As Europe pushes toward climate neutrality, heat pumps are becoming a key technology for decarbonising heating. Yet one thing is clear: technology alone is not enough. A skilled workforce is essential to ensure safe, efficient installations across diverse buildings and climates.
This was the central theme of the webinar “Heat Pump Skills in Action: Safety, Craft, and Planning for the Energy Transition,” hosted by the European Heat Pump Association (EHPA) and co-organised with the LIFE projects SKILLSAFE EU, HeatCraftHP, in which EHPA is part of and KnowHowHP.
With installer shortages and increasing technical demands, upskilling – meaning increasing someone’s knowhow – is now a crucial part of Europe’s energy transition – one that is as much about people as it is about technology.
The EU’s strategy: from skills policy to skills ecosystems
The first speaker, Felix Rohn from the European Commission’s DG Employment explained how skills are being placed at the centre of EU policy. Although education remains a national responsibility, Member States have chosen to collaborate on a unified strategy through the Union of Skills, a European Commission initiative to boost Europe’s competitiveness by investing in people, tackling skill shortages, and ensuring quality jobs through education, with a special focus on green transitions.
Rohn described how new Net Zero Industry Academies, collaborative training initiatives under the EU’s Net-Zero Industry Act that create standardised programs, content, and credentials to upskill Europe’s workforce for green tech jobs for sectors like solar, hydrogen, raw materials, wind, and batteries, are being launched to train workers efficiently and at scale. Meanwhile, the EU has also set up a ‘Pact for Skills’ – a voluntary commitment from thousands of companies and training providers to upskill their workforce. He highlighted plans for a European Skills Observatory that will integrate labour-market data from across Europe, helping policymakers and educators align training programmes with real industry needs. Together, these actions aim to create a skills ecosystem capable of supporting Europe’s clean-energy transition.
Strengthening the heat pump workforce through training and practical expertise
The first project presentation came from Miranda Groot Zwaaftink (NVKL), speaking on behalf of SKILLSAFE EU which focuses on preparing installers for the growing use of R290 (propane) in residential heat pumps. As Europe shifts toward natural refrigerants, Groot explained that safety training becomes essential because, even though modern heat pumps are robust, R290 is highly flammable.
SKILLSAFE EU has therefore developed comprehensive guidelines covering every stage of handling R290 monoblock heat pumps, from transport to disposal, with a second set of guidelines for split systems being prepared. The associated training programme is being tested across several countries in partnership with manufacturers.
Groot summarised the project’s core message clearly: “These heat pumps are really safe, if you follow the proper instructions. Safety starts with knowledge.”
The second presentation, delivered by Prof. Wilko Rohlfs (RWTH Aachen University), introduced HeatCraftHP, a project designed to strengthen practical installation skills. Rohlfs highlighted how sensitive heat pumps are to design quality, noting that even a professional installation can go wrong if hydraulic design is overlooked.
He pointed to a recent example of an installation that forced a heat pump to deliver unnecessarily high temperatures due to poor system layout – “thermodynamically the worst thing you can do,” he explained.
To tackle this, HeatCraftHP is developing interactive digital tools, including a Hydraulic Balancing Simulator that allows users to experiment with radiator adjustments, pipe diameters, and flow rates. These tools are intended not only for installers but also for general users, because, as Rohlfs put it, “People need to know their knowledge gaps, only then can they start to close them.”
The third project, KnowHowHP, was presented by Tobias Hatt and Assoc. Prof. Fabian Ochs, who addressed one of the most challenging segments of the market: existing multi-family buildings. Many installers still tell owners that heat pumps “won’t work” in such structures, but KnowHowHP aims to change that perception.
Their approach brings together installers, planners, and energy consultants to develop an integrated understanding of how building renovation and heat pump design interact. Hatt explained that successful installations require looking at the entire system – thermal envelope, radiator sizing, domestic hot water needs, and flow temperatures – rather than treating each element in isolation.
Ochs reinforced this point through real case studies, showing how targeted renovations can drastically lower heat pump capacity requirements. In one example, a building initially needing a 25 kW unit could, after improvements, operate efficiently with only 8 kW. These insights will feed into a new planning tool under development.
As Hatt put it simply: “The answer shouldn’t be ‘it doesn’t work.’ It should be ‘yes – it’s possible, but here’s what you need to change.”
A shared vision: skills as the foundation of heat pump deployment
Across all contributions, from EU policy to the practical experiences of the three LIFE projects, a common conclusion emerged: Europe’s heat pump transition is also a skills transition. Ensuring safe installation of new refrigerants, equipping installers with robust technical understanding, and enabling integrated planning approaches in complex buildings are all crucial steps toward meeting Europe’s climate goals.
