DEVELOPERS
Like the potential extra revenue generating square feet in the apartments versus a water heater in each apartment.
Origin by Steffes is an all-electric central heat pump water heating system made for multi-family apartment buildings
An Integrated Solution to Minimize Planning and Optimize Efficiency
Origin™ by Steffes is an all-electric, large volume, central heat pump, domestic water heating system specifically designed for multi-family building projects with decarbonization design goals. Steffes brings 30+ years of experience in energy storage, HVAC, and system manufacturing to provide this advanced heat pump water heating technology in an integrated solution. Designed as a packaged system, Origin™ takes the complexity and cost out of your projects’ domestic hot water system design and installation. Our team of engineers stand ready to aid in the application and engineering design support to integrate Origin™ systems into your project.
Product & Design Features
- All-Electric and Energy Efficient
- Single Source Centralized Unit
- Multiple sizes designed for a number of apartments on the hot water loop
- Packaged system design, including storage tanks, swing tanks, and expansion tanks with a building interface section containing water pumps, heat exchanger, valves, and controls
- Plug-and-play solution for easy installation and operation
- Competitively priced compared to distributed systems and to field-built systems
- Durably designed to last 20+ years
- Suited for new construction or retrofit projects
- Demand management ready with CTA 2045 communications protocol
Why do People Want it?
Why You Should Consider the Origin by Steffes over a Distributed System?
Heat pump water heaters for domestic hot water are more efficient but can be more costly. The total installed cost of a distributed system with a 40 gal electric or gas water heater installed in each apartment can reach more than $1200 per apartment. The typical design life of these units is 15 years, driving owners to plan to replace these units as early as year 10. Owners must regularly inspect and monitor water heaters to anticipate failures and replace them. Heaters are often only replaced once they have failed, leaving inconvenienced tenants. A centralized Origin™ system provides reliable, cost-effective hot water, eliminating the need to access the apartment for regular monitoring and repairs. Designed to last longer than distributed systems and offer redundancy, property owners can be confident that a centralized Origin™ system will have hot water during the most demanding usage periods.
The high-efficiency heat pumps, which are the engine of an Origin™ system for domestic hot water, will result in lower operating costs versus a distributed electric or gas water heating system. Heat pump water heaters are up to four times as efficient as conventional gas or electric water heaters. A centralized heat pump water heating system for your complex gives you energy efficiency and can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the water heating system. Origin™ by Steffes can connect to multiple heat pump manufacturers’ models, resulting in flexibility in your job site designs while delivering environmentally friendly low-carbon performance. In addition, heat pump water heaters can double as thermal batteries, storing excess electricity from the production of wind and solar generation, making them super-green and super-efficient.
DOWNLOADS
All-Electric Solution
Origin™ by Steffes is the perfect water heating solution for your multi-family apartment complex project. The all-electric, central heating solution meets your decarbonization requirements and eliminates the mechanical system footprint inside each apartment.
We have done the engineering work for you! We have pre-designed simplified systems for hot water loops with 75-, 100-, or 150-unit complexes. These allow plug-and-play installation with a complete, integrated packaged system where each component works seamlessly. The job site coordination and connection efforts are significantly reduced, as is the risk for the installing contractor.
Origin™ allows multiple different heat pump manufacturer’s products, allowing you to select the right heat pump engine for your particular conditions and reducing the often-difficult coordination efforts between the heat pump and the rest of the building. Origin™ handles the hot water storage and circulation throughout the building, leaving the heat pump to focus on generating hot water.
Heat Pump Water Heating
Heat pump water heaters use electricity to move heat from the surrounding air to the hot water -avoiding the need to generate heat through the classic methods of electric resistance or by burning gas. Heat pumps, by their nature, can be up to four times more energy efficient than conventional electric or gas water heaters.
Previous generation heat pumps faced limited effectiveness in colder surrounding air conditions. Newer heat pump technology and next-generation refrigerants allow hot water generation to an ambient air temperature below 0F. Next generation CO2 refrigerant technology, being increasingly adopted by heat pump water heater manufacturers, is environmentally friendly with a low global warming potential (GWP) of 1 and maintains the high COP generally associated with heat pumps. Through improved refrigeration controls, classic generation refrigerants like R134a can operate effectively at lower temperatures than previously thought.
Product Specifications
The Origin™ by Steffes is a completely packaged, plug-and-play product ready to drop-in to your multi-family complex project. We know how important it is to be able to design, install, commission, operate, and optimize a centralized water heating system. Our system reduces labor costs by cutting installation time, simplifying your projects, and giving tenants more valuable square footage.
Origin™ specifications conform to the Advanced Water Heating Initiative (AWHI) specification, and product designs are repeatable, so you will not need to develop a distinct design every time you implement heat pump water heating on a job