Using Efficient Heat Pumps to Cut CO2 Emissions with Paul Lambert, Founder and CEO of Quilt

Hardware to Save a Planet · 31 Aug 2023 · 41m · Episode 34

What this episode covers

Paul Lambert, Founder and CEO of Quilt, explains how his company is reinventing home heating by replacing inefficient central HVAC systems with a distributed network of ductless heat pumps. He details the technical and user experience failures of current mini-split systems and central ducted heat pumps, which often require costly duct modifications and suffer from poor comfort control. Lambert discusses Quilt's strategy to accelerate adoption by offering a superior product that integrates smart algorithms for occupancy and thermal modeling, alongside a direct-to-consumer sales and installation model to remove industry friction.

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Catalyst · 41m

    Getting heat pumps right

    Paul Lambert, founder and CEO of Quilt, explains why heat pump adoption is stalled by poor customer experience, high installation costs, and technician resistance. He details Quilt's vertically integrated model, which controls the entire value chain from manufacturing to installation to reduce labor and material costs. Lambert highlights that hardware is only ~20% of the total cost, with labor and materials like copper line sets driving the rest, and discusses strategies to simplify installation and improve aesthetics to drive mass market adoption.

  • Catalyst · 41m

    Unleashing the magic of heat pumps

    Shayle Khan, host of Catalyst, interviews Andy Lubershane, managing director for research and innovation at Energy Impact Partners, about the barriers to heat pump adoption and the technology required to scale it. They discuss how heat pumps achieve high efficiency through vapor compression cycles but face significant challenges in cold climates where efficiency drops and peak electrical load spikes dramatically. The conversation highlights the need for vertically integrated solutions that combine improved hardware performance with streamlined customer acquisition and installer incentives to overcome market friction. They also analyze the grid implications of mass adoption, noting that widespread electrification in cold regions could triple peak winter demand, necessitating grid upgrades or hybrid heating strategies.

  • How I Built This · 47m

    HIBT Lab! BlocPower: Donnel Baird

    Donnel Baird, founder of BlocPower, explains how he built a for-profit company to electrify low-income buildings, drawing on his upbringing in Brooklyn where residents used gas ovens for heat. He details the technical process of replacing fossil fuel systems with heat pumps and induction stoves, and the financial model that allows building owners to repay upgrades through energy savings. Baird also discusses the company's partnership with cities like Ithaca, its competitive advantage in serving underserved markets, and his vision for broad-based investment in the green energy transition.

  • Catalyst · 49m

    Unlocking hyper-efficient cooling

    Jessy Rivest, vice president and general manager of the Cleantech program at Xerox PARC, explains why air conditioning accounts for 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions and how demand is projected to triple by 2050. She details the inefficiency of current systems that overcool air to manage humidity before reheating it, and discusses emerging solutions like desiccants, solid-state heat pumps, and ice-based thermal storage. Rivest also analyzes the barriers to adoption, including upfront capital costs, the split-incentive problem in commercial leasing, and the need for new business models like cooling-as-a-service.

  • Catalyst · 36m

    The pace of home electrification

    Stephen Pantano, head of market transformation at Rewiring America, discusses the organization's Pace of Progress report, which outlines the gap between current adoption rates of home electrification technologies and the targets needed to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. He details the specific shortfalls in heat pump, heat pump water heater, and induction stove sales, noting that while heat pump sales are growing as a share of a shrinking HVAC market, significant acceleration is required. Pantano highlights the role of the Inflation Innovation Act's $9.5 billion in rebates and emerging product innovations, such as 120-volt plug-in water heaters and induction stoves with battery backup, in closing these gaps.

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