​The global heat recovery market is forecast to be worth $7.7bn and to be growing at a rate of 7.4% by the end of 2032 according to recent research. Growth drivers include rising energy prices, energy security concerns and the move towards net zero to tackle the climate crisis. The acceleration brings with it an urgent need to upskill the workforce and recruit to make sure manufacturers can keep pace with demand.

What is heat recovery?

Heat recovery ventilation (HRV), also known as mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR), reduces the heating and cooling demands of buildings by recovering residual heat from certain processes. One project that demonstrates heat recovery in action is Microsoft’s planned new data centre in Finland which is set to be the world’s largest initiative to recycle waste heat from data centres. The project will see waste heat from the cooling of the data centre's servers used for a district heating scheme that will serve the city of Espoo and surrounding areas, generating emission-free heat to meet 40% of the region’s needs (250,000 users).

How companies are adapting to the heat recovery market

Manufacturers have already developed new products that are being used to implement the first heat recovery systems in the UK. Toshiba’s heat recovery VRF recently helped one landmark office building in the City of London to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating as part of a major refurbishment project. You can read more about the scheme here.

Meanwhile, Daikin has developed a seasonal efficiency feature in one of its heat recovery systems, with a 13% increase in performance compared to the previous generation. Read more about Dakin’s heat recovery solutions here.

Job opportunities in heat recovery

HVAC manufacturers in the UK are already innovating in the field of heat recovery. They are now looking to their technical sales engineers to help them take their products to market and secure large commercial contracts. Each manufacturer and industry sector will favour different knowledge and experience from their sales teams as the heat recovery market represents an ever increasing proportion of their revenue. Some, for example, will be looking for sales engineers with a good understanding of thermodynamics and many will be on the hunt for salespeople who can confidently talk about process heating, waste heat recovery and other thermal engineering systems. Others may not be too concerned with the depth of knowledge and will prioritise strong sales performance, providing detailed training in new product developments.

Heat recovery is a growth sector and is likely to generate significant career opportunities over the next 5 to 10 years as manufacturers add these new systems to their product portfolio alongside fans, air handling units, chillers, splits, VRF and other cooling solutions. The possibilities for career progression and the chance to work on big projects at the forefront of HVAC innovation make air conditioning an exciting area for ambitious sales engineers who want to fast track their careers in an expanding market. If you have worked in other areas of HVAC as a sales engineer and are interested in moving into a role that will see you exploring the potential of the heat recovery market, we would be interested in talking to you. We have excellent relationships with manufacturers who are investing in this area of decarbonisation and we can keep you updated with role vacancies as they arise.

Check out our latest air conditioning and refrigeration jobs and ventilation jobs. Register for updates to be the first to hear about new roles. Have a look at our renewable energy sales jobs too.

You may also be interested in reading the following articles from our blog archives:

What is hybrid air conditioning and why is it important?

Building services sector eyes waste heat from cooling