Driving Sustainability Through Smarter HVAC Systems

The Future of Sustainable HVAC Systems Expert Interview 

Tony Lopez is a Sales Manager at Badger Meter with extensive experience helping commercial, industrial and institutional customers optimize building systems. In this interview, he explores how intelligent flow measurement, water quality monitoring, and digital data integration are helping facilities cut energy consumption, minimize waste and meet ambitious sustainability targets.

How has the HVAC industry evolved and what innovations drive its progress?

Efficiency standards have steadily increased over the last 20 years. To meet 2030 carbon-reduction targets, manufacturing and design now place energy efficiency as the top priority. Inverter technology in pumps and compressors, new low-global-warming-potential refrigerants and smart building automation systems give designers more flexibility to create custom solutions that cut energy costs and support net-zero goals. The same priority is now applied to existing mechanical installations, where simple improvements can reduce capacity demand on pump sets and HVAC plants and lower overall energy consumption. The industry is now switched on to the importance of reducing energy consumption on existing systems, as well as new design innovations.

Which innovations help balance HVAC energy intensity with sustainable building needs?

Heating and cooling consume about 50–60% of all energy. Leading manufacturers now offer highly efficient air source, air-to-water and air-to-air systems for the commercial sector and district heating networks. Building automation, combined with fixed or portable water-quality monitoring and ultrasonic or electromagnetic flow instruments, helps maintain long-term efficiency.

What upgrades make HVAC systems more sustainable and support decarbonization targets?

Retrofits and plant optimization are essential to meet sustainability goals. Replacing outdated fossil-fuel equipment with efficient heat pumps and upgrading control systems conserves water, boosts performance and cuts costs—key steps toward net-zero and long-term climate targets.

Which preventative measures can keep my HVAC system running smoothly without unexpected system failures and downtime?

Ultrasonic clamp-on flow meters like the Dynasonics^® TFX-5000 offer an easy solution as they simply clamp on to a pipe’s exterior—no need to cut into a pipe, drain systems or shut down operations to install. Retrofitting with these ultrasonic flow meters delivers accurate data so optimization engineers can adjust and monitor flow rates.

With correct design flows in place, pumps, main plant and heat pumps for chilled-water systems use less energy to meet required temperatures. We have commonly witnessed systems running 30% over capacity. Outside of being a vast waste of energy, it also significantly reduces the expected operational lifetime of the HVAC plant.

How does effective water quality monitoring contribute to long-term sustainability goals within HVAC systems and building management?

Water quality monitoring is a crucial component of sustainability efforts, particularly in industries like HVAC, manufacturing and environmental management. When systems operate with degraded water quality, it can reduce plant efficiencies, increase pipe corrosion and damage internal components to the point of failure.

When water quality monitoring technologies like MetriNet^® are implemented in open and closed loop HVAC applications, operators gain continuous insight into key parameters that directly affect system health. This visibility makes it easier to correct water imbalances early, prevent equipment damage and maintain long-term efficiency.

Pairing live water-quality data with flow data from inline or clamp-on meters provides a complete view of system performance. This combined insight helps maintain commissioning-level efficiencies, extend plant life and deliver strong ROI while supporting long-term sustainability goals.

What role does the ModMAG^® series play in driving eco-friendly innovation and creating next-generation sustainable builds?

The ModMAG electromagnetic inline flow meters play a pivotal role in the design of HVAC systems in new builds and district heating networks. With 0.02% accuracy and no straight run requirement, these meters allow for the precise control of fluid with BTL-certified BACnet control protocols, enabling data-driven optimization strategies. This again leads to reduced energy consumption, lower operational costs and improves the overall performance of the entire system.

What is the EU2050 Decarbonization Roadmap and why is it relevant to the HVAC sector?

The initiative to have the EU net-zero by 2050 is hugely relevant to the HVAC building services industry, as buildings are the main source of energy consumption. New projects involving retrofitted systems and existing plant optimization are set to see a 50% increase to meet the 2050 targets. 

As of April 1, 2023, Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) regulations prohibit new lettings of non-domestic properties below an E rating without a legitimate exemption.

With the rating changing to C in 2025 and B in 2030, how can Badger Meter help improve the EPC rating?

Flow instrumentation and live water-quality monitoring help energy consultants and end users maintain design efficiencies after commissioning and optimize existing HVAC systems. This is increasingly important as the commercial EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) minimum band has moved from E and will rise to C in 2025 and B in 2030. Compliance protects landlords from heavy fines and a potential 5% drop in property value.

Using flow instrumentation and water-quality monitoring improves EPC ratings and supports required high- and low-flow alarms on building management systems. Correctly selecting and installing flow instrumentation in primary and secondary circuits ensures efficiencies aren’t lost to water-quality degradation, while also reducing major component failures and ongoing service costs.