

The challenge
The number of people living in urban areas is continuously increasing in the recent years.
As a consequence, the higher demand for living space makes the collective building sector grow in the future cities. The building sector plays a significant role for the energy consumption and it represents 40% of energy used in the EU.
New European Directives are driving the efficiency of modern buildings in order to reach future goals. In this perspective, heat pumps play a key role to achieve these goals not only in single dwellings but also in apartment buildings.
Daikin, innovation leader for more than 90 years, takes the challenge in collective housing to apply full renewable solutions based on in-house developed heat pump technologies. From low to high-rise apartment buildings, from individual to centralized heating systems, from retrofit to new built, Daikin has the products, the experience and the solution for you.
Practical concerns
The use of renewable energy sources in collective application is restricted due to practical concerns.
- Installation space
- Sound restrictions
- Hot water demand
- Water hygiene
- Plumbing system design

The installation space for outdoor and indoor units is limited in apartment building and collective housing.
End users are reluctant to occupy the space on the balcony.
Builders needs to take into account municipal planning regulations, customer expectations and condo corporation rules when designing new building.
For high-rise building, integration of renewable energies is limited by roof space availability.
Sound restrictions influence the installation position of heat pumps in apartment buildings.
Inappropriate location of heat pumps outside the apartment might create disturbance to the neighbours.
The maximum allowed sound level during night is 35 dBA at 3 m distance from neighbours.
The noise level of heat pumps is a common concern when installing the unit inside the apartment.


Domestic Hot water (DHW) demand largely increasing in new apartment buildings.
From Single-Family house to Multi-Family house, the demand of DHW is growing in importance in the overall heat demand.
In new building sector, the energy use for space heating (SH) is reducing thanks to improved building insulation.
Therefore high-efficiency production of DHW is important to reduce primary energy use in apartment buildings.
Water hygiene needs to be guaranteed to cope with local regulations.
European regulations require 60°C water temperature at the tapping point.
Water in the system may circulate with temperatures above 55 °C for most designs with DHW storage tank in order to prevent the development of legionella bacteria in the water.


The design of plumbing systems in high-rise buildings requires careful awareness
Producing high temperature water (70°C) and circulating it within a building cause:
- high heat losses (up to 40%) in distribution pipe networks
- high hydraulic cost due to higher size of the pipes and increased pipe insulations

Daikin integrated solutions for collective housing
To provide apartment buildings and collective housing with sustainable and high energy performance heating equipment, Daikin combines Applied and Residential Heating products to offer an integrated system that easily overcomes the practical concerns in high-rise buildings.
Using the Applied EWYT-B as a central heat pump unit connecting to multiple indoor units Daikin Altherma 3 WS can ensure heating/cooling comfort, hot sanitary water and individual temperature control to the individual dwellings.
This system can also be completed with a wide and flexible range of Daikin emitters (Underfloor Heating, heat pump convectors) which allow the customer to choose the emitter he wants for his apartment.
Furthermore, it can perform highly efficient simultaneous operations for heating, cooling, and domestic hot water thanks to heat recovery effect among the apartments.Because of this, annual CO2 emissions can be significantly reduced compared to conventional boilers.
How does the water loop work?
The Daikin Altherma apartment solution provides heating & hot water and cooling if required, to high-rise apartment buildings. The system comprises of a network of in-apartment water to water heat pumps with integrated DHW cylinders, connected to a common central water loop to form a communal system. The central water loop can be warmed/or cooled via Daikin Air source heat pumps working at low temperature and high efficiency.
In-apartment heat pump
Water sourced Altherma upgrades heat in each apartment and produce space heating/cooling and DHW with complete autonomy
- Authonomous heat pump system
- Small footprint installation (60 x 65 cm)
- Extra quiet unit (sound power = 39 dBA)
- Compatible with any type of emitters
Water cooled heat pump for commercial space
The central water loop is heated up by centralized air source heat pump
- Wide capacity range from 80 to 700 kW
- Ecological solution with R32 refrigerant
- Provide heating & cooling
- Optimized heating solution
Communal heat pump
Maintains the central water loop between +10°C & +30°C
Modular air-source Heat Pump
Ecological solution with R32 refrigerant
Wide heating capacity range with single unit (82 kW – 670 kW)
Provide heating & cooling

Central water loop
Central water loop distributes low grade heat throught the building using near ambient water temperatures
Lowest temperature network (10°C – 30°C)
Distribution pipe heat losses and corridor overheating are eliminated
Reduced pipe size
Heat recovery possible across the distribution network
Heat pump convector
The perfect heat pump convector low temperature generators combining stylish design, minimum size and low sound
Fitting easily in all environment thanks to size and design
Perfect match with low temperature generators
Very low sound
Slim size with a depth of only 135mm
Underfloor heating
Regenerative heating in the winter and cooling in the summer, perfect, for new buildings

Chiller EWYT-B
The central water loop is heated up by centralized air source heat pump

Daikin Altherma 3 WS
Water sourced Daikin Altherma upgrades heat in each apartment and produce space heating/cooling and DHW with complete autonomy
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Daikin Altherma 3 WS for collective housing_Product flyer_ECPEN22-753_EnglishPDF | 599.72KB
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Daikin Altherma 3 WS for collective housing_Product catalogue_ECPEN22-754_EnglishPDF | 1011.06KB
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Daikin Altherma 3 WS heat pump now works up to 16 bars, meeting high-rise building requirements_DEUEN21-037PDF | 334.55KB