Can you outline Daikin's reach in the global HVAC space and its business focus within EMEA?
Daikin is active globally, and our presence is quite evenly spread across key continents—Japan, China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and America. Our strategy is to produce in the regions where we sell, so we have production plants and design centres tailored to each region’s specific demands. Around 95% of our total business is focused on HVAC and R, with a small part related to chemicals – fluoroelastomers used in semiconductors, ICT and automotive, and fluorinated gases used in HVAC-R applications.
Within Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, the heating segment is primarily in Europe, where demand is concentrated. Most of our equipment is based on heat pump technology—either air-to-water or air-to-air—and most are reversible, meaning they can heat and cool. Only a small portion is dedicated purely to cooling, for example, in data centres or process cooling. In refrigeration, which is purely cooling, we mostly serve sectors like food preservation and storage. Either way, the by-product of cooling = heat, and this is often reused in well-designed systems to be recovered in applications (room/space cooling) where heat is required.
Which countries or regions within EMEA do you view as exemplary models for adopting green HVAC solutions, and what factors contribute to their success?
Overall, Europe is leading globally in HVAC sustainability. One indicator is the inverter ratio, which reflects the adoption of energy-efficient systems. In Europe, nearly 100% of systems use inverter technology, which adapts electricity consumption to actual demand, reducing environmental impact. In Africa, that figure drops below 20%, and in the Middle East, it's about 50–60%.
Another key area is the decarbonisation of heating in Europe. There is a strong movement away from combustion heating toward renewable heating through heat pumps. Heat pumps significantly reduce carbon emissions, and their impact will only grow as electricity sources become more renewable.
Since 2006, we've been developing air-to-water heat pumps in Europe to replace boilers, and this has become a significant part of our European business.
What work is Daikin doing to support the integration of green HVAC systems with the grid?
Our main focus is on making heat pumps intelligent and grid-responsive for smart integration into dynamic energy systems. Heat pumps can act as thermal storage due to their use of hydraulic systems and hot water tanks. This allows them to shift electricity consumption based on grid demand. That flexibility is crucial for supporting grid stability and can also help end users benefit from dynamic electricity tariffs.
As the newly elected president of the European Heat Pump Association, what are your primary objectives for the organization?
One of the main priorities is the implementation of European legislation at the national level. A lot of legislative groundwork was done in the previous mandate, and now the focus is on ensuring it gets properly translated and applied across member states—while still maintaining a single market. If countries start diverging, it increases costs and complexity for the industry and makes access to technology more difficult for end users.
Another major focus is affordability, especially the running costs of heat pumps. There’s still a big discrepancy between electricity and gas prices across Europe. In Belgium, the electricity-to-gas price ratio is around 4 to 4.5, making heat pumps less competitive compared to gas boilers. In the Netherlands, it’s closer to 2.5, making heat pumps more attractive. These differences affect the adoption rates significantly. A third priority is engaging with the EU to maintain momentum on the heat pump rollout, which is currently behind schedule. Europe wanted 30 million hydronic heat pumps by 2030, but at the current pace of around 1.1 to 1.2 million per year, we’re far off target. The Heat Pump Acceleration Platform was set up to monitor this and push member states to act. Lastly, we’re watching closely to ensure new legislation—like F-gas and PFAS reviews—doesn’t create new barriers for rollout.
What policies would you like to see implemented to close the price gap between electricity and gas in the European Union?
An important one is the upcoming new emissions trading system, ETS2, which President von der Leyen has underlined her commitment to roll out, despite pressure to delay or review it. For us, that’s a crucial sign of market stability and a vital tool for member states to help adjust pricing structures.
If ETS2 were to fall through, it would be a major issue. It's essential for progress at the country level, so its continuation is something we’re watching very closely. It’s a very critical component in aligning energy prices and supporting the rollout of sustainable technologies like heat pumps.
Is there a conversation inside the HVAC industry that isn’t happening but urgently needs to?
The elephant in the room is that heat pumps are more expensive to install than boilers. They’re larger, heavier, and more complex, so naturally they cost more. It also takes more time to install them, and many installers aren’t yet familiar with the technology, which adds to the final cost for the end user.
As an industry, we need to train more people in heat pump expertise. Investing in installation capacity and support programmes for independent installers will bring down costs and make heat pumps more competitive. The UK is an example of a region in which we are starting to see leading companies developing more industrialised installation methods.
What EU initiatives is Daikin involved with to promote uptake and improve public perceptions of heat pumps?
In the city of Bruges, Belgium, we are part of a Horizon EU project converting 40 social housing units from gas to ground source heat pumps. We’re working with a university and the original designer to upgrade the system and demonstrate that such technology can be applied without major network disruptions.
Another project in Genk, Belgium, aims to reduce the barriers in neighbourhood refurbishments, which are a huge part of the European housing stock. New builds are mostly solved—around 70% are already heat pumps in many countries—but refurbishment, especially in multifamily housing, remains a big challenge.
