing pilot air-to-water heat pump projects to verify the coefficient of performance, documenting best practices for installation and control setup, and assessing scalability for utility-administered energy efficiency programs.
Deploying data metering arrays on CO₂ heat pump domestic water systems to monitor performance, optimize efficiency, and inform best practices for system design and operation.
Investigating the cost-effectiveness of a well-designed drainwater heat recovery system as a readiness step for future heat pump installations, leveraging this underutilized load reduction measure.

Applied Research & Development