Patrick Crombez of Daikin re-elected president of the European Heat Pump Association

Brussels, 27 May 2026 – Daikin is pleased to announce that today, the European Heat Pump Association’s Board of Directors elected Patrick Crombez, General Manager of the Environmental Readiness Centre at Daikin Europe, as its President for a second time. The Board of Directors was elected earlier in the day by the Association’s members. Both the EHPA Board and its President serve a two‑year mandate.

Renewed mandate at the EHPA

The EHPA is the voice of the European heat pump sector, promoting the deployment of heat pump technology across Europe. Following the end of his previous two‑year mandate, Patrick Crombez has been re‑elected as President at a crucial moment for Europe’s heating transition, when accelerating the uptake of clean heating solutions is more important than ever.

Patrick Crombez has been with Daikin for over 30 years and led the heat pump heating business for nearly 20 years. In 2025, he took on the role of Head of Daikin Europe’s Environmental Readiness Centre, driving the company’s readiness for evolving environmental regulations and policy developments and enabling the transition to low‑carbon heating and cooling solutions.

Commenting on his re-election, Patrick Crombez said: “I am honoured to have been re-elected president of the European Heat Pump Association. Heat pumps are central to Europe’s decarbonisation, competitiveness and energy resilience objectives, and EHPA has an important role to play in ensuring the right framework is in place to accelerate deployment. I look forward to continuing to work with our members and partners to support the transition to clean, efficient heating and cooling across Europe.”

“At a time when Europe must uphold its climate ambition while strengthening its industrial base, policy stability, a level playing field and continued support for electrification remain essential.”

Promoting heat pump technology for the decarbonisation of heating

Heat pumps make use of the renewable energy that is available in the air to heat spaces and hot water. They are extremely energy efficient and have a much lower carbon footprint than fossil fuel heating systems. Heat pumps and a level playing field for electricity pricing versus the cost of fossil fuels, are indispensable elements in any plan to cut carbon emissions for heating and cooling buildings. Together with EHPA members, Daikin, a leader in the industry in Europe, is taking action to increase the adoption of low-carbon heat pump technologies across Europe.

Daikin has announced several investments to accelerate the development of heat pump heating solutions in Europe. In November 2024, the Japanese multinational Daikin opened a brand-new residential heat pump manufacturing facility in Łódź, Poland, in addition to its other European production sites for these kinds of products in Belgium, Germany and the Czech Republic. Early 2025 Daikin also opened its new global heat pump R&D centre in Ghent, Belgium.  While the market has gone through a slowdown in the past 3 years, particularly for residential heat pump heating solutions, research by the EHPA on the first quarter of 2026 shows growth for single family homes heat pump technology in several European markets. Daikin is confident that demand will recover as Europe advances towards the transition to low‑carbon heating.