ISO 13612-1:2014

Overview

ISO 13612-1:2014 - Heating and cooling systems in buildings: Design and dimensioning defines how to design, size and evaluate heat pump systems used for space heating, cooling and domestic hot water (DHW). The standard applies to electrically driven vapour-compression (VCC) heat pumps, combustion-engine-driven VCC units, and thermally driven vapour-absorption (VAC) heat pumps. It establishes required inputs, calculation methods and outputs for heat generation and control, and covers heat pumps used alone or combined with other heat generators.

Key topics and requirements

• Scope and system types: water–water, brine–water, refrigerant–water (direct expansion/DX), air–air, air–water and combined systems; includes heat pump water heaters (HPWH), VRF and integrated DHW systems.
• Design requirements: selection and positioning, electrical supply, noise limits, and interface with distribution/emission systems (e.g., buffering and storage).
• Dimensioning & sizing methodology: rules for sizing equipment for the heating season, cooling season and DHW loads; treatment of backup systems and oversizing considerations.
• Hydraulic integration & controls: guidance on hydraulic connections, buffering, system control strategies and overall control of combined functions (space heating/cooling + DHW).
• Operational & safety: commissioning, monitoring provisions, balancing flows, performance testing and hand-over requirements.
• Annexes & informative material: design schemes (HPWH, VRF, ice storage), design parameters for water-source systems, noise guidance, DHW tapping patterns, storage sizing examples, and commissioning checklists.

Practical applications

• Provides a standardized framework for designing and dimensioning heat pump installations in residential, commercial and light industrial buildings.
• Useful for HVAC designers and consulting engineers to size heat pumps, buffers and controls to meet building loads and DHW demands.
• Supports manufacturers and system integrators in specifying interfaces, performance expectations and commissioning procedures.
• Assists energy modelers and compliance officers evaluating system performance, efficiency and interactions with building distribution systems.

Who should use this standard

• HVAC design consultants and mechanical engineers
• System integrators, installers and commissioning agents
• Heat pump manufacturers and product specifiers
• Building energy assessors and compliance authorities

Related standards

• ISO 13612-2 (Energy calculation for heat pump systems) - complementary part that covers energy performance calculations.
• ISO/TC 205 (Building environment design) provides the technical committee context.

Keywords: ISO 13612-1:2014, heat pump systems, design and dimensioning, HPWH, VCC, VAC, DX systems, air-to-water, brine-to-water, HVAC standard, heat pump commissioning.