H&V News Gold Award

The UK government has finally come to the realisation that heat pump technology has a crucial role to play if this country is to achieve its challenging – and ongoing – carbon reduction targets, and if the much talked-about low-carbon economy is to become a reality.

Indeed, the recently published Energy Bill, which is currently making its way through the parliamentary process, specifies the inclusion of ground-source and air-source heat pumps – installed by competent installers working for reputable and reliable companies – in the arrangement for the forthcoming Green Deal.

This shift in attitude to the heat pump option can be attributed in great part to the efforts of one man. Tony Bowen has been championing heat pump technology for at least two decades – as managing director of Calorex Heat Pumps, one of the UK’s major players in this fast-expanding marketplace, and as the long-serving president of the Heat Pump Association.

Over the past 10 years in particular, he has played a very significant role in adapting ground-source heat pump systems to suit conditions in the UK – helping to create a credible base for further market development in the process.

He has also been active in explaining – to everyone with an interest in the creation of a genuinely sustainable built environment – the potential of heat pumps in promoting energy efficiency and minimising carbon emissions.

There is no doubt that the wide-ranging consensus that now exists across the industry and beyond that heat pumps represent a technology whose time has come is surely a lasting testament to the energy, the wisdom and the commitment of Tony Bowen.